Three-part harmony, one part hilarity

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The legendary vocal group Uncle Bonsai returns with a performance Friday.

After a 17-year absence – so long you’d think they’d be forgotten – Uncle Bonsai is bringing its original folk music back to Bainbridge for one show at Island Center Hall this Friday.

Fans will fill the venue, predicts Andrew Ratshin, the acoustic guitar-playing third of the trio, known for their three-part harmonies and witty social commentary. Singing with him are Arni Adler and Ashley O’Keeffe.

With a reputation that precedes the band – thanks to illustrious songs such as “Boys Want Sex in the Morning” and the “Doug” series – Ratshin is looking forward to playing for an island audience once again.

The three friends attended Bennington College in Vermont, but didn’t know each other then. They had mutual friends and eventually got together in Seattle, after Ratshin and Adler responded to an ad placed by someone named Ashley who wanted people to sing folk music with.

They enjoyed cult success in the 1980s and beyond and were hailed by the New York Times for their “funny original songs whose exquisite musical detail and subtle needling wit attain a level of craft not often seen in pop.”

Ratshin and Adler still live in Seattle, while O’Keeffe calls Des Moines, Iowa home.

“I don’t know what she does there. She should be out here with us,” said Ratshin, who writes all the music and most of the lyrics for Uncle Bonsai.

Ratchin is one of the owners of Yellowfin Records in Seattle and has a CD brokering business.

In addition, he performs solo under the name Electric Bonsai Band and loves the fact that it isn’t electric and there isn’t a band. He has recorded six CDs on his own.

By day, Adler conducts a writing program for school-age children.

The trio did their first Doug concert on stage 10 years ago. The cycle started out as one song about a guy named Doug, then mushroomed into a 13-song series with such notable titles as “Doug at His Mom’s,” Doug’s First Date” and “Doug Got Married.”

“I called Ashley to do this one show and record it,” Ratchin said, and the Doug songs were immortalized on CD in 1999, marking the trio’s first concert reunion show.

Uncle Bonsai still mixes the old with some new at every concert.

“It’s a fun group to sing with,” Ratshin said. “We’re doing our two-a-days, and trying to remember the lyrics.”

* * * * *

Boffo for Bonsai

Tickets for Uncle Bonsai’s 8 p.m. show Nov. 18 at Island Center Hall are $17 in advance, from Vern’s Winslow Drugs and Glass Onion, and $20 at the door, which opens at 7:30 p.m.

See www.yellowtailrecords.com for concert and CD information, or www.unclebonsai.com.