ENTERTAINMENT (Continued from page 33)
Troubadour, and eventually formed a band called Bryndle with Wendy Waldman, Andrew Gold, and Kenny Edwards (the latter two of whom went on to spend years with Ronstadt) to placing three songs (courtesy of Edwards’s input) on a popular album. “It was mind-blowing. Three songs? Wow! Then I got signed to Columbia myself right at that time. And the guy who signed me didn’t even know about Linda. He’d just heard me play at the Troubadour. So it was seemingly overnight. But I’d been working for 10 years in bands with Kenny and Wendy. But when it shifts so fast like that, it’s really exciting.” Bonoff went on to have some minor hits of her own: “I Can’t Hold On” from her self-titled debut, “When You Walk in the Room” and “Baby Don’t Go” from Restless Nights, “Personally” and “Please Be the One” from Wild Heart of the Young all reached Billboard’s Top 100 over a four period of 1978-82, and both the Footloose and 8 Seconds soundtracks included her songs a decade apart in 1984 and 1994. Bonoff has also watched her compositions turn into pop classics for other artists, as “Tell Me Why”, for example. Was a hit for Wynonna Judd and Bonnie Raitt as well as Ronstadt. But things had already slowed down a bit before Bonoff relocated to Montecito, following Edwards’s move a year before (he lived on her property until his death in 2000). Life is good in the village, and there’s no need to be pressing hard to reclaim any more fame than she already enjoys. The new songs come few and far between. “I don’t need to create to feel good about myself,” she said. “For me, it’s not like I have to get up and write music every day.” Indeed, Bonoff is happy to spend time at home, and in nature, hiking the trails near her house, going to the beach, living live close to the land. Songwriting doesn’t have the pull it once did as a teenager. “Forty years ago, we were all so young and hungry and trying to prove ourselves . There was so much need. I was starving and needed to prove I could make it as a songwriter. So there was a lot of drive. It’s different now, harder. Big life events are what tend to inspire songs, and I don’t have that much that changes. Some people love
Songwriter Karla Bonoff chimes in Thursday, August 18, at the Lobero
to write and do it every day and never stopped. But it was never easy for me and I was never that prolific, and it hasn’t gotten any easier.” Bonoff confessed to a desire to placate her fans, who have been seeking new music for years. She once told me that having a talent brings an obligation to use it. “People really want a record from me, so I feel bad. I should work harder at it.” But now, she said, “I’m kind of lazy. I admit it. I’m lazy here in Montecito enjoying my life.” On the other hand, there are a couple of new songs she’ll play at her upcoming concert at the Lobero Theatre next Thursday, August 18, accompanied by longtime guitarist Nina Gerber. The latest is a love song spurred by one of those life event. “It’s a classic Karla Bonoff song, a ballad,” she said, adding that there is a new love in her life, even if it is an on-and-off-again thing. “The song was written in a good period.” It’s called “Carry Me Home”, echoing a common theme in her music, one that was also the one-word title of one of her more popular earlier songs, “Home”. “I’m a nester,” she explained. “I like creating a home, and being home, and when I’m on the road I always look forward to coming home, especially here. I’m grounded by being in my own space and having my environment work for me.”
Bonoff said she still enjoys playing the older songs, even if their meanings might have changed over time. “[With] some of them, it’s hard to even remember where they came from. But those that were about specific people or things, they do bring up those memories. For me, it’s interesting to play a song that’s 30 years old and step back and just think about it – it’s great to have some objectivity about it from a newer point of view. The ones that hold up create a wonderful feeling that I can still enjoy playing them.” As does the audience. It’s only stage, Bonoff said, that she gets a sense of her place in music and as someone who has affected other people through her art. “It’s easy to forget when I’m not out there. But people love the songs. I feel like I made some kind of difference in people’s lives. That matters to me. I’ve left some kind of a legacy feels good to me. That’s what cool thing about being at this age and looking back and appreciating the whole 40 years.”
Country French Stella Mare’s restaurant across from the Clark Bird Refuge, there will have been nearly 20 events, a fitting first-year welcome to Santa Barbara. For details, tickets and more information, visit www. CentralCoastWineClassic.org.
Central Coast Wine Classic
Franklin Trail Fundraiser
The Central Coast Wine Classic, long a staple in San Luis Obispo county, is adding a full second weekend in Santa Barbara this year, thanks to the recent move to town of founder Archie McLaren. The only festival that spans the two counties, also among Wine Spectator’s Top Ten Wine Classics, is presenting as its main event the Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Auction, held on Pat Nesbitt’s Bella Vista Polo estate in Summerland. But there are numerous other events both large and small, even including competing events such as the Santa Barbara Wine Collective Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Symposium in the Funk Zone, and the Central Coast Pinot Noir Symposium at the newly renovated Santa Barbara Inn, both in mid-afternoon on Friday, August 12. There are winemaker dinners in the Mural Room of the County Courthouse, on the Channel Cat catamaran, and in the private dining room at the Santa Barbara Club. By the time the whole thing closes out with a VIP Champagne & Black River Caviar Departure Brunch at
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The final Fermentation Festival preliminary event, a kickoff featuring film and food, takes place at SOhO beginning at 5 pm on Wednesday, August 17. The Consumer Environmental Council co-sponsors the evening that boasts Fermented Foods Artisans, Cocktails & Tastings; a special menu by SOhO; music by Erisy Watt; and a screening of Patagonia’s new film, Unbroken Ground, followed by a panel discussion about the deep connection between our food choices and climate change. Admission is free. For details, call 962-7776 or visit www.sohosb. com/event/1261717-santa-barba ra-fermentation-santa-barbara.
Carpinteria’s Garden Market host a happy-hour benefit for Phase III of the Franklin Trail, the section of the trail that goes through the Los Padres National Forest to the top of the Santa Ynez Mountains. The first five miles of the trail are maintained by Montecito Trails Foundation (MTF) as part of the stewardship they provide for the trail network in Montecito, Summerland, and Carpinteria. Santa Barbara County Trails Council in partnership with MTF and others, is raising funds to re-open the historic section of the trail – the last 2.7 miles to the top of the mountain range. Guests at the event, which takes place 5 to 7 pm Friday, will enjoy a selection of beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres, and vie for raffle prizes (from Patagonia, Boreas, Toad & Co., and more) accompanied to music by local guitarist Chad Stone in the garden setting. The $10 suggested donation includes both a beverage ticket and raffle ticket. The Garden Market is located at 3811 Santa Claus Lane, Carpinteria. Call 708-6173 or visit www.sbtrails.org/events •MJ
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34 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Fomenting Fermentation
• The Voice of the Village •
11 – 18 August 2016