We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heath Francis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Heath, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
My parents are definitely responsible for instilling confidence in me. My mom always made me feel that if I believed I could do something I could do it, and its because she had that belief in herself. It always seemed she could do anything. I grew up loving Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder because of the song Ebony and Ivory, and I was fascinated with Stevies complicated rhythms and vocal stylings, so I began obsessing over them until I could sing like him. His record “Songs in the Key of Life” is still one of my biggest inspirations.
So I guess my work ethic is what gave me my confidence.
I actually wanted to be a basketball player, and my obsessing over developing my skills gave me the confidence to believe I could go far with my 5’9” frame. But one of my teammates, the star of the team in college said to me one day he would trade his legs for my voice, and thats when I realized that singing was my true gift. It was always something I never lacked confidence in doing, because I just naturally worked so hard at perfecting my voice. In the 80s I obsessed over Steve Perry’s vocals from Journey, so now Im also confident in my versatility.
I pride myself in how I take care of my voice, and how hard I work to always be a better singer, so by the time I step on stage, I know without a doubt Im going to slaughter the set.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Like I said, singing has always been a passion of mine, even when it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life (because obviously I could have been the next Magic Johnson, haha!). I used to sing at every school talent show, and it started to get attention. people started actually hiring me to sing at wedding ceremonies, or do telegram type singing. So I guess you could say I started my professional career at 12 years old. That being said, it started to lose its luster because it took me away from basketball, and I didn’t like as a kid being told what songs to sing. I remember being in the car in high school after having one of my best games, and I couldn’t celebrate: I now now had to focus on singing “Great Balls of Fire”. I should have been honored, but I was just annoyed. In my freshman year of college, my best friend and I formed a band we called The 3 Heads. It kind of started as a silly project for fun, but being allowed to write my own music and sing what I wanted to sing was a breath of fresh air. We recorded melodic rock tunes where I could show off my range and throw in my signature vocal runs here and there. This became our new passion, and we wanted to do this for a living, so we packed our bags and moved The 3 Heads from Humboldt to LA. We became pretty well known locally in the beach cities, and packed bars around town like St Rocke and The Brixton when it was still around. We even had a few opportunities to open for some well known artists at the time. We still have our albums on all the streaming platforms.
Being an original act, especially in LA where they are a dime a dozen, does NOT always pay the bills, and I started to be offered gigs with professional bands for weddings and private events again. This time, I had a new respect for it, as it put food on the table and paid the bills. My vocal versatility made me really marketable as a professional singer for hire. In the same set I can go from Stevie’s “Superstition” to “Sweet Child of Mine” and sing them both well. This lead to a lot of my work coming from word of mouth advertising. I now do this full time, and I work with multiple bands all over Southern California. I even get to travel all over the country for work, especially with a Jersey Boys tribute group, where I sing Frankie Valli’s parts. Now I actually embrace being a cover singer, because I was able to turn my gift into a profession, and I get to use it to bring a lot of joy to other people.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three biggest qualities that have earned me the reputation I have in my industry and keep companies calling me back (aside from talent which is specifically important in my industry) are my work ethic, discipline, and my professionalism, which includes being personable.
I have to show up on gig day, whether its a new company or one Ive worked with for years, ready to perform. That means Ive studied any songs thats arent already on my list front and back, with lyrics and melody perfected. Sometimes my wife knows the songs as well as I do by the end of the week because Ive been slaving over them all day every day.
Im also really, really strict about my vocal care. I cut out dairy, coffee, alcohol (actually never touched it), spicy food, anything that could cause any inflammation on my vocal chords. Before a demanding gig I use a steamer, I drink a LOT of water throughout the week, and I put myself on vocal rest afterward. That means sometimes I cant even talk.
Professionalism is really important in my industry. I really pride myself on my time management. LA traffic is really unpredictable so Im always factoring that into my drive. Im usually early to the gig because of that. If Im flying Im at the airport ON TIME for my flight. Being on time gives the ability to show up relaxed and actually be a good hang. A wedding can have a lot of down time, and we spend a lot of time hanging out backstage. Even though I don’t drink, I have a lot of energy and I know how to have fun. I love making my bandmates laugh and smile, especially if things are stressful. For those that do drink, they have to remember on these gigs they are still “on the clock” and they need to maintain the same professionalism.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
In my industry, being well rounded definitely makes you more marketable. If you are a phenomenal guitar player, and you are also a good singer, you will most likely be hired more often then the guitar player that doesn’t sing. That goes for anyone in the band (piano, bass, etc). This allows the company to potentially hire one less singer. If I was to suggest anything to you singers out there, learn an instrument as well. Not only it make you more marketable, it will perfect your pitch.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @vocalstrong
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/heath.francis.50
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@VocalStrong
- Other: Spotify: The 3 Heads, Heath Francis
Image Credits
Ladd Forde, Erin Jake Photography, Diana Lawrence, Jack Zellweger
