Tracy Bonham + Bleu + Common Rotation August 9, 2010

A native of Eugene, Oregon, Bonham began singing at age 5, playing the violin at 9, and piano at age 14. After transfering to Berklee College of Music to study voice, leaving her full violin scholarship at the University of Southern California behind, she began to write her own songs on the guitar. It was 1994 and the young musician had decided it was time to express her own feelings and not those of composers from a different era. She proved to be a quick study; Her 1996 major label debut, The Burdens of Being Upright (Island), went gold, spawning the hit single "Mother Mother", leading to a pair of GrammyTM nominations as well as an MTV Video Award nomination (her video featured her real mother as well as her step father).

Her next record, Down Here, was significantly delayed while the label endured a series of dramatic changes. Island Records had been bought and sold, ultimately landing under the Universal umbrella and merging with hip hop label Def Jam. By the time Down Here was released in the year 2000 the climate had changed exponentially. Just as quickly as female singer-songwriters had emerged on the rock scene in the mid nineties, they were escorted right out the same door in the name of over-saturation and backlash. Bonham found herself frustrated and eventually left Island/Def Jam to regain her independence and find her passion for music again. She began playing in smaller venues, mostly acoustic, reconnecting with herself and her fans. From this experience she met and began collaborating with other artists.

It was at a little club called Fez in downtown Manhattan where Bonham found herself performing in front of producer Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith). Douglas was producing Aerosmith's Honkin' On Bobo record at the time and asked her to come to the studio and sing and play violin with the band. She appears on the tracks "Back Back Train" and "Jesus Is On The Main Line". On another occasion the three founding members of Blue Man Group came to see her perform and immediately asked her to be a part of their Complex tour. She had already begun recording with Blue Man group at the time and was featured on the tracks "Up To The Roof" and "Shadows Part Two" on The Complex album. It was with the band Wayfaring Strangers that Bonham had the most fun. This super group, formed by the string department head at Berklee College of Music Matt Glaser, is made up of established musicians in the American Folk, Bluegrass, Klezmer, and Jazz world. Bonham had always felt like a fish out of water, but enjoyed being around and learning from these incredible musicians (namely Tony Trischka, Jaimee Hadad, Andy Statman, Ruth Ungar, Aoife O'Donovan, Lazlo Gardony, Jim Whitney, and Glaser). Bonham has performed with Wayfaring Strangers at numerous venues and festivals including Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. Wayfaring Strangers has had two releases so far; their self titled debut and This Train in which Bonham's vocal strength is heavily showcased. These records are released on Rounder Records.

In 2003, while on the road with Blue Man Group's The Complex tour as opening act as well as featured guest vocalist/violinist in the Blue Man show, Bonham started selling her EP entitled the Bee EP. This was the first time Bonham had the experience of being her own label, merchant, and management. Bonham was able to sell enough EPs to finance her next full length album blink the brightest which was picked up by Rounder/Zoe in 2005. On blink the brightest, Bonham makes full use of a palate containing far more colors than you'll find on those of most writer/artists. "This record comes from the music that I really love, incorporating classical influences, rock and pop, sometimes an R&B or soul flavor," she says. There's no equivocation in her assessment of it, either. "It's my best work yet," she asserts. She uses these varied stylistic elements to create consistently inventive arrangements that transcend genre conventions and are bound only by the needs of a particular song.

And what songs they are. "Whether You Fall," a first-take solo performance with Bonham accompanying herself on piano, sounds like a modern-day standard. "Wilting Flower" is pure art song, perched somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Emily Dickinson. The final verse of "Shine," which celebrates the human spirit in characteristically unconventional fashion, is a stunner: "When we're eighty years old and you can't see a thing," she sings, "you must never forget how much light you bring." The fact that "D.U.M.B.O. Sun" [an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, a Brooklyn neighborhood] and "Did I Sleep Through It All?" are inventively autobiographical doesn't limit their relatability one iota. The coda of the latter-a string quartet and piano vignette composed, arranged and played entirely by Bonham-powerfully underscores the song's resonance. "That song is about looking back at your life and the mistakes you made, and realizing that you were sleepwalking," she explains.

With her latest indie EP In The City + In The Woods, Tracy Bonham show us her sensitive side. This is an EP mostly made up of acoustic performances where she plays every instrument, sometimes shifting from guitar to violin and back again in one song. With the help of loops and effect pedals Bonham creates an exciting and creative musical landscape for her songs to exist. Along with these performances is a studio recording of a mixed up cover song; Beyonce's "Crazy In Love". "Who knew there would be a Klezmer-swing version of this song?" says Bonham. "The idea came to me because I thought I had heard it playing in a restaurant over the noise of people dining and talking. Turns out it was my imagination. I figured it must be a sign to do it myself".

Bonham has performed on TV shows such as The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Late with Craig Fergusson, A & E's Breakfast For The Arts, and Saturday Night Special with Roseanne Barr. Her songs have recently been played on TV shows such as What About Brian, Brothers and Sisters, The L Word, The Closer, AMC Network, and Rockstar Supernova.

Currently Tracy is writing, recording, and string arranging in Brooklyn and Woodstock, NY.

http://www.tracybonham.com
http://www.myspace.com/tracybonham
http://www.youtube.com/user/tracybfine
http://www.myspace.com/bleutopia
http://www.myspace.com/CommonRotation

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com/