Linda Bonadies

work of ‘Karma’ from local songwriter Linda Bonadies

Published: Friday, February 26, 2010

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By Patrick Ferrucci, Register Entertainment Editor

The characters in Hamden resident Linda Bonadies’ songs might be fictional, but the themes the songwriter is singing about are very true to life. Bonadies believes strongly in her messages, and they’re something that she not only preaches, but also practices.

“It’s funny,” she says, “because people always ask me about if this is me doing what I love. It’s a loaded question. Writing and performing songs isn’t easy for me to do. People always say, ‘You must love it.’ But the songs are written from my heart. It’s hard to live up to them. Actually, it’s an interesting process. Like with my first CD, ‘No Regret.’ It’s about living life without regret. That’s hard to do.”

Bonadies’ journey to becoming a performer is all about having no regrets. She graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in music composition, thought she’d become a composer, but found herself bored with the business. She had no inspiration. For the next 15 or so years, she never once sat down at her piano. Then 9/11 happened, and Bonadies found herself overwhelmed with a yearning to play. She began writing songs, and the results of that work became her debut album, “No Regret.”

After a handful of years and many, many performances and writing sessions, she’s celebrating the release of “Karma” tonight at Hamden’s Thornton Wilder Hall.

“This is kind of a continuation of the last record,” she explains. “The material is about relationships. The CD, the title track, is called ‘Karma.’ It’s got a lot to do with the whole process of music. All my songs are about my voice from the heart. I always say that we all have two parts — our heads and our hearts. In my experience with music, I really have to learn how to turn the volume of my head down and just listen to my heart. In my head, there’s always the voices that say, ‘You’re too old,’ ‘You’re not good enough,’ and ‘This is too risky.’ I need to turn that all down and just listen to my heart.”

For the album, Bonadies began working with Jeff Cannata (Jasper Wrath), the same producer who helmed “No Regret.” But there were a lot of changes before “Karma” could see the light of day.

“It was a long process,” laughs Bonadies. “It had a couple of different homes. It started out with Jeff Cannata, but then I was going to do it on my own. But (guitarist) David Coe kept saying, ‘You’ve got to check out Michael Terry.’ David was right. Michael had all these contacts when I needed players. He just had a great temperament. He didn’t have an ego. He listened to me. I know what I want. And he had some great ideas.”

With the finished CD in hand, Bonadies is really looking forward to getting the material out there at tonight’s celebration. She says her live performances are about a lot more than just playing the music. They’re about sharing with the audience, about getting her messages across.

“I tell a lot of stories when I play live,” she explains. “I want people to understand the songs. It’s terrifying to play. Music in general, it’s about putting myself on the line. It’s about me living my life with no regret. Live you can tell that music means a lot to me. It challenges me a lot. It makes me grow a lot, and it terrifies me a lot. But I love it.”

Pat Ferrucci - New Haven Register (Feb 26, 2010) - New Haven Register

Nothing but good karma for Linda Bonadies’ sophomore set Karma. One would never guess that this talented singer/songwriter took a 15 year absence from music. The superb quality of these ten songs would suggest that Bonadies has been writing and singing all her life. Her maturity lends itself to both her lyrics and vocal performance – but there is nothing matronly about Karma. Bonadies’ panache gives her music an unassuming, friendly vibe, like that of a good role model or mentor. Her voice is stripped of any girlish qualities but rather exudes confidence and a graceful presence, like Stevie Nicks minus the excessive vibrato (thankfully).

The opening title track is catchy and upbeat with repetitive “da da daas” that cannot help but get stuck in your head. The straight ahead melody is a simplistic definition of karma itself: what goes around comes around. David Coe’s electric guitar solo in the bridge continues this accessible trend by only slightly straying from the melody with his embellishments. Ultimately Karma ends with another tune at almost the same tempo to neatly wrap the album and bring it full circle. “Lead With Your Heart” continues with the realistic, self-analyzing lyrical advice that brushes up but never slips into the realm of cliché.

Sandwiched in between these two numbers is a fabulous array of adult contemporary gems. Bonadies conveys that life is not always rosy in “Runaway Train.” The well-written instrumental opening is accentuated with piano atop quick percussion. By the second verse a nice string arrangement has entered the mix. As the song progresses, so does the wall of sound until the coda where the electric guitar plays over the percussion and ends with a stinger. The most unique track on Karma is “Stir Crazy.” It strays from the pop realm and hinges on a more hard/Goth rock feel with a heavy amount of echo effect on Bonadies’ voice and a repetitive, singular note melody. The suspended cymbal and strings add to the dramatic effect and is an excellent departure from all the other songs on the album.

One of the most delightful qualities of Bonadies’ songwriting is her exquisite ability of making the most of her background vocals. “Take Nothing For Granted” exhibits excellent vocal layering wrapped around Kerry Takahashi’s lovely cello work. The background vocals in the innocent love song “For A Night” have an endearing Carpenters quality, minus their signature oboe/trumpet solo. The countermelody in “The Way It Is” is first rate with more notable acoustic guitar work by Coe. Bonadies’ confident vocals are never grating but can at times have a rough curl around her “r” sounds. This makes the duet “You” with Tony Burnett not work quite as well. Both vocal deliveries are great but their voices are not the best compliment for each other. At times Burnett’s vocal line is above Bonadies’ yet her voice is not quite so low that it makes for the song to have an overall excess of treble sounds.

Nonetheless, the blend on the entire album is great, Bonadies’ songwriting skills are phenomenal and the music loving community is incredibly fortunate to have such a talented artist back in our midst again.

Review by Kelly O’Neil
- Kelly O'Neil

"Perfect adult contemporary soft rock that explodes right from the first track. Tapping into the work of Carole King, Karen Carpenter, Jann Arden, Elton John and more, her music flowers with a clear, distinct and committed sound - her songs proudly sing out with conviction, push ahead with a solid and "I know where I'm going" sentiment. Built solidly on thumping piano lines that take the lead through the harmonic textures, endowed with her vocals and plenty of rhythm and guitar, "No Regret" is an album that catches the ear, no matter which track you start with." - CD Baby

- CD Baby

“I heard Doin’ time, the marvelous opening track of No Regret from Linda Bonadies...a beautiful uptempo piano riff combined with a strong swinging track marked with Big notes as HIT! Also several other tracks, like Buried alive, Undone at the Seams, Soak Up the Rain and Our Town brought with their passionate, open chords and surprising melancholic turns....the quality of her songs and her passionate recital even then stay at an extraordinary high level and that she absolutely can be called a welcome addition to the modern music, and at least as a songwriter can score high in a commercial way of speaking.”

“Heaven” Magazine, The Netherlands (translated by Peter van der Sluijs) - Heaven Magazine

Hi Linda,

You have a great feel for the classic pop song. I’m sure you’ve been compared to Carole King many times but I’ve just gotta say it again. This is quite a compliment, of course! Strong, well crafted songs in the Carole King/Billy Joel pop style. Solid vocals and outstanding musicianship. I am definitely going to forward this (to a European Production Company looking for new talent). Good luck to you!

TAXI - Taxi

"Doin’ Time" from the CD No Regret by Linda Bonadies has been selected as one of the “Songs of Note,” which features 10 outstanding songs from 2004. The selection process for the multitudes of CDs we considered was both heartening and difficult. We were privileged to experience hundreds of outstanding CDs, but we were only able to award recognition to the top 42 CDs plus the 10 other great songs from 2004 (yours among them). Each song recognized in the “Great Songs of 2004" is (and you may quote us) “one of the best songs of 2004.”

Jon Sirkus, IAP Artistic Director
The Indie Acoustic Project
www.indieacoustic.com - Indie Acoustic Project

Linda Bonadies one of the winners of the Pacific Songwriting Competition. Her song "Doin' Time" wins in HOT PICKS category! - Pacific Songwriting Competition

Linda Bonadies is a breath of fresh air in the saturated realm of adult contemporary artists. The songwriter has lived long enough to exude wisdom, but writes words with the innocent eyes of a child to offer hope amid loss, peace among chaos, and love among the lonely or forgotten. Produced beautifully by Jeff Cannatta at Oxford Circus, "No Regret", with ten original songs, casts a loving light with elements of Carole King, Billy Joel, Kenny Loggins, and Janis Ian texturing their influence through the songwriter Bonadies. The energy of the first track, "Doin Time", (with Billy Joel style piano
expansive among a tight production of full band instrumentation), kicks start the album perfectly. Hard to pick out a favorite song because each track delivers a story all its own - with Linda's vocals varying from upbeat to openly emotional to introspective.

Bob Peters' saxophone opening on "Boys Will Be Boys" guides the song into a bluesy, moody rhythm with Linda's openly transparent lyrics emphasizing her take on this "boys will be boys" world. Catch your breath for following is the danceable island style "Friend Like You" with guest vocalist Timmy Maia. The song is welcoming like warm ocean breezes and is a fun duet. As you listen and absorb the last song,"Our Town", you realize that Linda writes about any town anywhere on earth. This one leaves a lump in the throat. Thank you for sharing your gifts of hope, faith and love of this world, Linda. The cd, "No Regret", reflects the care you've taken in the songwriting, studio production, execution of artwork and the professional musicianship expressed in this sensitive, revealing, fulfilling, beautifully created cd. All musicians are credited, liner notes contain lyrics in a font and size one can read, and the welcoming artwork with photo's of the artist surrounding an engaging shoreline offer a glimpse into the world of Linda Bonadies.

- toni k.
- Toni k