Minnesota based Indie artist Haley Bonar has recently announced several tour dates with Andrew Bird and Mason Jennings. If you’re not familiar with this talented musician, you’re in for a real treat. Now in her mid 20s, Bonar has already released four albums, with her first being released when she was just 17 years old.
According to her bio, her first album, Haley Bryn Bonar, bore the signature of someone who was punk… but not really punk rock. She owned an acoustic guitar and created folk songs of her own style, yet liberally innocent of the concept of “anti-folk.” Her follow-up release, The Size of Planets (2003), was inspired by music legends Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Loretta Lynn and received rave reviews from the likes of the Philadelphia City Paper, Minneapolis City Pages, Chicago Sun Times, Pulse Magazine, and Alternative Press.
She then self-released her third album, Lure the Fox (2006), when she was 21. The record earned her the Best American Roots Recording Award in the 2006 Minnesota Music Awards, where she also received recognition as Best American Roots Artist. Lure the Fox was then picked up for re-release and national distribution by Minneapolis-based Afternoon Records (also home to One for the Team and Now, Now Every Children, both of which we’ve covered here recently). In the meantime, she kept busy with other projects, singing a song for the closing credits of the movie “Sweet Land”, touring with Andrew Bird, and contributing vocals to his 2007 release, Armchair Apocrypha. Along with her time on the road with Bird, Bonar has toured with Hayden, Jennifer O’Connor, Mason Jennings, Mary Lou Lord, Richard Buckner, and Charlie Parr, and has shared stages with Neko Case, Pedro the Lion, the Arcade Fire, and Wanda Jackson.
Bonar’s latest album, Big Star, was released in June of last year and is an album loosely themed around the struggle of wanting something that elicits both dislike and desire—whether it be fame, success, or love. Take a listen to the title track from Big Star below in the Dig-It section. It’s a great song and definitely made me want to hear more from her. She’s got that alt-Country, rootsy vibe going on that I just love, and I look forward to catching up on what I’ve missed until now.
In a recent session Bonar recorded for Daytrotter, she says of the song, “I wrote this song toward the end of my recording of Big Star. I was originally going to call the record Mayday, but when I wrote this song and recorded it last minute, it resonated with me differently. The idea of those two words is so vague, but have this strength to them when applied to fame.” She goes on to say, “this song represents the other side of the musician, the partner of one who is on the road a lot…. I know many people who sit at home with the kids and the laundry while their significant other is gaining momentum in the music industry. It’s not necessarily a positive or negative view on it, though I’ll admit there is a little tongue-in-cheek bitterness upon the bridge of the song, “I can’t make you happy, I can’t make you money, I can only fold your laundry,” and a true love’s wish for their partner, “You’re gonna be a big star, waiting, on a big wish that I’m making.”
You can check out the session and download four excellent recordings, three songs from her Big Star album and one unreleased song, all for free, here.
If this upcoming stretch of dates happens to bring Bonar to a venue near you, I hope you get a chance to check her out. You can hear more from her as well as check out some video of her performing on her MySpace page. Catch a show, buy an album, spread the word…
Tour Dates:
04/04 – Northfield, MN @ St. Olaf College – Lion’s Pause
04/09 – Chicago, IL @ Civic Opera House w/Andrew Bird
04/11 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theater w/Andrew Bird
04/17 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre w/Mason Jennings
04/23 – Asheville, TN @ Grey Eagle Tavern w/Mason Jennings
04/24 – Easton, MD @ The Avalon Theatre w/Mason Jennings
04/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live w/Mason Jennings
04/26 – Falls Church, VA @ The State Theatre w/Mason Jennings
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: Big Star
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