“A superb, moody San Francisco band… hauntingly ethereal.” —Corbas.com
Homespun melodies fueled by evocative lyrics, wafting swells of fiddle, and a riveting rhythm section. The organic yet driving music of Frances8 appeals to a growing audience moved by intimate, honest depictions of love, loss, and everything in between. The genre-straddling acoustic/electric group is unafraid of the sparse moments that linger long enough to expose the heart and soul of the song.
We’re kind of our own thing. But streaming services and radio programmers regularly play us alongside Cowboy Junkies, Lucinda Williams, Cat Power, Mazzy Star, Iron & Wine, Neko Case, and Calexico.
Frances8 is
Nicole Laby: Singer-Songwriter and Guitar
Revi Airborne-Williams: Violin, Viola and vocals
Mark Fassett : Lead Guitar and vocals
Jason Roberts: Upright Bass
Why the name Frances8?
Ever see the movie Logan’s Run? It’s set in a world where people with names like Logan5, Francis7, Jessica6 and Holly13 are trapped in a dystopia where they’re not allowed to live past 30. We don’t know if a movie released in 1976 needs a spoiler alert, but here’s one anyway:
Some of them escape.
Singer-songwriter Nicole Laby dreamed up Frances8, a woman who breaks free of the youth-worshipping death culture and confronts the task of living a life in full–the bittersweet gifts of passing years, the heartbreaks mingled with happiness, the strength that comes from sometimes thriving, sometimes just surviving.
What kind of songs would Frances8 write? What sort of group would bring those songs to life, and share them with the world? We’ve been exploring those questions since our first album Twilight Beggars, and have have continued to do so in recordings and performances ever since.