#Tracy Bonham #alternative rock #post-grunge #singer-songwriter #1990s
Woman to Woman: Erin Harkes chats with Tracy Bonham
When offered the opportunity to interview Tracy Bonham, I jumped at the chance. As I struggled to teach myself how to play guitar in my college dorm room back in the 90s, this powerhouse musician of the Lilith Fair era was an inspiration to me. Thankfully, and not surprisingly, she was an absolute delight to talk with. She was also super patient with the technical difficulties and all the times throughout the discussion where I made it about me.
Me: Obviously you’re best known for “Mother, Mother,” a song I love. The first time I heard it I was in the car with my mother, so it was just perfect. She was like, “Oh, this is a nice song” with a hint of passive aggression. And then you started screaming at her and I thought, “Tracy and I are best friends now.”
Tracy: That’s an awesome story—really cool. No one has ever told me that.
Me: I’m sure you know how moms can be. They’re like, “Oh, maybe you should write a song like this for me.” Then it got to the chorus and I thought, Maybe I will…
Tracy: That’s great. That’s awesome.
Me: But beyond that, which work would you say you’re most proud of?
Tracy: It’s gonna sound so stupid, but I’m really proud of my body of work. I can’t choose one song because they’re all a timestamp of who I was at that moment. When I look back, I see it as a kaleidoscope or a tapestry of who I am. And I like knowing that I have many albums out there—not as many as I should have in my almost 30 years of doing this—but at least I have a nice handful.
Me: I’m sure it’s hard to choose just one. I know that when you’re known for one particular thing, sometimes people tend to overlook your other labors of love.
Tracy: Yeah, that happens all the time.
Me: But I’m glad to hear that you’re proud of all your work because that’s not very common. Sometimes you have a couple of stinkers that you’d rather nobody ever heard.
Tracy: Oh, I went through that. I thought my second album, “Down Here,” was a stinker for a long time. Then it happened to come up on my playlist or my iTunes while I was driving and I forced myself to listen to the whole thing. I was like, Wait a minute. I actually LIKE this. I had to come around. I needed time away from that one.
Me: That makes sense. I also have a song I didn’t like that much, but then my friends would tell me “That’s my favorite song on the album!” Maybe that would be somebody else’s favorite, too.
Tracy: Yes, exactly. You have to give it up at some point. It’s like letting your kids go off to college. You have to let them go.
Me: And I do think of songs as my children, so it’s funny that you said that. When somebody asks me my favorite song, I ask them, “Do you have kids? Which one is your favorite?” Then they get it. Except once in a while, somebody says, “Kyle’s my favorite,” and I’m like, “Okay, you ruined the question.”
Tracy: That’s hilarious.
From: https://nippertown.com/2022/06/28/woman-to-woman-erin-harkes-interviews-tracy-bonham/
