Pete Francis Heimbold (August 1, 1975) is a founding member of the alternative roots band Dispatch. Since departing the group in 2019, he has established himself as a producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, mental health advocate, and educator. His latest solo release is PTRN SKY! (out May 12, 2023 on Noble Steed Music).

Biography

Francis grew up in

Riverside, Connecticut Riverside is a neighborhood/section in the town of Greenwich in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,416. The town of Greenwich is one political and taxing body, but consists of several ...

, the youngest of four children, and drew early influence from the likes of

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, Cat Stevens,

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, Joni Mitchell, and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

. As a student at Middlebury College in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, Francis formed a band with guitarist/bassist/songwriter Chad Urmston and drummer Brad Corrigan. Originally called One Fell Swoop, the group soon changed its name to Dispatch and would go on to sell more than 700,000 albums, sell out New York's Madison Square Garden five times and Boston's

TD Garden TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has been k ...

three times, and become the first group to sell out New Jersey's Red Bull Arena. On July 31st, 2004, the band drew more than 100,000 people to Boston's Hatch Memorial Shell. Though few knew it at the time, Francis was fighting an increasingly difficult battle with depression throughout his years of touring and recording with Dispatch, and after taking multiple leaves of absence, he eventually made the decision to step away from the band entirely in order to focus more fully on his health and wellbeing in 2019. Francis recorded several solo albums on the side during his years with Dispatch, and in 2023, he announced his first collection since departing the group, PTRN SKY! Leaning heavily on synthesizers and drum loops and embracing the marriage of organic and electronic elements, the collection marks a sonic leap for Francis, who reckons with the depression and anxiety that have dogged him for most of his adult life by transforming doubt and pain into growth and transcendence at every turn. In addition to his work as a musician, Francis has also taught songwriting at Middlebury College and collaborated with his wife, the visual artist Katie Heimbold, to launch the Dragoncrest Collective, a community organization that seeks to bring artists and art-lovers together through a series of live, interactive shows and events. He currently lives in Connecticut.

Discography

''For discography of Dispatch, see Dispatch Discography'' * 2001: ''

So They Say So They Say is an American rock band based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. They released their self-titled debut EP in 2005. Shortly after, in 2006, they released their debut studio album, ''Antidote for Irony'' on Fearless Records. The ...

'' – Scrapper Records * 2003: '' Untold'' – Scrapper Records * 2004: '' Good To Finally Know'' – Scrapper Records * 2006: '' Everything Is One''- Scrapper Records * 2008: '' Iron Sea and the Cavalry''- Scrapper Records * 2009: '' Wake the Mountain w/Barefoot Truth''- Scrapper Records * 2010: '' The Movie We Are In''- Scrapper Records * 2013: '' Immodal Implozego'' – ii Records * 2015: '' Dragon Crest Collective Volume 1'' * 2021: '' Humble Down'' * 2021: '' Sun Fuzz'' * 2023: '' PTRN SKY!''

Equipment

Instruments * Nash Presicion Bass * Modulus Bass * 1979

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

* 1980

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

335 electric guitar * 1930s

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...

* 1940

135 Jazz Box * Collings D-1 acoustics Amplifiers * Noise Iconoclast Amplifier Effects * Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner * Fulltone Clyde Wah Deluxe * Fulltone OCD Overdrive * Boss Analog Delay

References

External links

Official

Pete Francis Official Website

Informational

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heimbold, Pete Francis 1981 births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male bass guitarists American male singer-songwriters American rock guitarists American rock singers 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists People from Riverside, Connecticut 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Dispatch (band) members Singer-songwriters from Connecticut