schatzi [shaht-see] noun. German slang.
darling; sweetheart.

boffin [bof-in] noun. British slang.
scientist; technical expert.

Schatzi + The String Boffin, based out of ​Northwest Florida, was formed by siblings, Dannica Lowery and Ben Parsons, who cultivated their musicianship from an early age… under the (benevolent) scrutiny of Mark Lowery, musical patriarch. “We were exposed to music from day one, with our Daddy, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents- literally, everyone on our father’s side- playing music,” says Dannica. “We all just have that innate ability to understand the language of music. I feel extremely fortunate.”

“Having multiple family members that play music has allowed us to play in a group since childhood,” Ben adds, “a setting in which we learned something from everyone.”

Their family also has a rich history of storytelling, which inspired Dannica’s interest in lyricism. Dannica’s love for language, a fire that has been fueled by her mother, Kathy- a poet with several published pieces, has proven complimentary to her musical prowess. “We have so many outrageous familial legends,” Dannica says. “For instance, it is told that, in the early 1930’s, my Great Uncle Ralph on my mother’s side fell in love with a Cuban banana farmer’s daughter, sailed away with her to Cuba, and was lost at sea. No one ever heard from him again… seemingly erased forever.” Dannica began performing her stories for others to hear along the Gulf Coast in the Summer of 2008.

While Dannica was developing her artistry as a songwriter, Ben was honing his skills as an instrumentalist. Catalyzed in his early teens by Blues greats, such as Freddie King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, he spent the majority of his teenage years learning as many styles as possible. “I was immediately drawn to these guys’ abilities to move the audience with their instruments, as if having verbal communication with them,” says Ben. After seeing world-renowned classical guitarist, David Russell, on a whim when he was just sixteen, Ben’s long-lasting love of classical guitar was born, which ultimately led to a his pursuit of a degree in Music Theory and Composition at Florida State University.

“Strangely enough, Ben and I only played together during family gatherings and holidays,” says Dannica. “I’m not entirely sure why the notion never occurred to either of us to form a band. Maybe we were just too busy doing our own things.” Ben was focused primarily on academics, while, in the interim, Dannica released her solo EP, “Mind Games,” which features three collaborations with Megan and Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe, in March of 2013.​

In April 2013, Dannica met Sidney Nelson, a music industry consultant, who later became her manager and confidant, and prompted her to go on tour that Summer to promote Mind Games. “Entertaining that idea was terrifying in the best possible way,” says Dannica. “I had never performed outside of the Gulf Coast realm before, but I knew that I wanted to share that experience with my brother.” “At that point,” adds Ben, “it had been a relatively long time since we had played music together, so when she called me and asked if I would start sitting in at her gigs in preparation for the impending tour, I was like, ‘Hell yeah, sister.'”

Now, with an eight week national tour under their belts, Dannica and Ben have been feircely and tirelessly preparing to release their first full-length album with producer, Donnie Sundal (Sam Bush, Junior Marvin), who also produced Dannica’s solo EP, Mind Games. “Sometimes it’s an extremely difficult process, “says Dannica. “Creating art is such a vulnerable undertaking, and we have different creative methodologies. So, yeah, we fight, make up, rinse, repeat- all in the name of our artistic vision. But, really, though, there is nothing better than making music with my brother.” “Each song turns out differently than we both anticipate,” Ben adds. “That’s because we are two separate entities pushing and pulling at the content until a compromise is reached.” “With that said,” Dannica includes, “the result is always better than either of us could have ever individually imagined. It’s a constant learning process, for sure.”