Tracy Bonham (born 16 March 1967 in Eugene, Oregon) is a Grammy-nominated American musician best known for her single "Mother Mother".
Raised in Eugene, Oregon, Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist. She received two Grammy nominations in 1997 for Best Alternative Performance and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Today, Bonham splits her time between the Woodstock and Brooklyn. She is married to Rolling Stone executive editor Jason Fine.
Biography
Life and Early Music Career
Raised in Eugene, Oregon, Bonham began singing at age 5 and playing the violin at 9. She received a full scholarship to the University of Southern California for violin, but she eventually transferred to Berklee College of Music to study voice instead. She started writing songs in 1994 after moving to Boston. Her first EP, the Liverpool Sessions, won best single in the Boston Phoenix reader's poll in 1995 for the song "The One". In 1996, her major label debut The Burdens of Being Upright went gold, spawning the hit single "Mother Mother", and leading to a pair of Grammy nominations. The follow-up, Down Here, was released in 2000 and since that time she’s continued her career, playing her music around the country.
When asked about the maturation of her songwriting, Bonham replies, “I think I stopped trying to prove so much to people. I went inward and realized that being honest and not being so veiled and cryptic can actually touch more people. In the past, I wanted to be deep, but then I went too far and was over-thinking everything. Now I just write from the heart.”1
The Burdens of Being Upright Era: 1995 to 1999
Tracy Bonham became a critically acclaimed artist after her debut full-length album The Burdens of Being Upright. Magazines such as Rolling Stone and People noted her bold approach to rock music. Her single "Mother, Mother" was number one on the rock charts for a month. Later that year Bonham was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Performance and Best Female Vocal. She then went on extensive touring. The album's second single, "The One" was a minor hit and peaked at #23 on The Billboard "Hot Modern Rock Tracks" chart2, the video was in heavy rotation on MTV & VH1 briefly. The third and final single, "Sharks Can't Sleep" failed to chart in the US.
Down Here Era: 2000 to 2002
After the mild successcitation needed of her first album, Tracy released Down Here, her second full-length album. Originally titled "Trails of a Dust Devil" with promos having been sent out with that title, the album and the only single released from it, "Behind Every Good Woman", failed to chart. She took a break after promoting the album while searching for a new label.citation needed
Bee EP Era: 2003 to 2005
Tracy parted ways with her record label.citation needed Whilst touring in support of Blue Man Group, she recorded and released an independent EP, Bee. It included early versions of "Shine" and "All Thumbs" and a live version of "Freed" from the Down Here album, and a cover of "Black Dog", originally performed by Led Zeppelin. With the money made from selling this EP she returned to the studio to start work on her third full-length LP. The Bee EP was later re-issued in Europe as the Something Beautiful EP, with the addition of the title track (lifted from Blink the Brightest), and a DVD with bonus live performances.
Blink the Brightest Era: 2005 to 2006
On June 21, 2005, Bonham released Blink the Brightest (Zoë/Rounder). It was recorded in L.A., where she has lived part-time since 2003.
Bonham is also a self-taught guitarist.1 “Guitar-wise, I have a certain style that I can’t seem to get any guitar player to mimic, and it’s because they’re good and I’m bad,” she has said. “And I don’t mind. There’s a way I want to hear it, so I just do it myself.”1
Bonham co-produced the bulk of the album with Greg Collins (U2, No Doubt, Matchbox Twenty); Joey Waronker, who has drummed for R.E.M. and Beck, co-produced four tracks. Along with Bonham, the players include drummers Waronker and Butch (eels), bassists Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Neil Finn) and Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow), guitarists Joe Gore (Tom Waits, P.J. Harvey) and Dave Levita (Alanis Morissette, Jewel) and keyboard player Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Los Lobos).
Unlike Bonham’s first two albums, which were underwritten by her former label Island Records, Bonham paid the recording costs of Blink the Brightest herself1 with money she’d made from selling copies of her EPs while touring with the Blue Man Group in 2003 (she previously appeared on the group’s album, The Complex).
In The City + In The Woods
In the late fall/early winter of 2006, Bonham released In The City + In The Woods, her second EP which she funded herself. The 11-track disc features two studio tracks, a cover version of Beyoncé Knowles's "Crazy In Love" and an original- "In My Other Life". The rest of the songs are live tracks, which include some older favorites ("One Hit Wonder" and a stunning new version of "Navy Bean"), covers ("Blue Jay Way"), and previously unreleased material ("Your World Turns Upside Down", "The Idiot In Me").
New Album Era: 2007 to present
Tracy is currently recording new music in Woodstock, NY for her forthcoming project. Some of the songs have been performed live, while others have been put up on Tracy's site as free downloads.
The following list includes the new songs Tracy has written and/or performed:
- Carry Me Home *+
- Your Night Is Wide Open *+
- We Moved Our City To The Country +
- Josephine +
- MySpace, I Can't Keep Up +
- Big Tattoo +
- You Laugh And The World Laughs With You +
- Wonderful +
- The Size of My Fist +
*released on Tracy Bonham's Official Web site / + performed live
Trivia
- Tracy is well recognized in Blue Man Group's fan base. She sang on their album The Complex and performed with them on the accompanying tour. She opened for the group on the first leg of their second national tour, How to be a Megastar Tour 2.0, and performed during their set for all of the songs requiring a female vocal. Tracy also made an appearance on America's Got Talent where she sang and played violin for Blue Man Group's performance of "Baba O'Riley".
- She sang and played violin on the album Honkin' on Bobo by Aerosmith. Two of Bonham's songs have been used in Showtime's drama series The L Word: "Naked" and "Whether you Fall", both belonging to her album Blink the Brightest.
- Bonham's song, "Something Beautiful", from the 2005 album Blink the Brightest, has been used on a commercial promoting AMC.
- Bonham is also featured on the No blues album, Ya Dunya. She appears in three tracks, playing violin on every one and singing on only one.
References
Discography
Albums
EPs
- The Liverpool Sessions - 1995 (EP)
- Bee - 2003 (EP)
- Something Beautiful - 2005 (EP/DVD)
- In The City/In The Woods - 2006 (EP)
Singles
- Mother Mother (song) - 1996 (Single)
- Sharks Can't Sleep - 1996 (Single)
- The One - 1996 (Single)
- Behind Every Good Woman - 2000 (Single)
- Shine - 2005 (promo-only single)
Digital releases
- Carry Me Home - 2008 (Download)
- Your Night Is Wide Open - 2008 (Download)
Awards and nominations
External links
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