Francis Chilcoat

Growing up on the south side of Chicago in the early 1960s, Francis was drawn to the blues men at the outdoor market on Maxwell Street, standing so close he could feel the vibration of their guitars on his face. The only white kid in an all-Mexican band, the La Vells, he played his first gig at 13 in a North Side Mexican theater before 5,000 people. By sixteen Francis was fronting the "Determinations" three nights a week in a bar on California Avenue on Chicago's West side. "I was the only kid in school with money from the tips we made keeping the crowd dancing." His early influences included rock originators- Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis ("I jammed with Jerry at the Top Brass Club in Bunker Hill, WV-we became fast friends"), Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Bo Didley (jammed with Bo in 1969), Jim Messina (backed Jim up at a show on Hilton head Island and was Jim's guest in Santa Barbara for a songwriters' workshop). He learned to play "bar chords" from Bobby Fuller ("I Fought the Law and the Law Won").

Living outside Detroit in his late high school years, Francis was deeply influenced by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and Bob Seager, plus other well known artists who played at the Mount Holly Ski Resort. There he sang the tune "Bo Didley" with Bo Didley himself.

In the army, Francis formed bands wherever he was stationwed, Fort Knox, Fort Polk, Fort Benning and in South Korea, entertaining fellow GIs with Rock and Roll and guarding America's security.

When his family moved to his mother's home place in West Virginia in 1969, Francis began writing songs and playing coffeehouses and small bars while he attended Potomac State College in Keyser, WV. After college Francis formed Mountain Momma. Four sets of original music poured out of his Grateful Dead influenced eight-piece rock band, which included his wife KC as a singer, bass player, flutist, and most important, supporter.

KC and Francis still play occassional gigs with their current band, Mountain Momma, and do acoustic performances and the Nep-Tunes. Their children, Christopher and Hope are musicians as well and are planning to be part of a "family band" some day soon.

For a day job, Francis teaches piano tuning at the West Virginia School for the Blind. Francis tunes pianos and repairs all kionds of instruments from guitars to saxophones. Francis also instructs students to play gutiar, drums, electric and uprioght bass and, most rewarding--song writing. He says, "If someone has a need in their heart to write and share songs, it makes me feel satisfied to guide them in the creative process. For Francis himself, "It's a thrill traveling this road of songwriting. There is something new to learn at every turn. Music always makes you feel good, and you can enjoy it whether you are a beginner or a master."

Francis calls his songs "workingman's music." Their characters are struggling with day-to-day survival and sometimes injustice-whether it is the unfairness of unrequited love or the unfairness of prison systems. A ragtime style tune, "Baby We Got the Blues" describes a longtime couple who has fought for so long that they never want to fight with anyone else. The herione of the alternative tune "She's Different" describes a strong, if nutty, woman who braves tear gas at the Washington WTO demonstrations and baffles a guy who is trailing after her. Another, "Iron Lung," is based on an article about a poet in a respirator machine who feels emotions but can touch no one.

Some of his songs offer the pure feeling of rock and roll. "Once you know that feeling, standing in the zone. It's like traveling through space and time with a guitar. It becomes an addiction and you are glad to duplicate it.

"Vito the American Dream-O" recalls Francis' very first band experience. "But you vcan only play guitar so long without burstiong out with some vocals; they come out of you like a slingshot. In the end, what matters are the words telling the story of the song."

Francis writes in many styles, rock, jazz, funk, blues, soul, folk, and even country and old time music. "Sometimes it's the lyrics that beg to be certain style of music. Other times it comes from jamming with my guitar. I will create lyrics that fit the mood of the music that is coming out of me. I play games too. I will listen to conversations people have to get samples of real life. Headlines also trigger new ideas for me to write on. A great book or a movie is enough to get me started. And, my heart often pushes against my brain to produce some interesting stream of consciousness. I love the songs that say everything but don't say any one definable thing as subject. Sometimes I just want to feel the words. I want to write songs people listen to over and over again-songs that capture the emotions of life."