Michael Franti and Spearhead certainly don’t need much introduction, especially in and around their home in Northern California. Franti and Spearhead, his loose group of musicians and collaborators, have been bringing positively charged music and lively interactive concerts across the country for more than a decade. They are coming around again in support of their latest record, “The Sound of Sunshine,” and will be making a rare intimate stop at the Knitting Factory in Reno.
Born in Oakland to an Irish-German American mother and an African American-Native American father, Franti was raised by his adoptive Finnish American parents in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the course of his long musical career, Franti has explored many different musical genres in hopes of finding ways to get his message of peace and justice out to diverse audiences. From punk rock in the ’80s while at the University of San Francisco with the Beatnigs, the hip hop troupe Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Franti has always pushed different musical styles, shaping them to his particular strivings for empowerment and peace. His 2008 record, “All Rebel Rockers,” recorded in Jamaica with legendary producers Sly and Robbie, became his greatest success to date with a top 20 single in “Say Hey (I Love You).” This record showcased the culmination of a style that was truly his own. The songs were written from the ground up starting with the acoustic guitar, and have a joyful bounce to them that represents Franti’s own focused sound. On earlier Franti and Spearhead projects, different influences from rock and roll to hip hop and reggae mingled throughout the recordings, whereas his latest work feels like a cohesive “Franti” sound.
Franti is fully committed to the importance of getting his message out to live audiences, so much so that they often play free shows. His new album, “The Sound of Sunshine,” was finished by recording on the road in a portable studio as a testament to the influence of audiences’ reaction.
“Music is sunshine,” said Franti in a press release. “Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose.”
The released single and video showcase this very sentiment by portraying people along Venice Beach having their bad days turned around by bright sunshine and Franti’s sun-soaked guitar licks and positive lyrics. The mix of his bright, upbeat acoustic guitar-driven melody with poignant yet somehow lighthearted lyrics, sometimes delivered in hip hop poetry slam style, is the essence of good Franti and Spearhead. Let’s hope that the sound of sunshine makes it down to those of us fortunate enough to see him play in Reno. ~ David Eisenstark/Moonshine Ink contributor
