Tracy Bonham has today released her new single titled ‘Whether You Fall’ from her upcoming album ‘Damn The Sky (For Being Too Wide)’. A sonic journey through the mind and heart of a unique singer and vivid instrumentalist, ‘Whether You Fall’ musically picks you up and send you over to where originality runs free and true artists reside.
Having recently disclosed to People Magazine recent life changes, it is little wonder that ‘Whether You Fall’ is as much a transcendence as it is a solid musical opus. Feeling like a journey of the most personal level, this is a song that will mean different things to different people. A musical score to your own life change or transition. Done with the utmost care and precision to detail, yet it remains personal. Almost cathartic. This is what the best artists do: they become a part of you.
True legends never fade away, they visit you from time to time and become a part of you.
About ‘Whether You Fall’
Recorded at Applehead Recording in Woodstock, NY, “Whether You Fall (2024)” is given new life, featuring Rene Hart on Bass, Alvester Garnett on drums, Steve Cardenas on guitar, Olivier Manchon on violin, and Clara Kennedy on cello, while Tracy plays piano and sings. Following previous single “Damn The Sky (For Being Too Wide),” which also featured Hart and Garnett, the new “Whether You Fall” shows Tracy’s continued exploration of melding contemporary jazz sensibilities with her trademark passionate singer/songwriter roots to create musical alchemy.
“I have been playing with a phenomenal rhythm section for the past two or three years: Rene Hart on upright bass and Alvester Garnett on drums,” Tracy says. “These two players come from a jazz background, and they are incredibly deep musicians and human beings. This has influenced me, my sound, and my new music greatly. The new arrangement of this song has a maturity and a sense of wholeness to it, like, I have grown up in the musical world allowing myself to relax and enjoy the results of coming into alignment with who I truly am.
One can also hear my reconnection to my classical training and my love for classical music with beautiful violin melodies and string parts that weave in between the incredible rhythm section’s heavy groove especially during the outro of the song. Alvester takes it to a new level when he lets loose during the repetitive chord changes making it a jumping off point from the hypnotic back and forth to a rock drummer’s dream. I have been told that the outro is reminiscent of Radiohead’s “OK Computer” and I am totally fine with that. I have loved that band since the beginning.”
Following the resounding success of her collaboration with her hometown of Oregon’s Eugene Ballet, Tracy has added a handful of shows this summer that kicks off with Milwaukee’s Summerfest on June 27th and moves eastward to a Brooklyn event at NYC’s iconic Archway in DUMBO (tour dates below).
About Tracy Bonham
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. While so many of her songs have been placed in film and tv throughout the decades, you might have most recently heard “Mother Mother” in Yellowjackets season 1 episode 2.
Over the past 27 years, Bonham’s albums and live performances have shown what it is to be an ever-evolving artist. While Bonham sings, she moves from guitar to violin, from violin to piano, and back again. When playing live, her songs from the 90s blend and blur with stylistic changes that she has created over time making her entire repertoire make sense as an entire body of work. She plays the old and new material and even though the songs span thirty years they all continue to be equally relevant.
Featured image by Shervin Lainez.
LINKS:
https://linktr.ee/tracybonham
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https://www.facebook.com/TracyBonhamMusic
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https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RaSfqo4f0b42iNouQeAKK