Karla Bonoff, Voice of 'a Generation,' Comes to Chatham

Get ready for a blast from the past! Karla Bonoff, who won a Grammy for writing the 1990 Linda Ronstadt/Aaron Neville duet "All My Life,"will appear Saturday at the Sanctuary Concert Series.

Scott Sheldon, the head of the Sanctuary Concerts, said Bonoff's songs "have defined a generation." She wrote hits that were recorded by Columbia Records for years, including the songs "If He's Ever Near", "I Can't Hold On," "Lose Again," "Home," "Isn't It Always Love," "Baby Don't Go," "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," Personally," "Like a Falling Star," and "All My Life."

As a recording artist, Bonoff has recorded 15  albums. Her original songs have been covered by Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and other national recording artists.

Ronstadt was the first to cover Bonoff's songs on her 1976 album "Hasten Down the Wind." Later her songs were covered on the soundtracks of films such as "Footloose" and "About Last Night ...", but in the words of Sheldon, "her legions of fans, however, believe no one sings Karla Bonoff like Karla Bonoff."

When she released her career-retrospective album "All My Life" with Sony, Billboard said she was one of "a breed of singer/songwriters whose earthy anthems of soul-searching, heartache, and joy touched souls in a way few can muster today."

Timothy White of Billboard Magazine said of her, "Bonoff is one of the finest singer-songwriters of her generation, with many of her ballads having become classics of American pop songwriting in the second half of the century."

Opening for Karla Bonoff will be David Olney, whom Sheldon describes as a "master songwriter" who has been compared to Tom Waits because of his soul-baring songs.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township. Tickets are $25 each and include dessert and coffee at intermission. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at (973) 376-4946 or email boxoffice@sanctuaryconcerts.org.

Sanctuary Concerts and Chatham Patch have teamed up to offer two free tickets to see Karla Bonoff Saturday to the first person who can answer the following trivia question correctly:

The legendary songwriter Karla Bonoff, performing this Saturday at The Sanctuary Concerts, won a Grammy for her song "All My Life," as recorded by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville. But the song was not written for Linda, and was not even written to be performed in concert. Why was that song written?

Think you know the answer? Email Chatham Patch Editor Laura Silvius at Laura.Silvius@patch.com for your chance to win tickets to Karla Bonoff!

Editor's note: This prize has been awarded and this contest is closed.