Preston Frank

Preston Frank (born 1947) is an American zydeco musician.

Frank was born in Oberlin, Louisiana, of Louisiana Creole ancestry, and grew up in Soileau, Louisiana. Frank's great-grandfather, Joseph Frank Jr., played accordion, and his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Frank Sr., played fiddle, sometimes with fiddler Dennis McGee. Though both Joseph Sr. and Joseph Jr. were known musicians in the area, neither ever recorded. His father, Paul Frank, worked with and played guitar with fiddler Canray Fontenot. "Swallow" in both the band name and song title was a homophonous misspelling of Frank's hometown, Soileau.

In 1982, Frank and the family band recorded an album with producer Lee Lavergne of Lanor Records. The Preston Frank Family Band released several more albums until 1991's Let's Dance. Festival International, Blackpot Festival, Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, the Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival, and the Atlanta Harvest Festival.

Frank cultivated an early interest in music in his son, Keith Frank, who would go on to lead the family band at accordion. In an interview, Frank said, "I started Keith young, him. He played my style at first, then he changed to Boozoo’s style, then he went to another style, then he went to his own style. But there’s still some of me in there."

In 2023, Preston Frank & the Frank Family Band released Seventy-Five, an album to celebrate Frank's 75th birthday. A reviewer referred to Frank as "one of the last living links to traditional Creole music."

Discography