Changes

I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influencesto my story," muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living-consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction-such sincerity is jarring fromthe 30-year-old Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a selfdestructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured aninspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms, Chicagoblues, and early 70s rock n' roll. There is a deep connection betweenFrancis's childhood-his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father'sgift of a dusty Dr. John LP-and the songs he's created. The result is anastonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporaryfunk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylingsof Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of TheMeters and Dr. John; the barroom rock 'n' roll of The Rolling Stones; thegospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis paystribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: "It's the life I've lived sofar.