Walking on Sunshine
Barefoot philosopher Michael Franti basks in the glow
When
it comes to the upper echelons of world-beat hip hop culture, Toronto
may have Somalian royalty K’naan (also known as the Dusty Foot
Philosopher), but San Francisco can also claim its own unshod hero of
hiphopricy in Michael Franti. It’s
been an uphill climb for the 45-year-old reggae-revival heartthrob
since he made the decision to eschew all footwear over a decade ago.
Always open to new collaborations, Franti — who recently appeared on the
television series, What About Me?
with 1 Giant Leap — has thrown in his lot opening for guitar shaman
Carlos Santana for their upcoming West Coast tour, which is something
Franti considers both an honour and a challenge.
“Obviously,
I’ve been a Santana fan my entire life,” Michael Franti says. “It’s
amazing to be working alongside such a legendary singer and songwriter
who’s sold millions of albums, but he’s much more than that. Carlos has
taken the lead in San Francisco in terms of speaking out for things like
social change, environment issues and the equality of different people
and so on. So many times someone with that kinda success gets to a level
where they don’t want to risk alienating themselves. I admire artist’s
who can supersede that barrier to higher progress.”
Melding
elements of soul, funk, dancehall, rock-steady and hip hop into his
very own vegan stew, Franti bridges cultures and generations with an
intuitively groovy sense of timing and a compelling gift for delivering
brazen lyrics with a velvet tongue. Critics and fans alike were wowed by
the red-eye master’s incendiary 2008 release All Rebel Rockers and subsequent hit single “Say Hey (I Love You)” in 2009.
Franti
and his ebullient band Spearhead reunited with Capitol Records almost
15 years after leaving the label in the mid-90. Once again produced
under the sage tutelage of rock-steady gods Sly & Robbie, his latest
album The Sound of Sunshine
effectively encapsulates the singer-songwriter’s renewed sense of
thankfulness and purpose following a near-fatal bout of appendicitis in
late 2009.
“I’m
looking forward to working on some really cool projects in the future,”
Franti says. “I’m always collaborating with guys in my band and we’re
already working on the next recording with Sly & Robbie. We’ll be
taking the studio on the road again and trying out new songs on tour. I
drive the guys crazy because I’ll go into dressing room and ask them to
play a song we just wrote that day, or make changes based on the way it
went the night before. I’m so anxious to try things out.”
By
now an expert at gauging a crowd’s reaction to a given song, Franti has
found that the satisfaction of bringing joy to other people may be his
highest calling. From travelling the Middle East in search of lasting
harmony to mixing up a masterpiece at his Balinese retreat, Franti has
come full circle in returning to the city and the circle of supporters
that inspired his Beatnig past and sparked him to catch a fire.
“At
this point, I write songs for audience rather for personal reasons,”
Franti explains. “It’s coming from that place of gratitude. It’s
different when you don’t write for yourself. Writing for others drives
me to hone each song to its best essence. Our songs can be so uplifting,
positive and danceable, but on The Sound of Sunshine the songs are also so personal.”
He
elaborates: “That record is about my experiences with almost dying and
being so grateful to be alive. This new record is concerned with trying
to make sense of the planet. Not that I have answers for economic
crisis, climate change, earthquakes and tsunamis. I’m just trying to put
it all into perspective. What does it all mean? It’s about me wanting
to see signs that things are improving, as if I’m watching the world as a
snapshot from outer space. And, every day I’m alive I try to see one of
those small signs.”Santana with Michael Franti & Spearhead
Scotiabank Saddledome Monday, August 29
by Christine Leonard
Originally published August 25, 2011 in FastForward Magazine.
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