Ansambel Franca Miheliča

Ansambel Franca Miheliča is a Slovenian narodnozabavna (folk-pop) ensemble based in Sodražica, in the Ribnica region. It counts 1970 as its founding year, and for its originality it is often placed beside the two founders of the genre, Slavko Avsenik's Ansambel bratov Avsenik and Lojze Slak and his ensemble.

Its roots go back to 1966, when accordionist Franc Mihelič formed a trio with guitarist Boris Fojkar and Milan Vesel on double bass. They played Avsenik and Slak songs at village dances. In 1968 they began performing with the siblings Franc and Bernarda Lovšin; Bernarda later married the band leader. After a break for Mihelič's military service they returned in 1970 with Benjamin Ličer on guitar, won a competition at Barje that autumn and were invited onto the radio show Koncert iz naših krajev. That broadcast is counted as the start of the ensemble.

They quickly became known on Slovenian radio and television and found success abroad as well. Their 1973 debut LP Se Ribn'čan spremenil ni sold in a gold edition, and the 1970s brought a run of albums such as Dolina Ribniška, Cerkniško jezero and Vesela polka, vince in pesem. Alongside the Slovenian records they released a long line of German-language albums, including Ein Herz voll Liebe, Goldmarie and Renate, and in German they are billed as Ensemble Franz Mihelic.

The ensemble has played across practically all of Slovenia as well as in South Tyrol and Austria, and in 1977 it made a six-week tour of the United States and Canada. It has recorded eight television shows of its own and appeared seven times on the Austrian programme Musikantenstadl. The line-up has changed often: guitarist Milan Kokalj has been with them since 1981, the Mihelič couple's son Tadej took over the bass, and in 2004 Ivan Hudnik replaced longtime singer Franc Lovšin. Since 1997 they have performed again as a trio with two singers.

Anniversaries have been marked with big concerts: the 35th in Ribnica in 2005, recorded by RTV Slovenija, and the 40th in Ribnica in November 2011, where the guests Fantje s Praprotna joined them for "V dolini tihi" in tribute to Lojze Slak, who had died a month earlier. For the 45th, in 2015, the writer Ivan Sivec published the book Glasba je moj čarobni svet, released with a CD of the same name.

The younger Ansambel Roka Žlindre, also from Sodražica, models itself on them, and in 2015 the two ensembles recorded "Nasmehni se" together, with music by Franc Mihelič. The ensemble's best-known songs include "Kjer lastovke gnezdijo", "Ob koncu tedna", "Veseli Ribn'čan", "Vračam se domov", "Vsi na ples" and "Zadnja planika".