Tret Fure

Pop/rocker Tret Fure's personal background is as diverse as her many musical talents. Born in Iowa, she grew up in Illinois and Michigan's upper peninsula, turning professional at 16 to sing in coffeehouses and on college campuses before moving to the West Coast to attend the University of California at Berkeley. She began her music-writing career when she was 19, and worked for a time as a vocalist and guitarist for Spencer Davis, appearing on and composing music for his album Mousetrap (United Artists, 1970). Her own first (self-titled) solo album was produced by Lowell George of Little Feat and released in 1973 on the Uni Records subsidiary of MCA, and shortly thereafter she toured extensively, opening for such groups as the J. Geils Band, Yes, and Poco. Combining her music-making skills with those as a successful engineer and producer for Olivia Records, she engineered, co-produced, and performed on albums for Cris Williamson and June Millington, as well as Olivia's landmark double album, Meg/Cris at Carnegie Hall.

Following the release of her second album, Terminal Hold (1984) on the Olivia subsidiary Second Wave, Fure focused on her solo career, and with the appearance of her third album, Edges of the Heart (1986) she became firmly established as a leading pop/rock performer with unusual depth and diversity. On her fourth solo album, Time Turns the Moon (1990), she continued to pay homage to her roots in folk and rock & roll. She teamed personally and professionally with Williamson, and the duo released three albums, Postcards from Paradise (Olivia, 1993), Between the Covers (Wolfmoon/Goldenrod, 1997), and Radio Quiet (1999), before splitting up. Fure then returned to solo work, founding her own record label, Tomboy Girl, for which she recorded Back Home (2001), My Shoes (2003), Anytime Anywhere (2005), and True Compass (2007).