His songs sound carefree and loose, but Neal Francis never took the easy way. Born as Neal Francis O’Hara in 1988, he went through a period of drugs and alcohol addiction. Once clean, the singer/keyboardist turned into a promising musician.
Neal Francis has plenty of experience on the stage. As an 18-year-old, he already went out on tour through Europe with the son of Muddy Waters, as well as with other prominent blues artists through the US. In 2012, he became a member of the instrumental funk band The Heard. Later on, under his guidance, the band turned into a popular American live band. Despite the success, he decided to strike out on his own a few years later. Since then, he has released three gorgeous albums: “Changes” (2019), “In Plain Sight” (2021) and “Francis Come Alive” (2023). These resulted in comparison to legends like Leon Russell, Dr. John and JJ Cale.
Support Matsu Fox is the project of drummer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mats Voshol. Voshol refers to Shuggie Otis and Ruban Nielson (from Unknown Mortal Orchestra) as key influences: individuals that create their own funky world as a studio hermit. With a nod to the funk/soul era of the mid seventies, these tracks are mostly lo-fi with a little bit of hi-fi thrown in than the other way around.