Michael Franti wants you to vote.
He's just not going to tell you what box to fill in.
"The words in my songs are enough. I don't have to beat people over the head with the message," Franti said from his home in San Francisco during a tour break.
Along with his longtime band, Spearhead, Franti has a history of creating a blend of rock, hip-hop, reggae and funk that incorporates societal messages.
He is touring behind the group's latest, the quality, reggae-heavy "All Rebel Rockers," and will play the Rialto Theatre on Sunday night.
Despite that Arizona is generally seen as a red state, Franti said the politics of a town don't come into play for his shows.
"I don't really cater what I do or change what I say or the songs that I play to what I think the political mix of the audience is," Franti said. "The first thing is just to make everyone have fun."
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What's your take on the state of the country right now?
"I'm really excited. I think there's been a lot of neglect in recent years about our nation's energy policy, about the wars that are taking place in the Middle East because of our dependency on oil, and not enough attention being paid to climate change. And now, the economy. People are just beginning to feel the effects of the economic state. All these things together are on the front page of the election. And I think that's really important. I've never endorsed a political candidate, but I do endorse political ideas."
Why have you never endorsed a candidate?
The main reason is I wanted to get behind somebody with all my energy. I've never felt strongly enough about any candidate that I've ever seen. I also really believe it takes everybody to deal with these issues, and I'm tired of living in a country that is divided between red states and blue states. I encourage everyone to vote. I don't want my endorsement of a candidate to sway anybody one way or another. I hope people find as much information as they can on their own and form their own opinions."
Do you think musicians have the ability to sway people?
"I don't know. I think most people are attracted to a certain type of music because it speaks to wherever their heart is. In mine, I speak directly to political issues, but I don't speak, 'Hey, vote for this guy or vote for the other guy.' I never thought that was really my place to do that."
There's a picture on your MySpace of someone giving Barack Obama one of your albums. Did you ever hear anything back from that?
"No, I haven't heard anything back directly from him. But a few years ago I sent my film 'I Know I'm Not Alone' (a documentary on Franti's travels in Iraq, Palestine and Israel) to George Bush. I never heard back from him."
What are the biggest issues that we need to face right now?
"I'm somebody who's been to Iraq, so I guess I still have a place in my heart for our young men and women who are fighting over there. To me, it was an ill-conceived war based on falsehoods and we need to bring a conclusion to that war. But at the same time, the reason that we are there is because of our dependency on oil."
I read somewhere about how you saw the frustration in the soldiers' eyes over there. How widespread was that?
"Well, I met people there who felt they were doing their duty. They were doing what they were asked to do. But I met one guy who said, 'I signed up for the Army on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after 9/11, because I thought I was going to be doing something to protect America. I was told Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam was involved in 9/11, and now I've found that both those things were lies. I'm wondering what the hell am I doing here.'
"And I said, 'Well, what do you think you're doing here?'
"This was in 2004, and he said, 'Well, at least after all this we'll have cheap oil.' "
• What: Michael Franti and Spearhead in concert.
• When: 8 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
• Cost: $28 in advance, $32 day of show. $31 reserved balcony seats in advance.
• More info: spearheadvibrations.com and rialtotheatre.com.
