Bob Franke
b. Robert J. Franke, 1947, Hamtramck, Michigan, USA. Singer and songwriter Franke began his career in 1965, while still a student at the University of Michigan. One of the first people to perform at the famous Ark Coffeehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he graduated in English Literature from University, and moved to New England. Well respected by other musicians in the field, Franke has appeared at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, and a whole variety of venues in over half the states in the USA. In 1990 he was nominated Outstanding Folk Act by the Boston Music Awards. In addition to performing, he has run workshops in songwriting, and guitar, as well as lecturing on the blues at Boston University's College of Basic Studies. Franke is also an extremely versatile instrumentalist, accompanying himself on 12 string guitar/banjo/pennywhistle/lap steel guitar. As a writer, his songs have been covered by such talents as June Tabor, John McCutcheon, Claudia Schmidt, and numerous others. In August 1990 he wrote a set of songs for a ballet, commissioned by the Dance Company of San Francisco, entitled THE VELVETEEN RABBIT. He has also composed two cantatas, as well as a number of hymns for the Church of St. Andrew, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. IN THIS NIGHTWAS named number 1 album of 1991 by Boston radio station WUMB-FM, and was further nominated by the Boston Music Awards as Outstanding Folk Album of 1992. Despite appearances at the prestigious Philadelphia and Kerrville Folk Festivals, he deserves to be a more widely acknowledged figure.