Karla Bonoff & Livingston Taylor
Home for the Holidays
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Sponsored by Poole Anderson Construction and Yocum Real Estate Centre
Home for the Holidays: A Musical Gift for the Season
Karla Bonoff and Livingston Taylor come Home for the Holidays with a seasonally spiced show that will remind you of what a wonderful time of the year it is.
Karla Bonoff, one of her generation’s great songwriters and Livingston Taylor, entertainer extraordinaire, have joined forces for an unforgettable performance of song and joy, featuring some of the best-known Holiday classics including songs from Karla’s critically acclaimed Holiday album, Silent Night, as well as some of their best-known songs.
The stage is home for Karla and Livingston, who have always maintained busy annual touring schedules. Now they are excited to be back “home” playing for their audience with performances that will be intimate, familiar, enthralling, and inspired by the essence of the season.
The Home for the Holidays Tour is truly a musical gift from Karla Bonoff and Livingston Taylor that will enliven the spirit of the Season for audiences everywhere.
Karla Bonoff
Born and raised in Southern California, Karla Bonoff was a songwriter by the age of fifteen. She and her sister Lisa were writing songs and playing as a duo titled “The Daughters of Chester P” named after their father, Dr. Chester Paul Bonoff. She had already fallen in love with the guitar and studied with Frank Hamilton of the famous folk group, The Weavers. By 16, Karla and her sister Lisa auditioned for Elektra Records. An 11-song demo [recorded by Doors’ engineer Bruce Botnick] was recorded but no deal came of this first effort.
Karla was signed as a solo artist to Columbia Records in 1977. There, she not recorded the hit single “I Can’t Hold On” and the tune “Home,” which later wound up on one of Bonnie Raitt’s albums. Bonoff then embarked on a solo tour to promote her album, and by the time she reached Seattle, “I Can’t Hold On” was Number 1 in the Pacific Northwest. “I was headlining and I barely had enough songs to play,” Karla recalls, still amazed at the memory. “So I just kept playing them longer!” She went from there to coveted spots on major tours, opening for James Taylor and Jackson Browne and earning a rave review in Time magazine. Two subsequent albums, “Restless Nights” [released in 1979] and “Wild Heart of the Young” [released in 1982], established Karla as one of LA’s major artists and songwriters.
Her fourth album, New World [first released in 1988], was originally released on Gold Castle, and is now available on the Valley Entertainment label.
Karla’s legacy as a writer and perseverance as a performer are spoken best in a Billboard Magazine review of Karla’s “All My Life” recording. “Long before Alanis and Jewel, there was a breed of singer/songwriters whose earthly anthems of soul-searching, heartache and joy touched souls in a way few can muster today.”
Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor picked up his first guitar at the age of 13, which began a 50-year career that has encompassed performance, songwriting, and teaching. Born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, Livingston is the fourth child in a very musical family that includes Alex, James, Kate, and Hugh. Livingston recorded his first record at the age of 18 and has continued to create well crafted, introspective, and original songs that have earned him listeners worldwide.
From top-40 hits “I Will Be in Love with You” and “I’ll Come Running,” to “I Can Dream of You” and “Boatman,” the last two recorded by his brother James, Livingston’s creative output has continued unabated. His musical knowledge has inspired a varied repertoire, and he is equally at home with a range of musical genres—folk, pop, gospel, jazz—and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances.
Livingston has never stopped performing since those early coffeehouse days, shared the stage with major artists such as Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, and Jethro Tull, and he maintains a busy concert schedule, touring internationally. He is a natural performer, peppering his shows with personal stories, anecdotes and ineffable warmth that connect him to his fans. His relaxed on-stage presence belies the depth of his musical knowledge, and fans might just as often be treated to a classic Gershwin or something from the best of Broadway.
Livingston is a full professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught a Stage Performance course since 1989. He teaches young artists invaluable lessons learned over the course of an extensive career on the road; the course is consistently voted the most popular at the College. His high-selling book, Stage Performance, released in 2011 offers those lessons to anyone who is interested in elevating their presentation standards to professional standards.
Livingston’s 50th year of making music was celebrated by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, both declaring January 18, 2017 “Livingston Taylor Day”.
