Tracy Bonham

Tracy Bonham and her trio (Rene Hart bass / Alvester Garnett drums) will be playing The White Eagle Saloon in Portland, OR on April 9 at 8pm with the fabulous singer-songwriter Jill Sobule. These two artists who got their start in the 1990s with great critical acclaim will be touring the West Coast just after a two day world premiere of Tracy Bonham's music with the Eugene Ballet in Eugene, OR. Tracy Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist turned alternative singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1996 with her twice GRAMMY™ nominated album, The Burdens of Being Upright (Island Records). This debut album cast Bonham into the global spotlight with MTV fame and major radio airplay with her #1 alternative chart-topping song Mother Mother, an anthem for disgruntled teenagers of all ages. Over the past 27 years, her albums and live performances have shown what it is to be an ever-evolving artist. Bonham will be joined by upright bassist Rene Hart (David Amram, James Hunter, Banford Marsalis, Dakota Staton) and drummer Alvester Garnett (Regina Carter, Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter) and with her new material she connects to something deeper than ever, her true self. Most of the new songs are performed on the piano giving her the chance to lean back to what made her fall in love with music in the first place. Borrowing harmonic structures and beautiful melodies from her favorite classical romantic composers, Bonham stretches herself artistically to combine this rediscovered passion with her unique and quirky songwriting style to create musical alchemy. This purifying process most certainly acts as a vehicle for inner transformation for Bonham. "It's like going back to the spark I had as a very young musician, discovering the beauty of Ravel and DeBussy and reclaiming that spark and everything that has happened after that". Bonham speaks of her current line-up,  "Playing with incredible jazz musicians like Rene and Alvester has opened my mind and is now giving me the support I have always needed to spread my wings and fly. I am really enjoying exploring the intersections and overlaps of where classical and jazz meet without excluding my alternative rock sensibilities. These dudes can rock too. The three of us playing together is definitely my happy place".  “Bonham is a unique and versatile vocalist and writer with much more to offer than just that feisty hit.”  ~The Charlotte Observer 
  “Bonham, from the beginning and increasingly over time, is a riveting, complicated maker of pop music” ~ PopMatters