ROCK4 Fender Music Foundation, Pete Francis (of Dispatch)

Producer ERIC SEADER is pleased to announce “ROCK4 FENDER MUSIC FOUNDATION,” a benefit concert for Fender Music Foundation - a national 501(c)(3) charity which provides instruments to underfunded music education programs throughout the country. The event will feature PETE FRANCIS (of DISPATCH) and hot local talent: funkmaster JASON YUDOFF & THE NEW HOTNESS, burlesque rockers JOLIE LAIDE, hip hop artist PATH P, singer/songwriters ERIC JAY and JOAN & BAILEY, and NY's premiere rock, pop, and soul singing group, GOTHAM ROCK CHOIR. In addition to the wide variety of musical talent, there will be awesome raffle prizes and a silent auction featuring rare autographed music memorabilia donated by Fender.

Guitarist, bassist, and vocalist Pete Francis Heimbold originally gained a cult following as one-third of the group Dispatch.
Heimbold was all of 21 years old when he met up with guitarist/bassist/songwriter Chad Urmston and drummer Brad Corrigan at Middlebury College in Vermont, where the three formed a band under the moniker One Fell Swoop, but soon changed the name to Dispatch due to a St. Louis group also with the name One Fell Swoop. Between 1995 and 2001, Dispatch put out five releases and toured the East Coast and Midwest, regularly sold out shows, and developed a strong following. After six-odd years of touring, the group decided to take an extended hiatus and Heimbold seized the opportunity by cutting his first solo record, Untold. He chose to release the album under his first and middle name, Pete Francis (only slightly confusing fans of Dispatch), which served as a signal to the new direction he was taking in his songwriting. Untold was released to positive reviews in May of 2003.