Brian Francis performs "Little White Dove"

Hondo Mesa Records Recording artist, Brian Francis, performing "Little White Dove" at Blue Frog in Cortland, NY (3/5/10). Video from Fuzzacious via his YouTube channel.

Jazz Central is where Brian Francis will be

Hondo Mesa Records recording artist, Brian Francis, is back in Syracuse for a gig this Friday at Jazz Central. Come on down. I'll see you there. Many will remember Kh'Mi's two-set show at a "Hondo Mesa Records Presents" evening a few months ago. The place was out of control! Brian and his band, Kh'Mi, tore it up. The place was hoppin' and rockin'. Acoustic Roots music... yo.. let's find out what that is!!!!!!

New SL HQ for Hondo Mesa Records

Hondo Mesa Records is building a new building in Second Life. Here is a shot of the current HeadQuarters. We will miss it. But the new place is going to be cool. Our man in Europe, Phil, has a great idea and plans. Once we get into our new digs, we will schedule regular performances of HMR artists -- Bara Jonson, Larry Hoyt, HondoMesa, Brian Francis, maybe even 3rd & Main. Stay tuned.

More From the Road with Brian Francis

Still traveling through the US, the talented Brian Francis of the roots band Kh'Mi, has sent another installment of "prose from the road." Keep 'em coming Brian. To hear clips of Brian's music on Hondo Mesa Records, please check out CDbaby.com or itunes.





So it’s a day and two solid nights now since I left Lubbock, and the whole time I’ve been in the van.
Stopping only for gas and food, I sleep in the back. A few hours here and there, mostly at rest stops.

It’s restless sleep, dark and dreamless.

I wake feeling groggy, disoriented. Feelings I overcome with copious amounts of coffee, by pinching myself, by singing loudly along with the radio- what ever it takes.

I’ve passed through the flat lands of the North Texas pan handle, through the lonely red expanse of New Mexico, and up into the mountains and high desert of Arizona- and then,
right around midnight Friday: on into California.

There’s a check station at the border. Uniformed men with guns asking if I’ve brought any fruit, nuts or vegetable matter with me. One asks the questions, smiling, while another shines a flash light through my back windows, looking at what’s inside. I tell them I’ve got none of these things they’re looking for. They wave me forward.
As I pass through the gate I see a U-haul off to my right, parked on the shoulder of the road. It’s back door is open. Two men in civilian cloths are emptying it’s contents out onto the side of the highway, while two of the uniformed men watch. One of these holds a flash light, the other is cradling a shotgun.

I drive till 3 in the morning, pull off into a truck park and tuck myself in amongst the big rigs. The drivers leave them running all night to save on fuel, and the humming of their big diesel engines fills my ears as I fall to sleep.

Once again it’s a restless sleep,
dark and dreamless.

Brian Francis Traveling the US Looking for...

Hondo Mesa Records recording artist, Brian Francis of the fantastic roots band, Kh'Mi, is traveling across the United States in search of... well, I'm not sure. Brian is probably sure. Below is a except from his rough draft "essay" (but really it's a burgeoning ethnography). I'll post more if you are interested.
Regards,
Dennis


I’m not here at Tom’s to drink Daiquiris'.

All day I’ve been taking the back roads across Texas: driving through a rolling ocean of grays and greens at seventy plus (the speed limit in most places). To my eyes it seemed a scrolling sea of dots flickering past,
glimpsed but not really seen.
All day I’ve been doing this and at last I’ve got as far as Lubbock, and I’m hoping to catch the second half of the game. Having little cash, Tom’s happens to be my only option, all the other places on the strip either have a steep cover or no television.
This is my reality, and presently it’s all about Tom’s.

Kh'Mi's Limited Edition CD

The Medicine Show

Kh’Mi

Acoustic/Roots Music/Americana. The crossroads where jazz and country meet.

The Medicine Show (HMR005) Limited Edition - CD-R Special run for Jazz Central (Syracuse, NY) Concert (out of the studio just days before their big Jazz Central show, Brian Francis packaged Kh'Mi's newest CD for attending fans... now available, for a limited time, to the rest of us)