Linda Bonadies - Powerful Songwriter!
“ Did you let somebody tell you who you are?” This is one of the many challenging and soul searching questions that Linda Bonadies’ new CD “No Regret” is asking you! Maybe you’re like Billy or Sue, characters in Bonadies’ song “Doin’ Time” who have been misled by the values of our culture and as a result spend their life as imprisoned souls serving a life sentence. Or maybe you’re “Buried Alive” and have lost your inner voice and need to find yourself again. Or maybe it’s time to stop being scared and it’s time to start living a life of “No Regret.” In any event, these songs might just inspire change in your life just as they did in the life of Linda Bonadies.
Bonadies’ songs are based on her own life experience. A married mother of three, Linda confronted the challenge of rediscovering herself and rediscovering her music after a period of personal struggle. “I felt kind of lost inside and I didn’t understand why. I thought I had everything I ever wanted…a happy marriage, three wonderful children, and a secure life. But I felt sick, sad and guilty because somehow this wasn’t enough.” Bonadies reached a low point and it was then she was finally able to hear the voice in her heart. “It was loud and clear and took me completely by surprise. I knew I had to write songs and sing them. I was terrified and relieved. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since and I feel great!”
In what seemed like a lifetime ago, music had been a part of Bonadies’ life She studied “serious” composition earning a degree from Bucknell University and going on to pursue a graduate degree at Hartt School of Music. “While I loved the creativity of my musical pursuits it never seemed to be quite the right fit,” Bonadies explains. Classical piano performance demanded that she play other people’s music. And her work as a composer demanded that other people play her music. “It was a frustrating experience not being able to control the performance of your own music,” said Bonadies. “I decided after graduate school that I was done with “serious” music. As far as I knew that was the only option available to me in the music world, so I gave up music completely. To be honest with you, I was actually relieved to give up music. There was something tormenting about it….something inside that I just couldn’t access.” Bonadies closed the chapter on music, and for the next fifteen years would never once sit at the piano to play or to write.
In the following years Bonadies worked at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford doing publicity and marketing. In 1992 she had her first son and decided to be a full time mom. It wasn’t until spring of 2001 when Bonadies’ whole world changed. She dusted off the piano, limbered up her stiff fingers and let her heart pour out into song. “I experienced a very powerful and spiritual moment at a low point in my life. I went from being completely lost to having this incredible clarity and direction to my life. I am so grateful for that moment because it provided me with the courage and the strength to write and also to perform, something I’d otherwise be too terrified to do.”
A few months after her life changing experience, September 11th happened. “I felt that it was my responsibility as a songwriter to write about this tragic event,” said Bonadies. She also believed it was her obligation to perform the song. Singing “Our Town” at her church was her first public performance. A year later she performed the song at her hometown’s Candlelight vigil in front of thousands. “It was a valuable learning experience because I realized that my music wasn’t just about me. It was about trying to touch people, to reach people and maybe if you’re really lucky heal something inside of people. That’s what I try to do in my songs,” said Bonadies.
At 41 Bonadies has finally found the perfect musical fit as a singer/songwriter. She spends most of her days composing songs in a church. “I love the quiet, the acoustics and the spiritual connection of writing in a church, says Bonadies. “This is more satisfying than anything I’ve ever known,” says Bonadies. “To my surprise I love the risk of getting up in front of a crowd singing songs that divulge everything about who I am. I’m so vulnerable and feel so alive! For me performance is all about NOT performing. It’s all about being human. When I stand up to sing I defy all those voices in my head that tell me not to; that tell me my voice is mediocre; that tell me I’m too old for this. When I stand up the voice in my heart wins…the voice that tells you you can do anything…the voice that tells you to follow what you love. And for a moment I am truly free… an ultimate state of human existence.”