“A Pete Francis record feels like a ride from New York City to the coast of Maine.”
American Musician, Writer, Poet, Singer-Songwriter, Founding member of Dispatch
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Pete Francis has never been afraid to build his own world. As the co-founder of Dispatch, he helped prove that independent bands could enjoy massive success on their own terms, playing to arena-sized crowds without mainstream support. That same DIY spirit inspired him to launch a critically-acclaimed solo career in 2001, and it's woven throughout his newest release, Homemade.
Like its name suggests, Homemade was literally made at home, in a studio tucked above Pete's New England garage. It was there, surrounded by books and family photographs, that he began writing the album's songs with producer Mikey Bar-Lavi. Pete had already spent two decades exploring new sounds, from the hip-hop grooves that filled 2015's Dragon Crest Collective, Vol. 1 to the experimental synths of 2023's PTRN SKY!. This time, he wanted to go back to the very beginning: to his roots as a singer-songwriter making a contemporary version of classic American music. Homemade grew out of that desire to create something real and authentic in a digitized world.
"I love song creation," he says. "I keep playing music because when I hold an acoustic guitar and step up to the mic, I feel alive. That's what I love to do, and Homemade is all about love: the love of my family, the love at the dinner table, the love of making music, and the love of getting on the road with my friends. It's about the love of the game."
That joy is audible throughout the album's title track, which kickstarts Homemade with a blast of B3 organ, horns, and acoustic guitar. Pete's dogs can even be heard barking during the song's final moments. "That song is about my family life, and the good feeling you get when you're around your people," he explains. "During the tsunami of AI that is trying to overtake us, I'm coming back to the homemade — to the soul of being with family and friends, of making music, of eating good food and making real memories."
For Pete, those memories go deep. Long before he taught songwriting workshops at Middlebury College, he co-founded Dispatch on the same campus. The group toured relentlessly, selling over 700,000 albums and enjoying unprecedented success — including five sell-outs at Madison Square Garden and a record-setting 110,000-person audience at Boston's Hatch Shell — before he left the lineup in 2019. Dispatch had been a democracy, and Pete shared the group's songwriting duties with two other bandmates. His solo career was something different. Releasing his own albums gave Pete the chance to chase down a uniquely personal horizon, and it wasn't until Homemade that he allowed himself to co-write songs again. Working with collaborator and co-producer Mikey Bar-Lavi, he pieced together the record over the course of an entire year, emphasizing live performances and organic sounds along the way. Once tracking was complete, he handed the recordings to Grammy winner Scott Jacoby (Coldplay, Vampire Weekend, Sia), who mixed the album at his Eusonia Studios in the heart of New York City.
"That schedule allows for conversation," he says. "It allows you to sip coffee, to go over ideas, to take breaks and go downstairs for a cup of soup made by my wife, Katie. When you work like that, you can make real, organic music. The world needs culture and music that's genuinely felt."
For inspiration, Pete didn't have to look far. Songs like "Hurricane Candle" and "On My Mind" nod to the memory of his larger-than-life father, who passed away at 92 years old. "Bond Street" is about family, too, with Pete paying tribute to his children over a backdrop of twinkling piano and analog grooves. Even when Homemade finds him looking beyond the household — as he does on the character sketch "What a Shame" — he still keeps things close to home, fusing Afropop guitar riffs and punky choruses into a song that pays tribute to longtime influences like Paul Simon and the Ramones. Laced with vocal harmonies from his wife, Homemade is full of personal touches, shining new light on a songwriter who's never sounded so invigorated.
It's been 30 years since Pete began building a national audience. With Homemade, he revisits those musical roots with a new perspective. "I've done a lot of living and a lot of reflecting," he says. "In the song 'Finally Free,' I'm singing about feeling free to find my light and truly lean into that. I'm figuring out what counts."
Biography by Andrew Leahey
Pete Francis Complete Discography
So They Say (2001)
Untold (2003)
Good To Finally Know (2004)
Everything Is One (2006)
Iron Sea and the Cavalry (2008)
Wake The Mountain (2009)
The Movie We Are In (2010)
Immodal Implozego (2013)
Dragon Crest Collective, Vol. 1 (2015)
Belong To The Band (2019)
Live in 2003 (2020)
Humble Down (2021)
Sun Fuzz (2021)
PTRN SKY! (2023)
Neon Light Blind (2024)
Hurricane Candle (2024)
Pete Francis EP (2024)