Cleve Francis

Francis began his music career as a folk and blues singer and songwriter in the late 1960s while still a graduate student at the College of William & Mary, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1969.[3] He attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine), eventually becoming a cardiologist. However, in the late 1980s he switched his focus to country music, signing first to Playback Records. His debut country album Last Call for Love was released that year. The album included a single titled "Love Light", which was also made into a music video.[4]

After seeing the video for "Love Light" on CMT, record producer Jimmy Bowen signed Francis to Liberty Records in 1992.[4] Between 1992 and 1994, Francis released three studio albums on Liberty, in addition to charting four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. In 1994 Francis returned to his medical practice in Northern Virginia. He is president of Mount Vernon Cardiology Associates.[5] Francis has performed at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and has a live album recorded there in 2006 called Storytime.[6] In 2022, Francis released "Beyond the Willow Tree" on Forager Records, a remastered reissue of his 1970 self-released folk album, "Follow Me," which includes several other folk songs Francis had recorded as demos in 1968 and 1970.[7]