Sage Francis Recent News

Sage Francis' Reviews The Paid Dues Festival

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:03:00 -0700

The Paid Dues festival took place last weekend in San
Bernadino, CA and it was a great success. Sage headlined the event, backed by Skratch Bastid, 3 time Scribble Jam, DJ champ and producer of Buck 65's Situation album. Read Sage Francis' review of the whole event at http://www.strangefamousrecords.com

Free song from SAGE FRANCIS!

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:03:00 -0700

Click below for a FREE download of a mixtape-style song that Sage Francis put together a week before the Paid Dues show in San Bernadino, CA. The instrumental is from The Beatnut's "Duck Season" song. B Dolan appears first, Prolyphic second, and then Sage Francis. Reanimator on the cut. Enjoy!

Sage Francis, Prolyphic and B. Dolan - SFR Pays Dues (right click and "Save link as" to download)

Chuck D interviews Sage Francis

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:10:00 -0700

Chuck D interviewed Sage Francis last Saturday night on his Air America radio show, On The Real with Chuck D. if you missed it, check out an mp3 of the interview below or CLICK HERE!

Sage Francis Continues Diverse Path By Touring With Against Me!

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:09:00 -0700

Human The Death Dance Reaps Best Praise of His Career

Sage Francis - the world renowned rapper, poet, activist, humorist and cultural provocateur - will hit the road this fall with Against Me! in continued support of his thought-provoking 2007 Anti-/Epitaph disc Human The Death Dance. Launching November 5th in Richmond, Virginia, the four week run of the East Coast and Midwest wraps November 28th in Cincinnati, Ohio.

By teaming with the underground rock act Against Me! and the trek's other supporting acts Cobra Skulls and World Inferno Friendship Society, rap stalwart Sage continues to defy categorization. Francis - a celebrated wordsmith and M.C. - recently wrapped a series of innovative, West Coast spoken word dates, including a high profile appearance at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival.

Alongside his upcoming tour mates, Francis will participate in a special benefit for Harvest of Hope in Chicago on Thanksgiving. Proceeds from the November 22nd event at the Metro will help the charity continue to provide migrant farmworkers and their families with emergency aid, inclusive of grants and financial aid for migrant students attending college.

An original lyrical voice throughout his eclectic music career, Francis finalized 60-plus live performances in support of HTDD with appearances at this summer's coveted bi-coastal Rock The Bells shows. Not surprisingly, his sophomore Anti-/Epitaph disc continues to draw the best acclaim of his career.

"He rhymes like a champ," Alternative Press praised in a 4 (of 5) star review. Meanwhile, Filter asserted, "You can call it emo or you can call it hip-hop, but you have to call it some kind of wonderful."

Death And Taxes touted the disc as, "a genre-leaping mash of Francis' soulfully scholarly poetry set to some of the nimblest beats in alternative hop." And Rapreviews.com scribed, "Francis is on a level where even next shit is two steps behind."

Here are Sage Francis' confirmed tour dates with Against Me!:

11/5, Richmond, VA, Canal Club
11/6, Atlanta, GA, Center Stage
11/8, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Revolution,
11/12, Norfolk, VA, Norva
11/13, Washington, D.C., 9:30 Club
11/15, Providence, R.I., Lupo's
11/16, Philadelphia, Electric Factory
11/17, New York, NY, Terminal 5
11/19, Cleveland, OH, House Of Blues
11/20, Detroit, MI, Clutch Cargo's
11/21, Chicago, IL, House Of Blues
11/22, Chicago, IL, The Metro
11/23, Minneapolis, MN, First Avenue
11/25, St. Louis, MO, Pop's
11/27, Memphis, TN, New Daisy Theater
11/28, Cincinnati, OH, Bogart's

Sage Francis Remix Contest

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:08:00 -0700

Sage Francis announces a remix contest for his song, "Hoofprints in the Sand" off of his latest album, Human the Death Dance:

Reanimator made the beat for the original version of the song, and he mentioned to Sage that even he'd like to take a crack at doing a remix.

Here is the acapella:
"Hoofprints In The Sand" acapella

The acapella fades out before the beat tempo switches at the end of the original song, and that's so I can avoid a lot of headaches.

Here is the original song (to give you an idea as to where the vocals should be falling on the beat):
"Hoofprints In The Sand"

If you can't figure out the BPM then this project might not be for you.

Please send your submission as AN MP3 ATTACHMENT to strangefamous@gmail.com by Sept 10th. The winner and top 3 remixes will be announced on Sept 11th.

The winner will be featured on the front page of www.Sagefrancis.net, www.strangefamousrecords.com, and have the option of appearing on his remix album (2008.)

Best of luck!

Remember Remember the 11th of September.

SAGE FRANCIS: Spoken Word Tour

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:08:00 -0700

SAGE FRANCIS Sets Unprecedented West Coast Spoken Word Dates
Non-Conformist Rapper/Poet Continues To Defy Categorization

Pitchfork Calls Human The Death Dance His "Strongest Album To Date"

Anti- recording artist Sage Francis will broaden his artistic scope when the world renowned rapper, poet, activist, humorist and cultural provocateur embarks on a series of unprecedented spoken word dates on the West Coast next month.

An original lyrical voice throughout his eclectic music career, wordsmith Francis again defies categorization by bringing his sincere, insightful brand of literary art to the stage as a poetry performer. These innovative appearances commence at Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 2, with subsequent dates confirmed for Portland(9/3), Hollywood (9/5) and San Francisco (9/6).

Most often associated with the musical underground, wordsmith Francis - who at this point has as much in common with modern wonder bards as he does microphone wizards - will assert his position as a multi-faceted and distinctive talent with these upcoming spoken word engagements.

In part, Sage Francis' forthcoming spoken word dates germinated from a powerful, and largely impromptu 40-minute acapella set he gave at the October 2006 "If A Girl Writes Off The World" art exhibit in London. It was here, as the special guest of artist Sarah Coleman (because of the inspiration she took from his song "The Cure") that Sage got his first major taste of poetry performance.

For the musically and lyrically diverse Francis, who spent much of the summer on the road in support of his widely-praised, incendiary sophomore Anti/Epitaph disc Human The Death Dance, 2007 has been a tremendous year. Released this past May, HTDD has drawn the most significant praise of his career.

Pitchfork called it, "Sage Francis's strongest album to date: Its neon rainbow of tones and moods, the almost telepathic harmony between producer and rapper, the riveting fault-line tiptoe between memoir and manifesto."

Meanwhile, Filter declared, "You can call it emo or you can call it hip-hop, but you have to call it some kind of wonderful."

And finally, The Portland Phoenix wrote: "Sage Francis has written his masterwork - A moody, encapsulating record. Captivatingly dark and sharply funny, Francis is raw and open on the ingenious Human The Death Dance."

Here are Sage Francis' upcoming Spoken Word dates:

9/2, Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle
9/3, The Alladin Theater, Portland
9/5, Ivar Theatre, Hollywood
9/6, Slim's, San Francisco

Sage Francis, Buck 65, Alias Launch Tour

Fri, 25 May 2007 00:05:00 -0700

Like wordplay-obsessed wolves, indie rappers travel in packs, or at least that's what we gather from the lineup of Sage Francis' "Death Dance Tour" in support of his recently released new album, Human the Death Dance.

The tour kicks off tonight, May 23 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and features Buck 65, Alias (whose MySpace page claims he has a "new solo instrumental record in the works"), and Buddy Wakefield by Sage's side. Sage Francis will perform with a live band on the tour, and he will also perform at all three dates of the traveling Rock the Bells festival after the tour winds down.

Buck 65 has one non-"Death Dance" date of his own. It's not until October (at the Iceland Airwaves Festival in Reykjavík), and by that time, his new album, Situation, should be available in stores. He is also working with Greetings From Tuskan's Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê on a project called Bike for Three! Their forthcoming album is called More Heart Than Brains.

"Death Dance" dates (all dates with Sage Francis, Buck 65, Alias, and Buddy Wakefield):

05-23 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
05-24 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
05-25 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05-26 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05-27 Farmingdale, NY - Crazy Donkey
05-29 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
05-30 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
05-31 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
06-01 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle
06-02 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
06-04 Orlando, FL - Firestone
06-06 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
06-07 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
06-08 Dallas, TX - Granada
06-09 Austin, TX - Emo's
06-11 Albuquerque, NM - Launch Pad
06-12 Phoenix, AZ - Clubhouse
06-13 Tucson, AZ - Congress Hotel
06-15 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
06-16 Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
06-17 San Diego, CA - Soma
06-19 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
06-20 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
06-22 Portland, OR - Roseland
06-23 Seattle, WA - Showbox
06-24 Bellingham, WA - Night Light Theatre
06-25 Bend, OR - Pavilion
06-27 Boise, ID - The Venue
06-28 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
06-29 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
06-30 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
07-02 Omaha, NE - Sokol Hall
07-03 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
07-05 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave.
07-06 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub
07-07 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub
07-09 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection
07-10 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
07-11 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
07-12 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's
07-13 Providence, RI - Lupo's

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/

Sage Francis Discusses "Got Up This Morning" Music Video Featuring Jolie Holland

Tue, 22 May 2007 00:05:00 -0700

The Blues-infused rap song "Got Up This Morning" is set to a relaxed honky-tonk beat, and is lyrically complex compared to the other rap offerings available on mainstream radio. A backroom poker table is the setting for Francis and his gambling buddies, which include Slug from Atmosphere, Buck 65, Brother Ali, and Divinci from Solillaquists of Sound. We spoke to Sage about the video...

Watch: Sage Francis "Got Up This Morning"

Sage Francis: Do you enjoy the process of making a music video?

"It feels fresh. A whole new process than I am used to. Such a massive production. I know it doesn't always have to be that way to make a good video, but that's how this video was run. Made me think, "Damn...damn...lots of people doing a lot of things to serve one purpose. Yikes." Haha. It definitely removes you from the music a bit to have all the cameras around, but after a while I think everyone eased into it and had fun just being part of the project. Many friends in one location...that's fun."

MVW: What was the vibe on set... working with Stoney, his crew?

SF: "Well, Stoney and his crew were complete professionals. They were very focused on getting quality work done in a timely manner. I really didn't even expect the kind of environment I walked into. Beforehand, Stoney and I worked on the treatment and then he told me we'd be filming in a warehouse he sought out. So in my mind I was envisioning some lights and some props to go along with the story of the song.

Instead I walked into what looked like 3 movie sets. It was crazy. All these different rooms completely pimped out. I can't even imagine how much preparation and work it took to get things to look the way they did in such a short amount of time. The crew composed of people who do this kind of stuff for a living, rather than a bunch of people who are interested in learning how to do it. I don't know if that makes sense, but I'm used to videographers being surrounded by people who aren't really on top of their craft...this was a whole other story. I mean, the make-up ladies are from the Lord of the Rings movies (they had some great anecdotes about that.) It was humbling. I had to just sit there and let them do their thing and trust that everything was being taken care of because it was."

MVW: ...the inspiration for "Got Up This Morning"? Did you have the idea of working with another artist when you wrote the song?

SF: "I had a couple different versions of that song before I settled on the song that's available now. I didn't write the story that exists now until Jolie Holland layed down her vocals and played fiddle over the music."

MVW: How did the process work on recording the song with Jolie Holland?

SF: "Well, we found ourselves hanging in LA at the same time so we decided to make use of our time. I played her some of the music I was planning on using for the album. The Buck 65 beat for 'Got Up This Morning' was right up her alley. So Jolene at Epitaph Records hooked us up with her boyfriend's recording space. She did a couple takes. Then I flew back home to RI with her recordings, wrote the song, recorded it, mixed it and bam...there it is."

www.mvwire.com

Sage Francis' Pitchforkmedia.com Review of Human The Death Dance

Fri, 11 May 2007 00:05:00 -0700

With 2005's A Healthy Distrust, Sage Francis ditched introspection, the meat and potatoes of his earlier work, for fire-breathing activism. And who could blame him? A president he didn't vote for had just won another four years-- missteps into lecturing could be forgiven. The old Francis, the quirky, quipping storyteller, triumphantly returns on Human the Death Dance, his second record on Epitaph, to his unique blend of diaristic, down-to-earth meditations, eerie soundscapes, and loopy abstraction.

Not that an herbivorous slam poet from Rhode Island, to put it frankly, would be expected to drop politics altogether. The personal is especially political on "Underground for Dummies", a biting, but never bitter, record of Francis's long tango with the music industry. And he's losing patience with the close-mindedness within his own art form: "This is hip-hop for the people/ Stop callin' it emo!" Francis sees nonsense everywhere. On "Midgets and Giants", he lampoons subcultural bullshit across the board, from the doe-eyed disciples of 8 Mile ("a promotional tool, shithead/But not for you, shithead") to the sexed-up and curiously alive Suicide Girls.

And the mission to broaden hip-hop's palette (and palate) presses on behind the curtain, where usual suspects-- Sixtoo, Alias, Reanimator-- switch off with other outer-rim stars. cLOUDEAD's Odd Nosdam blends ghostly atmospherics and Golden Age breakbeats on the opener, while composer Mark Isham lends a swank, silver-screen drama to "Good Fashion". Isham's tender union of piano, harp, and strings nearly steals the show on "Water Line", a spoken-word diatribe on not doing your job, and not just in New Orleans.

"Got Up This Morning" sways to Buck 65's high-tech confederacy of fiddles and harmonica, before Francis' female companion poses that timeless question: What would Bukowski do? Pendulums may swing and paradigms might shift, but you can always count on underground hip-hop for those endearingly nerdy, English-major moments. If you decode Jolie Holland's dreamy sighs on "Black Out on White Night", rumor has it you'll hear Dante.

As you circle deeper into the record, whispers of the old confessionalism get louder and louder. "Going Back to Rehab" weaves allusions to the greats, Nas and Biggie, into a six-minute tapestry that encompasses everything great about Sage Francis's strongest album to date: Its neon rainbow of tones and moods, the almost telepathic harmony between producer and rapper, the riveting fault-line tiptoe between memoir and manifesto.
-Roque Strew, May 11, 2007

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42667-human-the-death-dance

Sage Francis Kicks It Up A Notch On Summer Tour

Wed, 09 May 2007 00:05:00 -0700

May 09, 2007, 12:50 PM ET

Mitchell Peters, L.A.

Indie rapper Sage Francis, a self-declared "road warrior," will embark on a seven-week U.S. club/theater trek later this month in support of his latest album, "Human the Death Dance," released yesterday (May 8) via Epitaph.

The approximately 40-date Death Dance Tour starts May 23 at Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub in Boston, and wraps July 13 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Francis' hometown of Providence, R.I. Supporting on all dates are rappers Buck 65, Alias and Buddy Wakefield.

In such cities as Boston, New York, San Francisco, Denver and Chicago, Francis, who has consistently toured for the last seven years, will perform back-to-back gigs. "We're getting to the point where sh*t is getting so large that we're having to play the same club twice in a row," Francis tells Billboard.com. "I'm in an interesting position where I have the kind of following that is really big, but not big enough to fill an arena."

Francis, who describes his live show as "confrontational and devoid of cliche," will perform material from "Human the Death Dance" with the backing of a three-piece band. Whereas his 2005 Epitaph debut "A Healthy Distrust" displayed very "socio-political, agro, abrasive and punchy" material, "Human the Death Dance" takes a more personalized direction.

"For this one I took a more introspective, personal approach and started with my own relationships," he says. "I had a couple of breakups that get documented on the album ... and talked about my upbringing and things I went through in childhood, and how that turned me into who I am now. I just felt like I wanted to personalize it more than the last album."

Francis is particularly keen on new tracks like "Going Back to Rehab," which is "some of the heaviest sh*t I've done. And musically it's the most satisfying. It's like 36 tracks of live instruments and different vocal approaches." Along with that, "Keep Moving," is "some of the most soothing sh*t I've ever done for some reason. I just listen to it and it calms me down, and that's really odd because usually my [songs] are very aggressive, like a dog growling."

After completing dates on the Death Dance Tour, Francis will jump on the 10-plus date Paid Dues tour, featuring Felt, Living Legends, Mr. Lif, Cage, Brother Ali and others, starting July 25 at Congress Theater in Chicago, according to Francis' booking agent Christian Bernhardt at the Kork Agency.

Paid Dues runs through August, and will collide with this summer's traveling Rock the Bells festival tour in such markets as New York (July 28-29), San Bernardino, Calif. (Aug. 11), and San Francisco (Aug. 18).

For those select Rock the Bells dates, which will include performances from Rage Against the Machine, Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy and the Roots, among many others, Paid Dues will have its own stage. "I perform for people all the time, and crowds are great and all, but having the opportunity to share a stage with acts of that magnitude means a lot," Francis says. "It's a good benchmark in my career and for my own personal accomplishments."