Born and raised in Southern California, KARLA BONOFF was a songwriter by the age of fifteen. She and her sister Lisa were writing songs and playing as a duo titled “The Daughters of Chester P” named after their father, Dr. Chester Paul Bonoff. She had already fallen in love with the guitar and studied with Frank Hamilton of the famous folk group, The Weavers, who taught her The Water Is Wide, arguably one of Karla’s most affecting recordings.

By 16, Karla and her sister Lisa auditioned for Elektra Records. An 11-song demo [recorded by Doors' engineer Bruce Botnick] was recorded but no deal came of this first effort. Karla’s sister became a teacher of history and religion, but Karla’s passion was always music.

Karla became friends with other singer-songwriters and musicians in the burgeoning Los Angeles ’60s music scene, who were creating their own unique sound. She lined up at the legendary Troubadour at noon on Mondays to get a slot in the famous Monday night Troubadour “hoot,” which was a breaking ground for many artists who went on to great success. She says, “It was an amazing time. Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Elton John were around the Troubadour in those days.”

There were some other writer-singers who became friends of Karla’s, and eventually, they decided to put a band together. They were Kenny Edwards, (who had started the Stone Poneys with Linda Ronstadt and Bobby Kimmel), Wendy Waldman, and Andrew Gold. Something powerful in their combined sound drew them together. Thus, the band Bryndle was born—one of the early songwriter groups, even before the Eagles. The band made an album for A&M, but it was never released. They were, unfortunately, a bit ahead of their time. Speaking of the A&M project, Karla says, “They didn't release it. I think they didn’t really know quite what to make of it. This was right before Crosby, Stills and Nash, and before Fleetwood Mac. We were these two girls and two guys... the closest thing they could compare us to was the Mamas and the Papas. They actually had Lou Adler [producer for the Mamas and Papas] produce a single to try to make us like that. In the next few years, had we stayed together, I think we could have done well.” A single, with Karla singing lead, was released from those sessions, but failed to forward the band's career. 

Bryndle broke up, but it launched four very illustrious careers. Kenny and Andrew joined Linda Ronstadt’s band, and through that connection, Ronstadt was to hear a demo of hers. Karla recalled playing a tape of Lose Again for her. “Hey, you know that’s real good,” Bonoff remembers Ronstadt saying, “What else have you got?” On Linda’s Hasten Down the Wind album [released in 1976], there were three Bonoff songs: “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me,” “If He’s Ever Near” and “Lose Again.”

As Ronstadt was scoring hits with Karla Bonoff songs, Karla herself was signed as a solo artist to Columbia Records in 1977. There, she not only recorded the three songs Linda had done, but also the hit single “I Can’t Hold On” and the tune “Home,” which later wound up on one of Bonnie Raitt’s albums. The producer of this great first album [and the next two] was Karla’s old friend and partner, Kenny Edwards. Bonoff then embarked on a solo tour to promote her album, and by the time she reached Seattle, “I Can’t Hold On” was Number 1 in the Pacific Northwest. “I was headlining and I barely had enough songs to play,” Karla recalls, still amazed at the memory. “So I just kept playing them longer!” She went from there to coveted spots on major tours, opening for James Taylor and Jackson Browne and earning a rave review in Time magazine.

Two subsequent albums, Restless Nights [released in 1979] and Wild Heart of the Young released in 1982], established Karla as one of LA’s major artists and songwriters. Musicians such as Russ Kunkel, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar, Don Henley, Timothy Schmit, Peter Frampton, Bill Payne, J.D. Souther, and her old partners from Bryndle, Wendy Waldman, Andrew Gold and Kenny Edwards all participated in the making of these wonderful records. Karla had a big hit with “Personally” from her album Wild Heart of the Young—a song she did not write. “I’m sure there’s people out there who only know me from this song, but I really enjoyed singing and recording it.”

Karla’s fourth album, New World [first released in 1988], was originally released on Gold Castle, and is now available on the Valley Entertainment label. She began to tour in Japan, where audiences fell in love with her, and where she still has a major presence today.

There's been work in film… she and J.D. Souther wrote songs for the motion picture About Last Night. She is also the voice on the Tom Snow/ Dean Pitchford song “Somebody’s Eyes” from Footloose. In 1994, Karla had a top-ten AC hit single with “Standing Right Next to Me” from the film 8 Seconds. This track was produced by the legendary Keith Thomas (a longtime fan of Karla’s) and written with her old partner, Wendy Waldman.

Throughout the years, Karla has continued to tour with Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, J.D. Souther and others, building up a passionate audience, resulting in sold-out houses everywhere.

In 1990, strange, wonderful things began to happen in Karla’s life and her career came full circle. She wrote three songs which wound up on her old friend Linda Ronstadt's album Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. “All My Life,” a duet with Ronstadt and Aaron Neville, won the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and People magazine ranked it as one of the top five most popular wedding songs. In 1993, Karla’s song “Tell Me Why,” sung by the legendary Wynonna Judd [with Karla on acoustic guitar, and Bryndle members singing backup vocals], was the title song to Wynonna’s second album, and a tremendous hit. The 8 Seconds soundtrack album [released in 1994], featured “Standing Right Next to Me” and a duet with Vince Gill on “When Will I Be Loved,” [a ’70’s hit for Linda Ronstadt] bringing Karla’s sound to an even bigger country music audience.

Karla and her three old partners, Kenny Edwards, Andrew Gold and Wendy Waldman, then decided it was time to put Bryndle back together again. “When we decided to put this band back together,” Bonoff explains, “we realized that one of the things that was wrong with it the first time was that we all wrote separately. We thought it would be great to write together this time. It’s been new and really fun to do that, the four of us.” Twelve out of the 14 songs on Bryndle’s CD were written as a group. In the fall of ’95, after four years of hard work, the first Bryndle CD came out, released in the United States and Japan. The band toured Japan in the summer, then began to tour the United States. Karla had some incredible showstoppers on the record and onstage. “On the Wind,” “Under the Rainbow” and “Daddy's Little Girl” brought the house down every single night no matter where Bryndle played. Bonoff fans flocked to the shows and were thrilled to see her with her old friends, having a great time.

In 1996, Andrew Gold left the band, but Bryndle continued on, performing into the summer of 1997. A duet with the Dirt Band, “You Believed in Me,” written with Wendy Waldman, was released in January of that year on a prestigious MCA album honoring the 1996 Olympics. Progress on Bryndle’s follow-up CD [with the working title of “Bryndle 2”] stopped and started after 1997.

In 1999, Sony/CBS Legacy released All My Life - The Best of Karla Bonoff, a 16-song fully remastered collection spanning Karla's entire career. Karla [accompanied by Kenny Edwards], expanded her touring as a solo artist, growing and building a touring legacy that has seen her play for hundreds of thousands of endearing fans over the years.

In 2001, enthusiasm for the “Bryndle 2” project built up within the band and the recording pace intensified. Regular sessions took place at Kenny’s Santa Barbara studio and Wendy’s San Fernando Valley “Long House Studio.” Former bandmate Andrew Gold contributed to the recording as well. Finally, in the first week of 2002, House of Silence, the second collection of songs from Bryndle, was independently released. 

In November of 2002, Karla, Kenny Edwards and Wendy Waldman played their first show together under the Bryndle banner in more than four years. The setting was an intimate house concert in the Los Angeles area. In 2003, an album documenting that performance was released titled, Live From Russ & Julie’s House Concert. 

In 2007, Karla released a live double CD, a project she had talked about for years, saying at the time, “I think many of these songs have improved with age and I have never really documented what we do as a band.” Karla recorded all but one song of it at a small club in Santa Barbara with her long-time touring band, Kenny Edwards and Nina Gerber, plus Scott Babcock on percussion.

Sadly, during the summer of 2010, Kenny Edwards passed away of cancer. Karla wrote on her website, “I want to thank Kenny for being my teacher, my musical partner and my best friend for the last forty-three years.” One year later, in June 2011, Andrew Gold passed away after suffering a heart attack, another loss for Karla, Wendy Waldman, Linda Ronstadt, and fans of the pioneering work those two did to create a musical movement out of the Southern California Folk-Rock scene.

Karla has continued to record and tour extensively, playing sold-out shows around the world. Hearing Karla’s moving vocals on her rich, expressive songs is like standing beneath a sparkling waterfall—refreshing, exhilarating, restorative. Experiencing them live can be transformative.  Fans and critics agree that Bonoff’s songs are timeless as are her recordings. Many prefer her versions live with instrumentation that is clean and spare, giving Bonoff’s voice room to work its emotional magic.

In 2019, Karla released her first new studio album in over a decade, Carry Me Home, a 16-song set featuring brand new recordings of Karla’s classics along with new songs by Karla, Kenny Edwards, and a cover of a vintage Jackson Browne tune “Something Fine,” which Karla performed on the 2015 compilation, Looking into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne.

In Late 2020, Karla released, Silent Night, her first collection of Holiday music, to wide acclaim, including a prominent listing on the New York Times Best New Holiday Albums of the Year. In 2021 Karla added two new songs to her Holiday collection including a duet with the legendary Michael McDonald.

The media continues to follow and shine a spotlight on Karla’s ongoing career milestones. She was featured in the acclaimed Linda Ronstadt documentary, The Sound of My Voice, highlighting her friendship with Linda and as the writer of several of her biggest songs, including Grammy Winner, “All My Life.” Bob Lefsetz, a longtime fan, interviewed her for his popular podcast and dug deep into her history as a pioneer of the Southern California Singer-Songwriter scene, Trisha Yearwood’s new album includes a lovely rendition of Karla’s “Home,” Mary Sue Toohey of The Village on Sirius/XM hosted a performance and interview, and she was invited to sing on the longest-running radio program for acoustic music, Acoustic Café.

Karla’s legacy as a writer and perseverance as a performer are spoken best in a Billboard magazine review of Karla’s “All My Life” recording… “(Karla Bonoff) comes from breed of singer/songwriters whose earthly anthems of soul-searching, heartache and joy touched souls in a way few can muster today.”

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LIVINGSTON TAYLOR picked up his first guitar at the age of 13, which began a 50-year career that has encompassed performance, songwriting and teaching. Born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, Livingston is the fourth child in a very musical family that includes Alex, James, Kate and Hugh. Livingston recorded his first record at the age of 18 and has continued to create well crafted, introspective and original songs that have earned him listeners worldwide.

From top-40 hits “I Will Be in Love with You” and “I’ll Come Running,” to “I Can Dream of You” and “Boatman,” the last two recorded by his brother James, Livingston’s creative output has continued unabated. His musical knowledge has inspired a varied repertoire, and he is equally at home with a range of musical genres—folk, pop, gospel, jazz—and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances.

Livingston has never stopped performing since those early coffeehouse days, has shared the stage with major artists such as Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, and Jethro Tull, and maintains a busy concert schedule, touring internationally. He is a natural performer, peppering his shows with personal stories, anecdotes and ineffable warmth that connect him to his fans. His relaxed on-stage presence belies the depth of his musical knowledge, and fans might just as often be treated to a classic Gershwin or something from the best of Broadway.

Livingston is a full professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught a Stage Performance course since 1989. He teaches young artists invaluable lessons learned over the course of an extensive career on the road; the course is consistently voted the most popular at the College. Former students include Charlie Puth, Liz Longley, and Gavin DeGraw. His book, Stage Performance, released in 2011, offers those lessons to anyone who is interested in elevating their presentation standards to professional standards.

Livingston’s 50th year of making music was celebrated by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, both declaring January 18, 2017 “Livingston Taylor Day”. A documentary film entitled Livingston Taylor: Life is Good was released in 2018 at national and international film festivals. It has garnered many awards, nominations and accolades, including The Van Gogh Award for the Feature Documentary category at the Amsterdam International Film Festival. The film is currently available to the public on Amazon. 

In February 2019, Livingston released The Best of LIVe – 50 Years of Livingston Taylor Live. This album features 11 song selections from his LIVe - Livingston Taylor Live Box Set. Upon release, the album was ranked in the top 10 and his song “Good Friends” was #2 on the Folk DJ chart.

In March 2019, the American Public Television special Livingston Taylor Live from Sellersville: Songs and Stories began broadcasting on PBS stations across the country. 

LIVe - 50 Years of Livingston Taylor Live was released in July of 2019. It features 87 never-been-released recordings from live shows from 1969 through 2016. It also includes the documentary film Livingston Taylor - Life is Good and a 54-page commemorative photo book with notes and stories from Livingston. A real treasure for life-long Livingston Taylor fans.