Tracy's
new attitude makes new disc a musical
Bonham-za
By Brett
Milano
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - Updated: 09:18 AM EST
Tracy Bonham
admitted she was nervous about her new CD, ``Blink the Brightest.''
``I
was expecting people to say, `You don't rock like you used to,' ''
noted the singer/songwriter, who plays the Paradise Lounge
tomorrow.``I am asking a lot of my old fans to follow me on this
journey.'' In fact the new disc should appeal to anyone who loved
Bonham in 1993, when she was a local celeb who scored a national hit
and Grammy nomination for the song ``Mother Mother.'' Her flair for
smart, sharp lyrics and offbeat pop hooks is intact and she's still
an emotive singer. But the teen angst of her greatest hit is long
gone, its screams replaced by a sound that's a little more acoustic
and a lot more grownup.
At
a recent lunch at the Rattlesnake Cafe, Bonham explained her life
has changed since her last album, the overlooked ``Down Here,'' was
released five years ago. In particular, she said 2001 was her
watershed year.
``So
many things happened to everyone that year. 9/11 happened. My mom
was diagnosed with breast cancer, though she's doing fine now. I got
a divorce. And Island Records dropped me. After all that, I knew it
was time to reinvent myself. It was time to see the beauty in life,
because it's too short to spend complaining.''
She'd
also moved to Los Angeles after a few years in New York City. Yet
the move west didn't charge the creative juices as much as she'd
hoped.
``It
was hard; Los Angeles is a really lonely place. I wound up with more
time alone with myself, and when that happens you have two choices:
You can either wallow or learn to be your own best friend.''
Still,
Bonham's life wasn't all bad. She'd scored a plum gig with Blue Man
Group, touring with them as a violinist and singer and opening their
shows with her own set. She appeared on Blue Man's ``The Complex''
CD and sang some backup on Aerosmith's blues album, ``Honkin' on
Bobo.'' And when she got down to her own songwriting, she wound up
with some of the best of her career. More personal than before, the
new songs also benefit from heavy use of her violin, which hardly
ever appeared on her hit-era Island albums. [continue]
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Tracy
Bonham has plenty to smile about. (Staff photo by Patrick
Whittemore) |
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