Born in San Rafael, California Shari first moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in the early 1970's in response to the Viet Nam War.
After stints of backpacking and cycling around Canada and the US, (always with a guitar on her back or a flute in her pack) her search for her place and path in the world included a stint performing with her older brother and sister with the San Francisco Free Theatre, finally revealing that music was IT.
In all, Ulrich has released 18 albums – as a solo artist and as part of various groups -- which have garnered her 2 Juno Awards, several award nominations, and an induction into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Shari first hit the stage as one-third of the infamous Pied Pumkin String Ensemble. The Pumkins -- Ulrich, Joe Mock and Rick Scott – embodied joie de vivre and intellectual whimsy and became the foundation of British Columbian music for an entire generation. Die-hard Pumkin fans recall Ulrich’s violin, mandolin, flute, dulcimer, guitar, and saxophone playing as well as her incomparable voice – a formidable balance to the wacky and unique songwriting and performance personalities of her cohorts.
"To finance our recordings in those days, Pied Pumkin would collect the names, addresses and $5 from fans, record the album, then mail it off to all those trusting souls who had pre-paid...." In fact, the Pied Pumkin’s “Squash Records” was Canada’s first “Indie Label”, long before such a term existed.
Big changes came in ’76 when Shari was hired to tour with West Coast folk artist Valdy as part of his backing group, The Hometown Band. Shari was called on every show to step forward and sing Joe Mock's stunning Flying and her reputation across Canada was sealed. On the strength of that song, and the eclectic and remarkable musicianship of the members, The Hometown Band was signed with A&M, released two albums and won a Juno award for Best New Group. The top single from the second album was Shari’s very first self penned song “Feel Good”.
When the Hometown Band dissolved in ‘78, Shari embarked on solo and songwriting career. Her next 2 albums (on A&M) contained her next 20 songs, followed by an MCA US signing. “Talk Around Town” was released with much success in Canada, but a fateful merge and purge at MCA, on the eve of the record’s US release, left Shari suddenly without a label or management.
With her undeterred and signature determination, Shari marched on to record and release her albums independently (“Every Road”, “The Best of Shari Ulrich” and more recently “The View From Here”) and pursued a wealth of new challenges. These included TV hosting, (including “Futurescan” with David Suzuki), writing and hosting BCTV’s “Inside Trax”, writing and producing pieces for Sesame Street, scoring themes and documentaries for CBC, Life, and the Knowledge Networks, and even musical theatre (“Tapestry” and “Baby Boomer Blues”). She also became a role model for women after surviving a near-fatal assault and finding the strength to carry on with her life and her career.
1989 marked the start of her collaboration with long-time friends Bill Henderson and Roy Forbes - UHF - the much praised acoustic/vocal trio with whom she continues to record and perform.
As well, Shari resumed touring and recording with The Pied Pumkin in 1999, touring nationally and last year releasing "Pumkids" which one several International awards.
Shari has also teamed up with the legendary Barney Bentall and Tom Taylor (from She Stole My Beer) to form a new trio, which just released "Live at Cates Hill".
She also produces the Bluebird North concert series for the Songwriters Association of Canada at the Roundhouse in Vancouver.
A long time mentor for Canadian songwriters, Shari has taught songwriting in many different workshop settings as well as at the University of BC.
Throughout it all Shari raised a daughter Julia Graff, along with former husband, songwriter and visual artist David Graff. Julia, now 19 and herself an increasingly accomplished instrumentalist, has joined her mother on stage on violin, guitar, piano and vocals for the past 5 years, along with Shari’s long time partner - jazz great Bill Runge. Their collaboration is more 'seasonal' now that Julia is a full time student at McGill. Shari is working on getting a LONG overdue new solo CD finished by the fall.
The most up to date info on Shari can be found at www.shariulrich.com
Hey, hear Shari & Julia on Rock Talk tonight (the late repeat is on at 01:00 AM EDT Monday morning i.e. late Sunday) on CFRB 1010 AM Toronto and online at www.cfrb.com. rocktalk
Thanks for the add! I love your music...your song "What She Left for Us", reminds me of my own mother. She was my best friend in this world. She left us way to soon. Thank you for your music...have a great weekend!
Shari, if you are in Victoria this Friday (March 7th), come out to the James Bay Coffee & Books - 143 Menzies St. I am playing a feature set about 9pm - the show starts at 8. Great atmosphere and you never know what new songs that I have worked on lately that you might hear ... Best as always, Ken
I am trying to track down the source of the SPAM you received from my myspace site. It did NOT originate from me, but went out to all my friends. I have NO idea how this happened. Please accept my apologies and sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Rae
