McKnight and Harper met Francis at a calypso night in a pub the singer was running at the time in Sunderland[2] and formed the band in December 2008.
[3] The band made their live debut in Christmas 2008[4] after friend Steven Dennis joined on bass.
[3][5] Other band names that were considered included Pop Sex and The New Groomers, but they settled on Frankie & The Heartstrings.
[8] Further gigging continued throughout 2010 including slots at the Glastonbury Festival, Summer Sundae and Latitude Festival, overseas shows in Europe, New York and Tokyo and support slots across the UK supporting The Futureheads and Edwyn Collins, who produced the band's debut album in the late summer and early Autumn at his West Heath Studios in London.
In 2015, after bassist Steven Dennis left the band, they were joined by Michael Matthews of This Ain't Vegas and Sky Larkin.
Recorded in late summer 2014 at Leeds' Suburban Homes studio with MJ of Hookworms at the controls, it was also the first release to feature Ross Millard.
The band later toured both on their own and as support for The Charlatans, with Simon Hubbard on guitar and James Leonard Hewitson joining them on brass for a number of their dates.