Sometimes, it seems as though just about everyone has recorded a song by Karla Bonoff, which brings us, strangely enough, to the 2014 World Series.
Even San Francisco Giants third base coach Tim Flannery, who doubles as a singer-songwriter, has recorded Bonoff’s song “Home,” as has Bonnie Raitt.
Bonoff, 62, is used to famous singers covering her deeply felt, beautifully written ballads. In addition to Raitt, Wynonna Judd, Alison Krauss, Nicolette Larson and, most notably, Linda Ronstadt have recorded her songs.
Ronstadt put three Bonoff beauties — “Lose Again,” “If He’s Ever Near” and “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me” — on her 1976 album, Hasten Down the Wind, which went Platinum and helped supercharge Ronstadt’s career.
Bonoff continues to sing those songs, as she will Sunday night at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. Her music still resonates with those who ask her to sign CDs after the show.
“People always come up to me and say, ‘Thank you so much for that album. It got me through my divorce,’ ” she says with a laugh. “Or, ‘We played this for our children when they were babies.’ I think it speaks to people who tend to be more emotional, who like to feel emotions and feelings. People tell me, ‘That song is everything that I could never say.’ ”
Bonoff grew up in Los Angeles and attended University High School, whose alumni include Jeff Bridges, Randy Newman, Jan and Dean and Bonnie Raitt. Launching her career at 15, Bonoff sang on “open mike” nights at the Troubadour, the legendary West Hollywood club where Ronstadt, the Eagles and Jackson Browne all got started in what became a kind of golden age in Southern California soft rock.
She was happy to sing “Something Fine” on the recent Browne tribute album conceived by Dallas energy executive Kelcy Warren. When she looks back on her sweetest moments, she remembers opening for Browne during his Running On Empty tour and having such luminaries as James Taylor, Glenn Frey and Don Henley sing on her albums.
Bonoff tours these days with Nina Gerber, one of the world’s great guitar players. They will play the One World Theatre in Austin and Dosey Doe in Houston before rolling into Dallas.
Bonoff feels a deep appreciation for having made a life of music, “to have been a musician for this many years and support myself. I have this great sense of gratitude as I stand up there and play these songs. I feel like I was given such a gift.
“I feel very lucky to be healthy and alive and on stage and still have fans come to shows. I can’t imagine anything that’s better.”
Plan your life
Karla Bonoff will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., Dallas. Tickets cost $20 to $30. Nicholas Altobelli opens. thekessler.org.
