The Brothers Frantzich
Encyclopedia
The Brothers Frantzich, (Paul Frantzich, born November 30, 1966, Minneapolis, Minnesota
, Timothy Frantzich, born June 5, 1963, Minneapolis, Minnesota
) are male siblings. Paul and Tim are most known as singer songwriters and spiritual activists. They work with mythologists and poets, most notably Robert Bly
and Coleman Barks
and tour, perform and teach in the United States
and United Kingdom
. As performers they are best known for their steel-string guitar playing and close harmony
singing. They have been writing, recording and performing music since 1996 and have released 7 CDs. They live in Minneapolis, Minnesota
.
, Louvin Brothers
and Stanley Brothers they use a mix of various Travis picking and strumming techniques to build upon the blood harmony tradition, most commonly heard in Country Music
. They commonly teach and perform in poetry workshops within the United States
and United Kingdom
.
"The Brothers Frantzich are crammed with spirit; their music flies everywhere." -National Book Award
winner and current Poet Laureate
of Minnesota
, Robert Bly
,
The acoustic duo's approach to harmony singing commonly uses parallel thirds and fifths. Single vocal performances are not uncommon. Their approach to song writing appears to be collaborative.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Timothy Frantzich, born June 5, 1963, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
) are male siblings. Paul and Tim are most known as singer songwriters and spiritual activists. They work with mythologists and poets, most notably Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
and Coleman Barks
Coleman Barks
Coleman Barks is an American poet. Although he neither speaks nor reads Persian, he is nonetheless renowned as an interpreter of Rumi and other mystic poets of Persia.- Biographical notes:...
and tour, perform and teach in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. As performers they are best known for their steel-string guitar playing and close harmony
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
singing. They have been writing, recording and performing music since 1996 and have released 7 CDs. They live in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
.
Style
Influenced by the close harmony of The Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Louvin Brothers
Louvin Brothers
The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
and Stanley Brothers they use a mix of various Travis picking and strumming techniques to build upon the blood harmony tradition, most commonly heard in Country Music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. They commonly teach and perform in poetry workshops within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
"The Brothers Frantzich are crammed with spirit; their music flies everywhere." -National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
winner and current Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
,
The acoustic duo's approach to harmony singing commonly uses parallel thirds and fifths. Single vocal performances are not uncommon. Their approach to song writing appears to be collaborative.
Early career
Tim and Paul Frantzich were songwriters and members of Minneapolis bands A Few (1984–87), Ruby (1990–1994) and Ride Ruby Ride (1994–1996). Songs from their Ruby Socratic Gilligan CD were mixed by David Z.David Z.
David Z is a music producer, engineer, mixer, and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota who currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He is most well known for his long-standing work with Prince, but has also contributed to award winning albums by Etta James, Billy Idol, BoDeans, Buddy Guy, Neneh...
Currently
The Frantzichs tour internationally. They have an annual presence at national poetry conferences and perform regularly in prisons, clubs and churches. Brother Paul founded the 501c3 music business, Feed Them With Music in 2008 . Feed Them With Music (FTWM) is a music revolution. A non-profit organization that feeds the malnourished globally and domestically with a small percentage of revenue from live concert ticket sales, artist’s merchandise, music downloads and live web-casts. FTWM manages and financially supports a portfolio of proven global feeding programs. Artists maintain control of their content and receive a larger portion of profits through FTWM than the tired major-label record deals of old. Now known as FRAN-Zik (www.fran-zik.com), paul has become a solo artist and resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. He is currently finishing his first independent album titled “Feed Them With Music” co-produced by his Feed Them With Music partner and photographer, Ashley Mosher.Discography
- Sibling Revelry (1997),
- Lifescapes - Sailing (1997),
- Hook 'em, Preach 'em. Set 'em Free (2002),
- Brothers Frantzich LIVE (2003),
- Hymns: Streams of Mercy (2004),
- Harmonium (2004),
- Brothers Frantzich Christmas (2005),
- Heart Wing (2007)
External links
- http://www.brothersf.com (The Brothers Frantzich Official Website)
- http://www.feedthemwithmusic.com (Feed Them With Music)
- (http://www.fran-zik.com] (Paul Fran-zik Official Website)
- (http://www.brothertimothy.net) (Timothy's website)