Stewart Francke began making music when he was 19, thrown into playing bass in a band that often backed Chuck Berry, Del Shannon and other early rock and R&B legends. He received a "priceless and intense education" in every facet of the music business under the tutelage of fabled Midwestern blues man and founding member of The Woolies, Boogie Bob Baldori.

Stewart didn’t make his first record, however, until 35, when his first child was born. In the meantime he played countless gigs in and around Michigan in rock and R&B bands and later wrote reviews and features about music and film for the Detroit Metro Times, eventually being named a Contributing Editor.

Since making that first record in 1995, Where The River Meets The Bay, (a record that illuminated his Michigan surroundings with dusty stories and simple melodies) he's made nine more, capped by the breakthrough blue eyed soul cd, Motor City Serenade, released initially in England in 2005 by Zane Records.

A bit of a late bloomer, Stewart has found his voice and vision through hard work, expressive songwriting, and soulful singing that's often compared to the classic soul singers. In addition to the 10 cd releases, he’s licensed songs to TV (Melrose Place, MTV Real World, various daytime shows) and for use in image advertising (GM, Ford, National Cancer Association). He’s built a reputation as a warm and exciting live performer, playing his own headlining shows as well as support with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Warren Zevon, Steve Earle, Chris Isaak, Robert Cray, Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Stevie Winwood, Eddie Money, Chicago, & many others. Yet he feels he's still in the beginnings of his artistic journey. Most importantly, there is a magical and firm connection between Stewart and his audience.

"Stewart Francke is the best songwriter I’ve heard in 20 years." – Mick Taylor, legendary guitarist & former member of The Rolling Stones.

Growing up in the 1960s & 70s in Saginaw, Michigan, Stewart recalls it as a great time to be a kid in the Midwest. Fueled by popular music–a combined invention of black & white styles-- kids dared to dream. It was everywhere, on every kitchen AM radio, songs that told the truth and opened up your mind in a complex time.

Stewart watched his father, a car man and the mayor of Saginaw, try to make sense of it all in a waning industrial town--racial trouble, class inequities, the dynamic between the Big Three automakers and Unions, downtowns dying. He took it all in, quietly, this confluence of culture and politics that would later inform his songs. As a teenager, he loved sports, later becoming an NAIA All-American tennis player. He loved music. He loved girls. He grew up and left, eventually landing in Detroit in his early twenties after the internship with Baldori and Berry.

After his very first single, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," found its way to TV shows and national radio play, Stewart began headlining regularly at clubs and concert venues as well as opening for everybody who was anybody coming through town. He even played a two night stand back home, working his own songs into arrangements with the Saginaw Symphony Orchestra in the late 90s.

Other regional hits came. A duet with his friend Mitch Ryder ("Upon Seeing Simone" from the House of Lights CD) preceded other strong selling, independently released titles: Sunflower Soul Serenade, What We Talk of When We Talk, Swimming In Mercury, Wheel Of Life and Motor City Serenade.

"Standing courageously at the intersection of rock and soul music, influenced equally by Marvin Gaye and Brian Wilson, Stewart Francke possesses all the tools: A sweet voice, a vision that’s grand without being grandiose and undying love of sound for its own sake, and an equally passionate engagement with everyday life and the people who live it. This music isn’t classic anything only because, like every real artist, Francke takes the world as he knows it and moves on his own course." — Dave Marsh, America’s most widely read music writer, Bruce Springsteen biographer.

In the midst of this success came the dark night of the soul. In 1998 Stewart was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. It was a serious interruption to an artist's career, but more importantly to a man, to a father and a husband. His kids were still very young. His wife held it together beautifully. His sister was found to be a perfect bone marrow match and he underwent a stem cell transplant in the fall of '98. Terrific doctors and nurses at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit contributed to saving his life. He wanted desperately to live to see his children grow. He fought to stay alive; he fought hard. He got a lot of help. He went through 5 years of hell. He's still here.

After regaining enough strength to play some gigs, Stewart began writing and recording again. A Leukemia Foundation was formed in his name. Nearly $150,000 has been raised by the Stewart Francke Leukemia Foundation and donated to groups such as Gilda's Club, the Children's Leukemia Foundation, Leukemia & Life Research and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. An endowment, the first of its kind anywhere, was established in Stewart's name at Karmanos Cancer institute to assist patients whose insurance would not cover the cost of a search for a compatible match, with the emphasis on helping minority patients and donors. The foundation held bone marrow donor drives, also with an emphasis on minority participation, which informed the public through education and awareness about the disease. Stewart actively continues these cancer activities today. In 2002 he was recognized as one of the Points of Light by the P.O.L Foundation and was named Volunteer of the Year by the National Marrow Donor Program.

He's been recognized by his peers in his community through numerous Detroit Music Awards, including Best Artist, Songwriter & Album. Hour Detroit readers voted him most popular musician 2002-2004. The Stewart Francke Leukemia Foundation was also presented the prestigious Partnership In Humanity Award by the Detroit Newspapers, and he was awarded a Creative Artist Grant by Artserve Michigan.

"Thank God for Stewart Francke. Thank God for his feeling, healing music, for the sweetness of his soul, the sincerity of his songs, the strength of his vision. His music is enriching, nourishing music – music as faith, music as celebration, music whose source is clear and joyful love." — David Ritz, author of Ray, the Ray Charles Story and Divided Soul: The Marvin Gaye Story

After his cancer struggle, the music changed profoundly. It became funkier, more soulful. The lyrics became more focused. Stories were still told, but the narratives were inclusive and aware, not detached romantic fables. The songs were now about all of us, and where it is we're going. It was soul music. In the May 2002 issue of Playboy, Dave Marsh began his review by writing, "Stewart Francke's What We Talk Of...When We Talk is the most important blue eyed soul record in a musical generation." High praise from the country's most respected music writer. Marsh went on to applaud Francke's musical subject matter - race - as something seldom addressed eloquently in songs these days.

At some point or another, Stewart might have wanted to be a "rock star" or a "celebrity." Everybody that ever picks up a guitar wants that. But he's gone places he didn't expect to go. It's been a harder road than imagined by the 19 year old who began his journey by jammin with Chuck Berry, playing the rock & roll vocabulary. "I wouldn't trade a minute, despite the recent hard times," Francke says, remembering that moments are given, to be enjoyed and sometimes endured. He's now quite happy to be a "survivor," a title you earn, and learn by. And the music is that of a survivor -–groovin’, deep, resonant, enduring and warmly descriptive of where he's been and whom he's known.

In September of 2003, Stewart came full circle with his musical loves and lifetime heroes. He recorded three songs with all six remaining Funk Brothers, the legendary group that cut all of the superb Motown hits in the 60s & 70s. A single from that session, titled "Motor CIty Serenade" was released in 2004, leading to his record deal with Peter Thompson and Zane Records.

Now performing exclusively with the renowned Detroit R&B/Soul band The Regular Boys, Francke’s show is exciting, smart, funny, full of history and a soulful vibe that makes any night pure magic.

"We pride ourselves on a wonderful summer concert series, meeting a diversity of interests. Stewart Francke & The Regular Boys has been a great addition to our lineup, with his soulful singing and exciting horn band. It’s electrifying. You’d think an act this terrific and well known would be out of range. Not so...I believe with Stewart we really get the most "bang for the buck" of all the acts we book. I look forward to working with him again this and every summer." — Colette Nutton, CPRP, HW MI Parks & Recreation

After releasing "Between The Ground & God," a collection of his lyrics and writing in late 2005, he’s now working on a new record, blending the narrative songwriting with soul and funk arrangements. Stewart’s again using the best players in Detroit, this time with an ear toward what’s new–what’s goin on today. Neo-soul. New sounds; new stories; new grooves. Whatever you want to call it, it still comes from the same place. With more than thirty new songs written, Stewart hopes to record quickly and get new music out by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Stay tuned.