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 ~Billboard's 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-rock's heyday was on the way out, and the album's reception suffered as a result.