Born in 1974, Ryan Francesconi later grew up in the forests of far Northern California. After a childhood dominated by guitar solos, bad haircuts and foggy coasts, Ryan attended California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, earning degrees in Guitar, Composition and Electronic Music. In addition to formal music studies with guitarist Miroslav Tadic and composers David Rosenboom and Lucky Mosko, Ryan studied programming with Soundhack creator, Tom Erbe, and developed the software, Spongefork, which became a widely used tool for creative sound manipulation. Through the music of Bela Bartok and Tadic's introduction to Macedonian folk music, Ryan discovered his love for the Balkans' folk music, which formed the center of his life for the next ten years. He traveled to Bulgaria and Greece in search of the tambura, kaval and bouzouki and brought back instruments and inspiration for new music. His groups, The Toids and Trio Mopmu, were formed, later releasing three albums of Eastern European inflected compositions.

After returning to San Francisco in 2000, Ryan began recording in other styles, releasing three albums of ambient manipulated acoustic music under the RF moniker as well as a variety of compilations and collaborations. Using his programming skills to his advantage, RF applied subtle electronic coloring to field recordings, vocals and classical instrumentation to create a rich personal sound world. During this time, he was often associated with electronic musicians, yet Ryan still remained most at home with acoustic composition.

While teaching a summer workshop in Bulgarian music, Ryan met California harpist and singer Joanna Newsom, and the two began to scheme ways to make some music together. In 2006, while recording Joanna for Ryan and Lili De La Mora's album, "Eleven Continents," Joanna asked Ryan to help convert the orchestral parts of her upcoming release, "Ys," into something that could be toured as a band. Condensing the original Van Dyke Parks scores to a few instruments required a few weeks of frantic scribbling on staff paper after which they toured constantly for the next year and recorded the Ys Street Band EP. Later, Ryan reworked the original full scores again for the live orchestral performances of "Ys" in the US, Europe and Australia in 2007 and 2008.

Loving the northern air, Ryan now lives in Seattle. His latest project is working on an acoustic guitar and vocals album, which might be described as if the English Nick Drake was in fact Bulgarian.


Ryan Francesconi Discography:
2007 :: [RF & Lili De La Mora], Eleven Continents, CD (Rowing At Sea / Time Release Records, USA)
2006 :: [RF], Views of Distant Towns, CD (Plop, Japan)
2004 :: [RF], Falls, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)
2002 :: [RF], Interno, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)

Other Releases:
2006 :: [The Toids], Unblocked Ears, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)
2005 :: [Trio Mopmu], Torta Bulgarska, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)
2001 :: [The Toids], Ruupert Dances in Fins, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)

Appears On:
2007 :: [Joanna Newsom], Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band, CD/LP (Drag City)
2002 :: [Dan Cantrell], Divided Loyalties, CD (Odd Shaped Case)
1999 :: [Adam Lane], Hollywood Wedding, CD (Cadence Jazz Records)

V/A Compilations:
2008 :: [RF], V/A, Moving Through Favourite Places, CD, (Audiobulb, UK)
2007 :: [RF & Lili De La Mora], V/A, Little Darla Has a Little Treat For You v.25, CD (Darla, USA)
2007 :: [RF & Lili De La Mora], V/A, Schole Compilation Vol.1, CD (Schole, Japan)
2006 :: [RF & Neal Morgan], V/A, Family Album, CD (Grassroots Records, USA)
2006 :: [RF & Sawako], V/A, Forms, CD (Intikrec, Japan)
2006 :: [RF], V/A, Summer Gate. Sun Made of Gave, MP3/CDR (Luv Sound, USA)
2006 :: [RF], V/A, Springs, CD (Odd Shaped Case, USA)
1999 :: [RF], V/A, ICMA, Cyberquilt, Interactive CD-ROM Anthology (International Computer Music Association, USA)