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Uncle Bonsai Arni Adler, Andrew Ratshin, Patrice O'Neill “A folk-pop trio from Seattle, performs funny original songs whose Uncle Bonsai formed in 1981, after three recent graduates of a tiny college in Vermont migrated to Seattle and found each other in the want ads. Though strangers on the college campus of only 600 students, the three quickly congealed as a single entity after answering the ad one of them placed for a folk group . . . to sing sea shanties. Instead, Andrew, the group’s guitarist and primary songwriter, arranged a few covers (by Martin Mull, Dave Edmunds, Tom Paxton), and wrote new tunes for three-part vocal gymnastics. The voices merged to create a sound that soon became Uncle Bonsai’s trademark: high soaring and intricate vocal harmonies wrapped around biting humor, and poignant unflinching portrayals of life, love, and a guy named Doug. The first “show” -- busking outside the gates of the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle -- earned the trio seven dollars apiece, enough to cross the gates onto festival grounds. One year later, the trio was invited in to open for Firesign Theater, the first of several appearances at that festival and others across North America. Shortly thereafter, Seattle’s KEZX radio began to play the group’s first recording, “Suzy,” which led to sell-out houses in the Pacific Northwest. Over the next eight years, Uncle Bonsai motor-homed its way around the national folk circuit for club, theater and festival engagements, frequently playing at New York’s The Bottom Line, DC’s The Birchmere and San Francisco’s The Great American Music Hall, among others. The trio received accolades from national press and, en route, release three critically acclaimed recordings. Uncle Bonsai’s acoustic folk-pop songs are almost one-act plays or very short stories, resisting strict pop, folk, or singer-songwriter categories. Consequently, in the ‘80s the trio was paired with a wide range of artists: Bonnie Raitt, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainright III, Tracey Chapman, They Might Be Giants, The Persuasions, The Bobs, and Robyn Hitchcock -- reflecting a diversity of influences. The group also linked arms in 1987 with the improv group In February of 1989, after eight years of touring and recording, and a final 14-shows-in-12-days national tour, the group decided to take a break, but not before performing one final show, a benefit concert before an audience of 8,000 at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Eight years later, Uncle Bonsai reunited for one night only, to perform and record the “Doug” release and, following up on the success of that evening, which sold out within hours of being announced, started performing bi-annually, writing new songs and winning over new fans. Just a year later, the group recorded a series of live concerts that became their eighth release, “Apology.” Performances throughout the Pacific Northwest, and a number of concerts in New York and Michigan, convinced the group it was time to start actively touring again. In 2007, the talented Patrice O’Neill joined with original members Arni Adler and Andrew Ratshin, adding her lyrical (and agile) voice to the mix. Patrice, a singer/songwriter, member of the group Mel Cooleys, and one half of a duo with classical guitarist Hilary Field, is a multi-instrumentalist and possesses a voice of singular beauty. The group continued to write new songs and, in November 2010, released their first CD in almost ten years, “The Grim Parade,” a collection of live and studio performances of songs which focus on the passing of time, the passing of genes, and the passing of pets -- the truth of everything seemingly buried somewhere under the family tree. |
