Stewart Francke

Detroit-area musician Stewart Francke began performing well before his first recordings appeared in the early 1990s. A Saginaw native, the blue-eyed soul singer, songwriter, and guitarist drew from classic R&B, garage rock, roots rock, and folk. At nineteen, while his peers chased the punk and new wave sounds then dominant, he joined a local blues group on bass. The following decade found him working the bar-band circuit, where he opened shows for Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Luther Allison. After marrying and taking a job as a journalist, Francke issued his independent debut Where the River Meets the Bay in 1995; its track “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” later appeared in an episode of Melrose Place. He followed with an annual release: Expecting Heroes in 1996, House of Lights in 1997, and Sunflower Soul Serenade in 1998. A leukemia diagnosis prompted him to channel his work toward cancer awareness, a theme that surfaces on Swimming in Mercury (1999) and What We Talk Of...When We Talk (2000). That period concluded with the 2001 compilation Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: The Best of Stewart Franke.

Still battling the disease, Francke delivered his seventh studio album, Wheel of Life, in 2002 and, three years later, Motor City Serenade, which featured Motown’s Funk Brothers and a guest turn from his idol Mitch Ryder. After overcoming leukemia he turned his attention to the care of his parents and in-laws, all four of whom died within a four-year span, while also raising his children. His first live recording, Alive & Unplugged, arrived in 2008. Heartless World, issued in 2011, included a contribution from Bruce Springsteen along with appearances by Ryder and nearly forty other Detroit musicians.