If there’s a name that you best be aware of in 2022, it’s Neal Francis. Ever since the Chicago-based musician teased out tracks of his new album, In Plain Sight, late last year, he’s been an absolute tear. “Problems,” Francis’ the groovy, laidback earworm has been a fixture across SiriusXM’s rock channels because of the way it seamlessly checks every box on what a good rock song should sound like. And the results speak for themselves. Francis is playing before his biggest audiences yet and is not only an artist on the rise, he’s an artist that’s there.
Rewinding for a second, when we caught up with Francis in our Day in the Life feature, he outlined exactly what his process is. As he said in that feature, “Soul, R&B, funk, rock, disco, psychedelia, classical: All of those in a mix. I usually tell people it’s rock ‘n roll. Glide funk.” What else can you ask for? Seriously.
Here’s the setlist from Neal Francis’ performance:
Problems
Rain
Asleep
Feel Like Makin’ Love – Roberta Flack cover
Francis joins an impressive array of musicians who performed in our ongoing 15 Live Performance series. We recently had rising singer-songwriter AJA and veteran country-rockers The Delevantes on. Other artists who have dazzled during these 15-minute sets include Robert Finley, UPSAHL, John R. Miller, Cedric Burnside and the Grammy-nominated ensemble Cha Wa. You can watch all of the previous episodes here.
