Vancouver Indigenous Singer-Songwriter Francis Baptiste Finds Therapeutic in “Aspirin for the Soul” + Tour Dates Introduced
There ain’t no Aspirin in your soul. However Francis Baptiste has a tune that comes shut. The Vancouver-based Indigenous singer-songwriter returns with “Aspirin for the Soul,” a searing folk-rock confession about ache, therapeutic, and the bruised fantastic thing about survival.
Born and raised on the Osoyoos Indian Band Reservation in Oliver, BC, Baptiste has spent the final 20 years in East Vancouver, the place his lived expertise—habit, fatherhood, poverty, and therapeutic—have develop into the uncooked materials for his music. “Aspirin for the Soul” marks a brand new chapter in his songwriting: blunt, bluesy, and bruised with hope. “I’d commerce struggling any day/commerce a heartache for a hangover,” he sings. “There ain’t no aspirin in your soul. Oh no, ain’t no fixing what’s been broke”.
The only is a preview of his forthcoming album Lived Expertise in East Vancouver, out this October.
“This tune is about not understanding take care of trauma, exterior of gear,” Baptiste explains. “I can numb my ache with medication and booze, and take care of the hangover when it comes. However there’s no aspirin for my soul”.
In basic Francis style, the tune was recorded with a powerhouse group of musicians from throughout the Vancouver scene. Baptiste handles vocals and guitar, joined by Ricardo Pequenino (piano, vocals), Rob Thomson (bass), Max Ley (drums), Emmett Jerome (lead guitar), Tegan Wallgrin (violin), Feven Kidane (trumpet), Darryl Havers (organ), and even a flute cameo by Mike Allen of 5 Alarm Funk.
This single arrives with a shocking video filmed on the DUDES Membership, the lads’s well being group the place Francis now works in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“The video is centered on restoration and speaking circles,” he shares. “I’ve spent years sitting in these circles, speaking about trauma and therapeutic. It felt proper to movie it the place I stay that actuality day-after-day”.
Baptiste first turned heads together with his 2022 debut Sneqsilx (Household), sung partially in Nsyilxcən, the endangered language of the Syilx individuals. His follow-up, Senklip, the Trickster, continued to discover intergenerational trauma, oral traditions, and his position as an Indigenous father. The Georgia Straight referred to as his music “bluesy, bruised, and blossoming.” CBC praised his honesty, calling him “unsparingly candid”.
Now, Baptiste is taking that honesty on the street. He kicks off a packed BC summer time tour beginning Might 24 at Portside Pub in Vancouver, with dates in Penticton, North Vancouver, Revelstoke, Okanagan Falls, and extra. He’ll make stops in Ottawa and Toronto this July earlier than returning to Vancouver for the Vine Arts Competition on August 15. His full tour dates are beneath.
“Aspirin for the Soul” is such a vivid and uncooked title. What was the primary line or feeling that sparked this tune for you?
It began with the opening line, “I’d commerce struggling any day.” I’ve struggled with habit my entire life, with medication and alcohol, from a younger age. And it appeared my addictions solely bought worse as I bought older. Lots of substance use comes from dealing with trauma. We search to ease our struggling with medication and alcohol, however in the end, it simply results in extra struggling, struggling immediately from habit. In the long run, you commerce one sort of struggling, the underlying trauma, for one more sort of struggling, the comedown from substances. The factor is, deep traumas are sophisticated, and we don’t at all times know the wholesome solution to strategy them. In order that opening line, I wrote it as my method of claiming, “I don’t know the way to deal with what I’m coping with proper now, so I’m gonna abuse substances and take care of that hangover when it comes.”
You’ve stated this tune marks a brand new chapter in your songwriting. What shifted for you — emotionally, musically, or spiritually — whereas writing it?
Songwriting for me could be very autobiographical. It’s a type of remedy for me, like journaling. All of those songs are issues that occurred to me. Every album is a snapshot of what my life was consumed by that yr. My first album was very a lot in regards to the separation from my ex-wife, and the soul looking out and reconnection with neighborhood (and language) that adopted. The second album was centered on fatherhood. I had gained full custody of my son, and my focus was on studying of to be a father, and instilling in my son a way of what it means to be Syilx (Indigenous). This new album could be very a lot centered on my habit and restoration. Emotionally, musically, spiritually–I felt I wanted to handle my addictions, face them head-on, earlier than I may transfer ahead as an individual. And as a father, companion, musician, every thing.
The video was filmed on the DUDES Membership, the place you now work. What did it imply to convey your music into that therapeutic area, and the way do these worlds — music and neighborhood well being — overlap for you?
Every thing is related. The work I do on the DUDES Membership helps the artwork I create, and helps the sort of particular person I’m changing into and the sort of neighborhood member I need to be. The DUDES Membership means loads to me. I believe the work we do there may be essential, and that feeds into the route I’m taking my life and my artwork. My coworker, Dakota, might be seen within the video, within the speaking circle, and smudge. And Duane Howard, who is an outstanding actor–he’s been in motion pictures like The Revenant–can be within the video. I met him by way of the DUDES Membership.
Along with your summer time tour underway, how does it really feel to take such private, lived tales and carry out them in entrance of crowds throughout the nation?
Sharing experiences is what I believe artwork is all about. It’s what makes artwork such an efficient solution to join individuals, convey individuals collectively. I believe artwork has a job in de-stigmatizing habit. I attempt to be open about sharing my experiences in order that different individuals can relate to them, so different addicts don’t really feel so alone of their struggles, and so non-addicts can see the humanity in addicts. In Vancouver, we now have the Downtown Eastside, and lots of people demonize that neighbourhood. There’s an absence of empathy from anybody who’s by no means skilled habit, and it simply exacerbates the problems that face the DTES. The brand new album, which is titled “Lived Expertise in East Vancouver” (which comes out October 24, 2025), is solely about attempting to be open about habit within the hopes of constructing empathy with these fighting habit.
Upcoming Reveals:
Might 24 – Portside Pub, Vancouver, BC
Might 31 – Crescent Hill Vineyard, Penticton, BC
June 14 – Arts within the Backyard, North Vancouver, BC
June 21 – Indigenous Day Celebration, Revelstoke, BC
June 22 – Rise and Shine, Okanagan Falls, BC
July 1 – Canada Day Celebration, Penticton, BC
July 5 – Khatsahlano Competition, Vancouver, BC
July 24 – Avant-Garde Bar, Ottawa, BC
July 27 – The Bell and the Beacon, Toronto, BC
August 15 – Vine Arts Competition, Vancouver, BC
August 30 – Penticton Farmers Market, Penticton, BC
August 31 – Drug Overdose Prevention Day, Penticton, BC
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