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She's been known as the "all-American Jewish lesbian folksinger," "Hot August Phranc,"
"Surferdyke Pal," and the "Cardboard Cobbler." And now, ladies and gentleman, welcome the Milkman.
Phranc's first full-length album in seven years, Milkman, was released October IOth, 1998, National Coming
Out Day. Produced by Warren A. Bruleigh (Violent Femmes) and released on Phranc's own Phancy Records,
Milkman delivers a mixture of humor and emotion in a narrative style that honors folk tradition yet
remains faithful to ideals informed by the songwriter's punk rock upbringing.
"People need to know I have a sense of humor," she says, jokingly, of the album's brighter moments. I am a
 lesbian, after all. I have to prove that I have a sense of humor." The set of eight originals and two
traditional folk songs is definitely not lacking for wit. "Cuffs," with its cross-generational pop culture
references, is a fitting tribute to the ever increasing length of the cuffs on Phranc's jeans. Other standout
tracks include "Ozzie and Harriet," a song inspired by the search for the perfect companion;
"The Handsome Cabin Boy," a traditional folk song with very non-traditional gender twists; and "Tzena Tzena,"
a Hebrew folk tune reclaimed for modem day life.
As if much of Phranc's work, the humorous is tempered with the serious, and Milkman is certainly no
exception. Examining themes of loss, the grieving process and, finally, redemption, the set brings a depth of
emotion touched on sparingly in the songwriter's previous efforts. With the trio of songs -- "They Lied,"
"Where Were You?" and "Gary" -- Phranc writes of the loss of her brother with the sensitivity and vulnerability
that affected her song writing process so deeply.
Phranc has taken the long road to becoming the Milkman. Take, for
instance, her foray into the world of visual art. During a recording hiatus
in 1992, Phranc debuted her three-dimensional pop art show at Highways in
Santa Monica as well as PS 122 in New York. With various styles of underwear
made out of intricately painted cardboard pieces, the shows were critically
lauded and earned Phranc the moniker the "Cardboard Cobbler."  The
butch boxer shorts piece carried her own "Jr. Dyke Brand" label. Continuing
with this success, Phranc was enlisted to participate in the Creative Times'
42nd Street Arts Project in 1994. The New York public art initiative featured
the "Phranc-o-mat" storefront installation which displayed her 3D cardboard
art in an Automat style.
It was during this process that Phranc's fascination with pop stars grew as fast as her reputation was evolving
as a pop art virtuoso. With that she premiered Hot August Phranc at Highways in August of 1992. More than
simply a send-up of Neil Diamond's songs, the series of performances enabled Phranc to pay tribute to a
songwriter she had grown to admire. The New York Times called her fist-shaking, gruff-voiced, spoof "a
brilliantly funny impersonation" on "the cutting edge of performance art." Resplendent in her wig and
glittering silver-lame shirt,d to reveal a carpet of faux chest hair, her slight figure oozed testosterone
as she offered a wickedly pointed staging of Diamond classics that trashed gender stereotypes.
As a matter of fact, Phranc has spent most of her 20-year career in the
music industry trashing gender stereotypes. As a member of the burgeoning
punk rock scene in LA during the late '70s, Phranc cut her teeth in  the
performing world as a member of the synthesizer band Nervous Gender as well
as the gothic reggae band Catholic Discipline. Her early exploits were even
documented in Penelope Spheeris' heralded "punkumentary," "The Decline of
Western Civilization." Just when the punk scene began to roil the commercial
rock infested waters of the LA music, industry, Phranc's music took a sharp
turn when she realized her fellow punks needed a history lesson.
"During that punk period, around 1979, wearing swastikas was very popular with punks," she says. "Because I
was Jewish, it really disturbed me so I wrote this song 'Take Off Your Swastika,' and I performed it on
acoustic guitar so the audience could hear the words. When I got heckled at some of the harder core shows, I
would just throw it back at them. I've always really respected the audience. That young slam dancing crowd
might be a wild crowd but it was very intelligent. So it was exciting. It was always thrilling for me to go
out there alone."
Diving into her new found folk edge, Phranc released her debut album, the
appropriately titled Folksinger, in 1985 on Rhino Records. The collection,
containing originals such as "Female Mud Wrestling" and "One o' the Girls,"
also boasted a powerful interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Lonesome Death of
Hattie Carroll." With unique, humorous songs about her swim team, female
sports heroes and, intelligent hairdressers, Spin magazine observed that
"'earnest' isn't a dirty word in Phranc's vocabulary, and neither is 'laugh'...A
sense of justice and a sense of humor don't necessarily cancel each other
out."
While celebrating the success of Folksinger, Phranc spent the next
several years touring with punk and alternative bands such as X, the Smiths,
Husker Du, the Dead Kennedys, the Pogues and the Violent Femmes Landing
a deal with Island Records, her follow-up, I Enjoy Being a Girl,
was released in 1989. The album contained instant Phranc classics such as
"Rodeo Parakeet," the aforementioned "Take Off Your Swastika" and the hushed,
moving tribute to her grandmothers, "Myriam and Esther" People magazine
suggested that Phranc "brings novelty, self-conscious 
sensitivity and self-referential sarcasm to the neo-folk genre."
Her third album, Positively Phranc, soon followed in 1991. Released to wide acclaim, the album contained many
memorable moments including "Hitchcock," a quirky gem co-written with Dave Alvin on which Phranc found
reflections of her lover in a cavalcade of movie heroines; "Surfer Girl," a stirring a cappella duet with
Syd Straw; and "Outta Here," an elegy for the friends Phranc's lost to AIDS. "Tipton" hauntingly recalled the
life and death of Billie Tipton, the remarkable Tacoma-based woman and jazz musician who passed as a man for
50 years. Two months after the album's release, Phranc embarked on a world tour with alternative icon Morrissey.
Returning to her indie roots, Phranc's next project, a five-song EP called
Goofyfoot, was released on Kill Rock Stars in 1995. The surf pop
collection featured guest appearances from members of Portland's Team Dresch
and Satan's Pilgrims as well as Bikini-Kill's Tobi Vail. Soon-to-be classic
originals such as "Bulldagger Swagger" and "Surferdyke Pal" were contrasted
with an interesting mix of cover songs On "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely
Daughter," Phranc's masterful ukulele strumming and deadpan, delivery added
a charming twist to the Herman's Hermits song. Her stirring cover of Bobbie
Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe" proved Phranc to be an equally powerful interpreter
of pop classics.
All "goofyness" aside, the humorous tone of the EP seemed to perfectly set the pace for Milkman. Why the
title? "I've always been intrigued and entranced by milkmen," Phranc says with a slight grin. "They're very
handsome and very old-fashioned, and I think it represents the old-fashionedness of me. I've been dressing
like a milkman for years. And whenever I'm feeling a bit low, I just put on my milkman uniform and go out to
cheer people up."
Phranc is currently writing songs for a new cd and is preparing for the summer release of her classic album Folksinger.
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