Tracy Bonham

Tracy Bonham with guest musicians: Jim Boggia & John Wlaysewski sit down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on March 6th, 2017. Watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/K-BYxI3ADD0 For more info visit: http://www.tracybonham.com Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin Setlist: Mother Mother Wax & Gold All Thumbs Luck Tracy Bonham is an American alternative rock musician, best known for her 1996 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. She also appeared with The Blue Man Group on the Complex Rock Tour Live DVD and tour. When Tracy Bonham set out to make her fourth full-length record, a lot had changed. She'd move back to Brooklyn, after spending three years in Los Angeles, had fallen in love and gotten married, and watched as the record industry cease to exist. "I had no idea how or when I was going to make my next record, let alone release one," says Bonham. "I started writing and it took shape organically." Bonham got together with guitarist Smokey Hormel (Tom Waits, Beck, Rufus Wainwright) and his "Roundup" trio in a Brooklyn studio and began cutting tracks that reflected the changes in her life in an honest, open way. "It was the most fun I have ever had making a record because I didn't have anyone looking over my shoulder," admits Bonham. "It was so liberating to do this totally on my own, without the pressure of a record label. I didn't care about things like radio anymore. These rules were so far behind me and, in a way, I felt like I was pushing myself to tread new ground." That freedom comes across on Masts of Manhatta (Engine Room Recordings, July 13), Bonham's best and most personal record to date. Recorded both in Brooklyn and Woodstock, NY (where the singer alternates between residencies), Masts suggests the dichotomy surrounding the two environments, the singer's own personal journey as well as the changing rules of the music industry. “The city versus country theme threads through the record,” says Bonham. “This is my life at the moment: the balance of nature and the big city. Longing to be surrounded by nature, to get back to a quiet and balanced life, but also loving life in the city and being inspired by it.”

• published: 11 Mar 2017
• views: 1305