Tracy Bonham is a singer and classically trained violinist who incorporates both skills into her pop compositions. Her debut EP, The Liverpool Sessions, was released in 1995, with a full-length album, The Burdens of Being Upright, following the next year. The album went gold on the strength of its caustic leadoff track, Mother Mother, which spent three weeks at the top of Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart. Bonham received two Grammy nominations for her debut and embarked on an extensive tour before setting to work on a sophomore album. By the time Down Here arrived in early 2000, however, alt-rocks heyday was on the way out, and the albums reception suffered as a result. Bonham split ways with Island Records and continued onward, issuing The Bee EP as an independent release in 2003 before joining the roster at Zo? Records for 2005s Blink the Brightest.