"Woman On The Table"
from Seven Sins, Seven Wonders, Seven Dwarfs - A Song Cycle
Recorded live at the 2025 Moisture Festival - Seattle, WA
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"Woman On The Table" |
Upcoming Concerts
Things just got very exciting. On May 16, 2025, Uncle Bonsai returns to Seattle with new songs and a new member. Will you hear some of your favorites? Yep! Will there by a "Doug" song, to mark the occasion? Sure, why not!! Will we hear songs from the new "Seven Modern Wonders" series? Definitely. Andrew, Patrice, and the wonderful Kat Bula, come to this beautiful venue for their first public Seattle performance. It's the Seattle debut with Kat AND, since it's Andrew's birthday the next day, we're pretty sure there'll be cake! Don't wait . . . tickets are on sale now!
SEATTLE TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! TICKET AND VENUE INFORMATION!
Very exciting that the group not only gets to return to Bellingham, for the first time in almost ten years, but they get to play at this beautiful theater. Lots of new songs, some familiar favorites, and even some from the "Seven Sins, Seven Wonders, Seven Dwarfs" song cycle. Who knows . . . maybe you'll hear that new "Doug" song! Maybe there's a song or two from the "Seven Modern Wonders!" It's going to be a great night AND it's Andrew's birthday . . . more cake?
“Uncle Bonsai, a folk-pop trio from Seattle, performs funny original songs whose exquisite musical detail and subtle needling wit attain a level of craft not often seen in pop” - The New York Times
"Pitch-perfect in their delivery of often complex harmonic arrangements. And if there were an Ella Fitzgerald Award for Exquisite Elocution in Song, they would surely get it. The trio officially bills itself as a "folk" outfit, but has none of the naiveté that label might suggest. These are nicely edgy, sour-sweet songs, written for grown-ups." - The Seattle Times
“No other folk group has a vocal blend comparable to Uncle Bonsai. Uncle Bonsai writes and performs songs that combine folk-oriented melodies with lyrics whose intricate rhymes, ironic knowingness and satirical thrust suggest vintage theater songs filtered through the influence of the Beatles.” - The New York Times
“The group has achieved an almost cult status...their music ranges from irreverent to ironic, from satirical to sad. And despite the folk tag, their music defies categorization as it incorporates elements of jazz, pop, broadway, reggae, and classical.” - Associated Press
“...hilarious and very entertaining, through perfectly meshed voices and acoustic guitar. Every piece is a gem; each has the same kind of quirky sardonic edge that Loudon Wainwright III and the Roches work has.” - Toronto Star
✧The big news, of course, is Arni's retirement announcement -- Click here to read her note! -- and what that means for the future of the group. With 43 years under its belt, and an incredible repertoire, Andrew and Patrice decided to move forward with a new member, the amazing Kat Bula! The group will record a live release in early June, featuring selections from the "Seven Sins, Seven Wonders, Seven Dwarfs" song-cycle, and begins work on the next studio album in Summer 2025.
So many of you have supported the group for years, from the start in 1981, through the hiatus that started in 1989, through the personnel change -- hello Patrice -- in 2005, and we hope you'll stick with us to hear what the next 43 years bring!
✧The most recent recording, "The Family Feast: The Study of the Human Condition, First World Problems, and the Lasting Physiological and Psychological Effects of Eating Our Young," is available everyhere. The CD features many of the songs the group has been performing for the past few years or so. Included are: Problems, Brand New World, Modern Medicine (Old Man Arms), In The End, The Family Feast, Bat, and many others. The group is actively performing again, after that long, world-wide, "interruption," and is excited to be playing these songs, along with selections from the 25 new songs from the "Seven Sins, Seven Wonders, Seven Dwarfs" song-cycle.
✧The group is currently setting up national tours, both throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast, for Spring 2026. Make sure you're on the mailing list for all updates!
"Pitch-perfect in their delivery of often complex harmonic arrangements. And if there were an Ella Fitzgerald Award for Exquisite Elocution in Song, they would surely get it. The trio officially bills itself as a "folk" outfit, but has none of the naiveté that label might suggest. These are nicely edgy, sour-sweet songs, written for grown-ups." - The Seattle Times
So, what IS Uncle Bonsai? Imagine what might happen if Tim Burton and Edward Gorey hijacked the Andrews Sisters en route to a Stephen Sondheim festival with The Beatles and Tom Lehrer in the sidecar; you'd get Seattle super- harmonizers Uncle Bonsai. With just three voices and an acoustic guitar, Bonsai presents an often dizzying vocal array of intricate harmony. Their songs, dark and hilarious at times, just as often delight with moments of great insight and beauty. The trio aligns itself with the under-achiever, the dejected, the outsider, the black sheep. Densely-packed lyrics fly by in a whir at times, and take a skewed stance on topics such as first-world problems, the creation of the universe, the afterlife, 
and, of course, holidays with the family. Uncle Bonsai's acoustic folk-pop songs are almost one-act plays or short stories, resisting strict pop, folk, or singer-songwriter categories. Their songs focus on the passing of time, the passing of genes, and the passing of pets - the truth of everything seemingly buried somewhere under the family tree.
Now in its forty-fourth year, the group has nine recordings, a reversible/hard cover book for parents (and their kids), and recently premiered an all-new show, “Seven Sins, Seven Wonders, Seven Dwarfs,” featuring a 25-song song cycle. On September 28, 2024, the group performed with co-founding member Arni Adler for the last time but, to quote Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, "the more things change, the more they stay the same! And so, in May2025, the group returned with new songs and a new member, the amazing Kat Bula!
Full Bio and History on epk page
All photos by Mark Ouellette
Uncle Bonsai has released 8 full-length cds, 1 cd single, 1 "Bedtime Book for Grownups," which is a flip-over book that also contains a cd, and can be found on a number of compilations, including the "Just One Angel" recordings. Uncle Bonsai's label, Yellow Tail Records, has released over 30 folk, classical, holiday, compilation, and childrens recordings and all are available in stores throughout North America, as well as all the online sites. You can visit our store at The Yellow Tail Records Store.
