Tracy Bonham Biography

Tracy Bonham
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Tracy Bonham

Tracy Bonham performing at Webster Hall.
Background information
Born March 16, 1967 (1967-03-16) (age 42)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Origin Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock
Post-grunge
Instruments vocals
violin
piano
acoustic guitar
Years active 1995–present
Labels PolyGram
Zoë Records
Associated acts Blue Man Group
Website Official site

Tracy Bonham (born 16 March 1967 in Eugene, Oregon) is a 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 Album 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.

Contents

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 briefly in heavy rotation on MTV & VH1. The third and final single, "Sharks Can't Sleep" failed to chart in the US.

Bonham was also featured in Soulwax's sophomore album Much Against Everyone's Advice on the track, "My Cruel Joke".

Down Here Era: 2000 to 2002

After the mild success3 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.4 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").

Masts of Manhatta: 2007 to present

Tracy recorded songs for her new album in Woodstock, NY beginning in 2007 and ending in 2009. 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:

*released on Tracy Bonham's Official Web site and/or MySpace / + performed live

Tracy has announced that her forthcoming album will be titled Masts of Manhatta. The album was produced by Bonham and mixed by Tchad Blake. The album is currently being prepared for mastering and an early 2010 release. A definitive track list is still in the works but confirmed tracks are "Josephine", "Big Red Heart", "In The Moonlight", "Devil's Got Your Boyfriend", and "Angel Won't You Come Down".

Trivia

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Tracy Bonham - Blink the brightest". www.tracybonham.com. http://www.tracybonham.com/med/pdf/TBonham-bio.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 
  2. ^ Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales
  3. ^ Andrew Leahey & Steve Huey. "Biography". www.mtv.com. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bonham_tracy/artist.jhtml#biographyEnd. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 
  4. ^ Joan Anderman (2005-06-19). "Up, down, and now somewhere between
    Tracy Bonham reemerges on her own terms    ". www.boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/06/19/up_down_and_now_somewhere_between/. Retrieved 2009-11-03.     

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Digital releases

Awards and nominations

Year Award
1996 MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best New Artist ("Mother Mother")
1996 MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Female Video ("Mother Mother")
1997 Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Performance (The Burdens of Being Upright)
1997 Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance ("Mother Mother")

External links

v • d • e
Tracy Bonham
Studio albums
Other releases
The Liverpool Sessions • Bee • Something Beautiful • In The City/In The Woods
Full singles
"Sunshine" • "Mother Mother (song)" • "The One" • "Sharks Can't Sleep" • "Behind Every Good Woman"
Promo/Radio Singles
"Dandelion" • "Navy Bean" • "Something Beautiful" • "Shine"
Promotional Videos
"Sunshine" • "Mother Mother (song)" • "The One" • "Sharks Can't Sleep" • "Behind Every Good Woman"