NealFrancis
Chicago pianist, singer, and songwriter Neal Francis deals in New Orleans-steeped funk and R&B — boogie-woogie piano, second-line rhythms, and three analog-cut albums deep.
Photo credit: to be confirmed
Chicago pianist, singer, and songwriter Neal Francis deals in New Orleans-steeped funk and R&B — boogie-woogie piano, second-line rhythms, and three analog-cut albums deep.
Biography
Chicago pianist, singer, and songwriter Neal Francis makes New Orleans-steeped funk and R&B — the sound of a childhood spent on boogie-woogie piano and his father's Dr. John records. Born Neal Francis O'Hara in Livingston, New Jersey and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, he sat in with Chicago blues acts as a teenager and toured Europe at 18 with Mud Morganfield, Muddy Waters' son. From 2012 to 2015 he was the keyboardist and primary songwriter for the Chicago instrumental funk band The Heard; after getting sober, he went solo.
His debut Changes arrived in 2019 on Karma Chief Records, followed by In Plain Sight (2021, ATO) and Return to Zero (2025), all cut with analog-obsessed producer Sergio Rios. His touchstones are Dr. John, The Meters, and Allen Toussaint, plus Sly Stone and Billy Preston — second-line rhythms and gospel-soul piano run through a rock band. He makes his NOLA Funk Fest debut in 2026.
Discography
Sources
More New Orleans Artists
