Shari Ulrich
Ulrich was born in San Rafael, California to Esther and Stanley Ulrich; she was the youngest of three children. Esther was proficient on piano, while Stanley (who worked in banking), played the recorder for relaxation. Shari picked up music early, playing violin at age nine. Stanley died when Shari was 10 years old, leaving Esther to raise their family as a single parent. Ulrich moved to British Columbia at the age of 18. Ulrich performed on the coffeehouse circuit around Vancouver in the early 1970s. In 1973, she met up with Rick Scott and Joe Mock, and together they formed Pied Pumkin which first performed that year. Ulrich toured with Valdy in 1976 as a member of The Hometown Band. After they disbanded in 1978 she went solo, and won a 1981 Juno Award for "Most Promising Female Vocalist" and received Juno nominations in the following two years for "Best Female Vocalist". Ulrich wrote for "Sesame Street" and composed theme music for several networks, including the CBC. In 1989 she formed the folk music group UHF along with Bill Henderson (Chilliwack) and Roy Forbes. In 2009, Ulrich joined Barney Bentall and Tom Taylor to release the album ""Live" at Cates Hill". After a break of several years, the trio reunited as BTU (Bentall Taylor Ulrich) and have released a studio album "Tightrope Walk". Ulrich continues to perform solo (often accompanied by daughter Julia Graff on violin, piano, mandolin, guitar, accordion and vocals). Graff also engineered and produced Ulrich's 2014 release "Everywhere I Go" and Bentall Taylor Ulrich's 2016 "Tightrope Walk" She tours occasionally with the Pied Pumkin, UHF, BTU and bluegrass group The High Bar Gang. She lives on Bowen Island, British Columbia. Ulrich was married (1989 - 1996) to musician, songwriter and artist David Graff. They have a daughter, Julia Graff, who is also a multi-instrumentalist (violin, mandolin, piano, guitar, accordion & vocals) and is a busy audio engineer, music editor in film and television, and videographer. Shari also has a son, Oregon architect Mike Magee, who was put up for adoption in 1967, and with whom she reunited in 2009.
Career
She has been nominated for a Juno Award four times, winning "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year" in 1982.