Recording Executive/producer
Franks studied commercial music while pursuing his bachelor's degree in business administration at Georgia State University. Upon graduation, he entered a position as Sales and Promotions Manager for Atlanta based MBM Records. He also served as Director for A & R for its family of labels including Encore and ASL and coordinated its publishing company. He quickly discovered that independent bluegrass and gospel music recordings were difficult to market amongst mainstream retailers but he set out to make the music he loved available in as many outlets as he could.
Bluegrass label Atteiram Records also called upon Franks as a graphic artist and liner note writer using him to design album covers and cassette inserts for many of their artists.
As he rose in popularity on television, he used his celebrity status to break down the barriers that he previously faced as a record executive and many other bluegrass and gospel artists encountered by calling mainstream and Christian retail buyers and store managers directly using his podium from NBC and CBS to assist record companies and distributors in marketing his and other bluegrass and gospel product.
Through the effort his products and many other artists sold by the companies he worked with became available in record chains throughout the country. He produced his own recordings and also shared his studio expertise with other artists.
At a time when the industry was made of largely of established stars rather than rising new performers, Franks joined fellow rising star Alison Krauss as the most visible fiddlers and personalities of the industry in the late eighties and early nineties.
With Franks' widespread notoriety he gained by weekly network exposure, he worked to expose bluegrass and Southern Gospel to this new audience appearing on radio and television talk, news and entertainment shows. Franks continues to appear on radio stations in all formats, television stations throughout the country, and gives print interviews talking about and sharing the music he loves.
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