Uncle Bonsai formed in 1981, after three recent graduates of Bennington College in Vermont migrated to Seattle and found each other in the want ads. Though virtually strangers on the college campus of 600 students, quickly congealed as a single entity after answering the ad one of them placed for a folk group . . . to sing sea shanties.

Instead, Andrew, the group’s guitarist and primary songwriter, arranged a few covers (by Martin Mull, Dave Edmunds, Tom Paxton), and wrote new tunes for three-part vocal gymnastics. The voices merged to create a sound that soon became Uncle Bonsai’s trademark: high soaring and intricate vocal harmonies wrapped around biting humor, and poignant unflinching portrayals of life, love, and a guy named Doug.

The first “show” -- busking outside the gates of the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle -- earned the trio seven dollars apiece, enough to cross the gates onto festival grounds. One year later, the trio was invited in to open for Firesign Theater, the first of several appearances at that festival and others across North America

Shortly thereafter, KEZX radio began to play the group’s first recording, “Suzy,” which led to sell-out houses in the Pacific Northwest. Over the next eight years, Uncle Bonsai released several recordings, motor-homing its way around the national folk circuit for club, theater and festival engagements, frequently playing at New York’s The Bottom Line, DC’s The Birchmere and San Francisco’s The Great American Music Hall, among others. The trio received accolades from national press and, en route, picked up a notice or two from the FCC (for what the group insists was an “innocent Seussian-type song about a beloved body part. -- Sorry, Miami!!”)

Uncle Bonsai’s acoustic folk-pop songs are almost one-act plays or very short stories, resisting strict pop, folk, or singer-songwriter categories. Consequently, in the ‘80s the trio was paired with a wide range of artists: Bonnie Raitt, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainright III, Tracey Chapman, They Might Be Giants, The Persuasions, The Bobs, and Robyn Hitchcock -- reflecting a diversity of influences. The group also linked arms in 1987 with the improv group None of the Above for shows at Seattle’s A Contemporary Theater, featuring songs and sketches written and performed on a different monthly topic (Money, Sex, Travel, Superheroes, etc.), some songs written on the spot (and left there). Recordings from this early Bonsai era are, A Lonely Grain of Corn (1984), Boys Want Sex in the Morning (1986), and Myn Ynd Wymyn (1988).

In February of 1989, after eight years of touring and recording, and a final 14-shows-in-12-days national tour, the group called it quits.

The following summer, the trio performed one final show, a benefit concert before an audience of 8,000 at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and then called it quits.

Eight years later, Uncle Bonsai reunited for one night only, to perform and record the “Doug” release.

The following year, the group began performing a series of reunion concerts, and released the long overdue CD “Apology.”

In early 2008, the talented Patrice O’Neill joined with original members Arni Adler and Andrew Ratshin, adding her lyrical (and agile) voice to the mix. Patrice, a singer/songwriter, member of the group Mel Cooleys, and one half of a duo with classical guitarist Hilary Field, is a multi-instrumentalist and possesses a voice of singular beauty. The new configuration of Uncle Bonsai will be releasing a new recording, "The Grim Parade of Cat & Mouse," in October, 2010.

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