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Posted by: thepinetree on 06/27/2013 12:12 PM Updated by: thepinetree on 06/27/2013 12:13 PM
Expires: 01/01/2018 12:00 AM
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Uncle Bonsai, July 5th at Twisted Oak Winery's 9th Anniversary!

Vallecito, CA... Twisted Oak Winery is pleased to announce a special concert of our 2013 Twisted Folk Concert Series - celebrating our 9th anniversary of making and serving wine in Calaveras County – featuring hilarious folk artists Uncle Bonsai...



“If you've ever had a mother or father, son or daughter, dog, cat, baby, in-laws… you'll laugh til your sides hurt!” said winery co-owner Mary Stai. “Everyone can relate to the humor in Uncle Bonsai’s songs.”

Anniversary dinners are also special at Twisted Oak Winery, this time featuring pork shoulder slow-roasted in our underground pit barbecue, grilled Smart Chicken, black bean and corn salad, and a refreshing feta-watermelon salad. All of this deliciousness will be available for purchase, along with yummy Twisted Oak wine, popcorn, and soft drinks. Concertgoers are welcome to bring their own picnics but we ask that no outside alcoholic beverages be brought in.

Seating at Twisted Folk concerts is outdoor festival style, first-come, first-served – bring a low beach-type chair or a blanket. We’re on top of a hill and there is always an evening breeze – it can get a little chilly after dark so please plan ahead.

Twisted Oak Winery is located in the foothills of Calaveras County, and specializes in wines made from Mediterranean varieties like Tempranillo, Viognier, and Petite Sirah. Our concert venue, located at the winery in Vallecito, sits on a hilltop that commands a sweeping view of the Sierra Nevada and the surrounding foothills, presided over by a 350-year old California Blue Oak that graces the label of every wine we bottle.

Uncle Bonsai:

Seattle folk-pop legends Uncle Bonsai “perform funny original songs whose exquisite musical detail and subtle needling wit attain a level of craft not often seen in pop” (NYTimes). Virtuosic harmonizers, the trio sings intricate arrangements that owe as much to the Beatles (or the Turtles) as Sondheim, and even classical motets. “The trio officially bills itself as a "folk" outfit, but has none of the naiveté that label might suggest.” (Seattle Times)

New York-born and classically trained, Bonsai’s primary songwriter, Andrew Ratshin, possesses an almost manic and obsessive wit and careful attention to details of rhythm and rhyme in his lyrics, which in part pay tribute to Tom Lehrer and Stephen Sondheim -- highly alliterative, and delivered rapid-fire.

Bonsai’s songs often champion the underdog, the odd man out, the dejected and despised, the “rounded up unpopulars” -- in one’s own family, in society, and even more broadly, sadly enough, in the universe.

Patrice O'Neill, Arni Adler, and Ratshin's “pitch-perfect” (Seattle Times) angelic voices swap lines in a dizzing whir, but are laced with barbed humor. Taking good-natured stabs at society's foibles (and their own), the effect is something like what you'd get if Tim Burton or Edward Gorey wrote tunes for the American Songbook. Though the lyrics reveal a gentle reflective side at times, they are most often hysterically irreverent.

The band launched in the early '80's, opening shows for Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainright III, Bonnie Raitt, 10,000 Maniacs, and co-billing with They Might Be Giants and The Bobs, among others, somewhat mystifying record label categorization. After an extended hiatus with only intermittent performances, the group resumed touring and recording in 2008.

Though Bonsai's early hits included some challenging radio material, the kids have grown up and their barbs are now more subtly inserted (the FCC now approves, and the band would like to apologize to Miami.). The group has recently turned its attention toward skewed songs about childhood – mostly their own -- writing “nicely edgy, sour-sweet songs, written for grown-ups." (Seattle Times)

At the July 5th concert at Twisted Oak, the group will celebrate the release of their illustrated bedtime book/CD for grown-ups, "Monsters in the Closet / Go to Sleep" --- two tauntingly twisted tales for tormented parents. How appropriate.



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