Bill Bonk

Bill Bonk is an American recording artist, multi-instrumentalist sideman, and former member of the music faculty at the Episcopal School of Los Angeles. He is best known for his band, The Brothers Figaro, and as a touring sideman for John Prine, Susanna Hoffs, Ron Sexsmith and others.
==Personal Life==
Born William Henry Bonk at Irwin Army Hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas (October 16, 1959), Bonk was raised in Van Nuys, California, with a Japanese immigrant mother (Catherine Yasuko Bonk), a Polish-American father (Robert Bonk), older brother, and younger sister. The mixed-race Bonk family struggled financially, and scarce few Asians lived in the area. Bonk's mother recognized his propensity for music at age four, trading the family car for an electric guitar and music lessons. 
Throughout his academic career, Bonk pursued music through after-school sessions at Walter Reed Middle School and North Hollywood High School, where he was active in stage band and mentored by Tom Dodson for composition and arranging. 
Bonk was married in 1986 and divorced in 1989. In 1994, he married Deborah Davis and raised two children; the pair separated in 2022.
==Music==
Bonk formed numerous bands in the 1980s playing a wide range of music, before re-uniting with his childhood music friend, Phil Parlapiano, in the backing band for Geffen recording artist Tim Scott. When Scott disbanded the ensemble to form The Havalinas, the remaining members - including drummer Scott Babcock - became The Brothers Figaro, a group combining thoughtful songwriting with 1930s fashion and electrified acoustic instruments (accordion, 12-string guitar, fiddle), while speaking with fake Italian accents. After playing weekly for six months at Molly Malones Pub in Los Angeles to build their following, the band was signed to Geffen Records in 1989 and released one album, "Gypsy Beat," to positive reviews from Creem Magazine and The Chicago Tribune. The album featured significant contributions from David Lindley, Edie Brickell, Nils Lofgren, Van Dyke Parks, and Kenny Edwards.
After parting ways with Geffen, Bill Bonk spent 12 years as an international touring and recording sideman with John Prine, Susanna Hoffs, Aimee Mann, Lisa Loeb, Ron Sexsmith, Shawn Mullins, Murray Attaway, Bryndle and Marvin Etzioni. He was a member of the Warner Bros. band Grant Lee Buffalo, touring the release of their fourth album, "Jubilee". He has also performed onstage multiple times with Randy Newman, Richard Thompson and Robyn Hitchcock. Bonk has also released two solo albums, Spaghetti Western and Eveningshade.
Bonk has given concerts in Japan several times and has recorded one song in Japanese, "Taikutsu to Heiwa" (Mamoru Tanabe).
==Television==
As a sideman musician, Bonk performed on numerous television programs during the 1990s, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (3x), Austin City Limits, Late Show with David Letterman, Taratata (France), Nulle Part Ailleurs (France), Hey Hey It's Saturday (Australia), Texas Connection, Entertainment Tonight, Gael Force (Ireland), Live from the Ryman, Much Music (Canada), Sessions at West 54th Street, The Today Show and HBO Reverb.
Music from Bonk's solo albums has been featured in several television productions, including 21 Jump Street, Alias, Life in Pieces, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Joan of Arcadia, and Once Upon a Time.
==Film==
Bonk played guitar and bass on the Susanna Hoffs version of "The Look of Love," featured in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, as well as adding balalaika and accordion for the lively Irish dance scene in Titanic (1997).
Music from Old Time Christmas has been used in a number of independent films, including Silent Night and Kwik Stop.
==Discography==
The Brothers Figaro Gypsy Beat (Geffen) 1989 
Bill Bonk Spaghetti Western (Orchard/P-Vine) 2000
Bill Bonk Eveningshade (PBR) 2001
The Brothers Figaro Orchestra Old Time Christmas (PBR) 2002
Category:1959 births
Category:People from Fort Riley, Kansas
Category:American people
Category:Multi-instrumentalists
Category:Musicians