Haley Bonar w/Fat Kid Wednesdays

Haley Bonar is putting her own spin on the classic “local girl made good” story. This guitarist/vocalist is riding a wave of national interest in her finely crafted, seemingly fragile folk/pop music. Bonar’s songs are buoyed by her effortless, earnest voice and sympathetic, minimal ensemble, and she has received accolades for each album she has released. Her most recent release, Big Star, topped several Twin Cities year-end favorite lists in 2008.

Raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, Bonar started turning heads while a student at the University of Minnesota’s Duluth campus. She released her first album, …the Size of Planets, on fellow Duluthians Low’s record label in 2003. Her next release, Lure the Fox, featured a veritable all-star cast of local musicians, including drummer Dave King, bassist Chris Morrissey, and Low’s Alan Sparhawk on guitar (for the track “Give It Up”). This album won her two MN Music Awards in the American Roots category.

Bonar’s critical acclaim has turned into commercial success, and has landed her on stage opening for such acts as Neko Case and The Arcade Fire. She has also toured with Richard Buckner and Andrew Bird, and is featured on Bird’s 2007 release Armchair Apocrypha.

Also appearing is Fat Kid Wednesdays, one of the most innovative and exciting jazz acts in the region. Their extreme dynamic range and sonic palette have made them frequent guests at the Turf Club, Artist’s Quarter, and elsewhere. Fat Kid Wednesdays are Mike Lewis, saxophones; Adam Linz, bass; J.T. Bates, drums.

“She wrote the most fetching, poetic and sophisticated songs of her career for Big Star, and her lamb-to-lion vocal talents rose to the occasion.”
-Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Haley Bonar, playing behind the stirring new Big Star, rediscovers the pure emotion of unadorned singer-songwriter folk”
-Time Out New York

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