Madigan Shive, also known as Bonfire Madigan Shive, is an American songwriter, performing artist, community organizer, and musician. Shive is a

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, singer and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

ist, formerly of the band Tattle Tale and now fronting her own ensemble, Bonfire Madigan. She composes symphonic pieces and performs for live theatre and film. She was a part of the

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

movement of the 1990s and her songs have been included in independent feature and documentary films.

Biography

Shive's parents were " intentional future community" people; her mother called her Running Pony until she was about six years old, and regularly changed her name. Shive eventually chose one of them, Madigan, as her permanent name when she was a teenager. The family lived in a

teepee A tipi or tepee ( ) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched o ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

for about two years when she was a child, and moved often. She learned to play cello from age nine. In 1992, at age 17 she formed the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

based duo Tattle Tale with Jen Wood. Tattle Tale were a part of the

movement. They released an album, ''Tattle Tale'', on the

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

label and an album on St. Francis Records. The band broke up in 1995. In 1995, Shive formed her own artist run

music label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

, MoonPuss Music and began solo releases as Bonfire Madigan. She released the ''Rock Stop'' EP in 1996. The song "Pity Rock" from the EP featured in the film '' Sleeping Beauties'' by

Jamie Babbit Jamie Merill Babbit (born November 16, 1970) is an American director, producer and screenwriter. She directed the films '' But I'm a Cheerleader'' (1999), '' The Quiet'' (2005), and '' Itty Bitty Titty Committee'' (2007). She has also directed ep ...

. Babbit also used Tattle Tale's "Glass Vase Cello Case" as the love theme in her film ''

But I'm a Cheerleader ''But I'm a Cheerleader'' is a 1999 American Satire (film and television), satirical Teen film, teen romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit in her feature directorial debut and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Mega ...

'' (1999). In 1996 Shive also released the ''Fortunes From The F-Holes'' album. In 1997, she formed the ensemble project Bonfire Madigan with original members

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

ist Sheri Ozeki, guitarist Shelley Doty, and percussionist Tomas (Tomas Palermo). The music has been described as "mixes classical stringed elements with modern beats and percussion into a punk-influenced, emotional concoction." Bonfire Madigan continues as a collaborative effort with other rotating musicians. In 2001, Shive made news while raising money to fight tenant

eviction Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...

and trying to raise awareness of tenant's and poor peoples' rights. Shive says she has been actively hearing voices and having experiences of what mainstream psychiatry would call delusions but that she frames differently, including mood extremes, all her life. In 2003 she became a founding collective member of The Icarus Project alongside

Sascha Scatter Sascha Altman DuBrul, Sascha DuBrul or Sascha Scatter, (born 1974) is an American activist, writer, farmer and punk rock musician known as the bass player of the 1990s ska-punk band Choking Victim. He is also the co-founder of The Icarus Project, ...

, Jacks Ashley McNamara and Will Hall. The Icarus Project was a mental health organization and network with the view that many phenomena commonly labeled as mental illness should instead be regarded as "dangerous gifts". She has said "We see our madness as a dangerous gift to be cultivated and taken care of, not a disease to be cured". Hall credits Shive as the conceptual origin of Icarus Project's embrace of the harm reduction framework for psychiatric drug withdrawal. In 2008, Shive was a contributing author to the anthology ''Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction'' on

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpor ...

. Shive has made symphonic pieces and performances for live theatre and film since 2006. Chad Jones, reviewing her performance in ''

'Tis Pity She's a Whore ''Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (original spelling: ''Tis Pitty Shee's a Who'' 'o'''re'') is a tragedy written by John Ford (dramatist), John Ford. It was first performed or between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. ...

'' at the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

for '' SF Theatre Examiner'', wrote "What makes the play worth seeing is the live music provided by punk cellist/vocalist Bonfire Madigan Shive, a fascinating performer who connects to the play more viscerally than the actors."" CT's 'Whore,' Aurora's 'Busy World' take theater to church, Examiner.com. Accessed 25 June 2014. She is based in the Mexico / US border region of California.

Discography

With Tattle Tale

* ''Tell/Yell'' (

, 1993) – demo album on cassette * ''Tattle Tale'' (Kill Rock Stars, 1994) – EP / album on cassette * ''Early daze'' (Pillarbox Red, 1994) – 7-inch EP * ''Sew True'' (St. Francis, 1995) – album on CD * ''Alderwood Mall / Loose lips'' (Chou Chou, 1995) – 7-inch single

As Madigan

* ''Plays With Herself'' (MoonPuss / Live Transmission, 1995) – 7-inch single * ''Rock Stop'' (MoonPuss, 1996) – EP on 12-inch and CD * ''Fortunes From The F-Holes'' (MoonPuss, 1996) – cassette album

As Bonfire Madigan

Albums

* ''...From the Burnpile'' (Kill Rock Stars, 1998) * ''Saddle the Bridge'' (Kill Rock Stars, 2000) * ''Plays for Change'' (MoonPuss, 2003) – live recording * ''I Bleed: a Decade of Song'' (MoonPuss, 2008) – a compilation of mostly previously released work as Tattle Tale, Madigan and Bonfire Madigan

EPs

* ''88'' (MoonPuss, 2002) * ''Lady Saves'' (MoonPuss, 2009) – 12-inch. Includes remixes by

Neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

and Dub I.D. (Tomas Palermo). Edition of 1000 copies.

Contributions to other releases

* ''Pixies Fuckin' Die!'' (LifeLike, 1999) – compilation album of

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

covers to which Shive contributed "Monkey Gone to Heaven" * '' Gone Ain't Gone'' (

ANTI- Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. Founded by Andy Kaulkin, Anti- first gained attention by releasing Tom Waits's Grammy Award–winning '' Mule Variations'' in 1999. Other veteran recordin ...

, 2006) album by

Tim Fite Timothy Sullivan, also known as Tim Fite, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, living and working in Brooklyn. His past releases have run the gamut from indie to alternative to country to hip hop. Life and c ...

– Shive played cello on "The More You Do"

Theater works

* 2006: Prepared solo cello suites for ''Vigil of Light'' at

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco Grace Cathedral is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church in San Francisco, California. On top of Nob Hill, Grace is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California, led by Bishop Austin Keith Rios since 2024, while the ca ...

, CA. * 2008: Live score written and performed for ''

'', directed by

Carey Perloff Carey Elizabeth Perloff (born February 9, 1959) is an American theater director, playwright, author, and educator. She was the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in San Francisco from 1992 to June 2018. Biography Per ...

, at the

, San Francisco, CA. Tis Pity She's a Whore'' is a

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

written by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

. * 2008: Live material for Twisted Christmas program at Barbican Hall,

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

, London. Also featured

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

, Sandy Dillon, Daniel Knox, Mary Margaret O’Hara,

Smoke Fairies Smoke Fairies (Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies) are a British band hailing from Chichester. History Blamire and Davies met at school in Sussex during the late 1990s. They spent 2002 in New Orleans, where they absorbed American blues music ...

Foy Vance Foy Best Vance (born 18 November 1974) is an Irish musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland, signed to Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records, Gingerbread Man record label. Vance has toured as a support act to British singer-songwrite ...

Kathryn Williams Kathryn Williams (born 15 February 1974, Liverpool, England) is an English singer-songwriter who to date has released 14 studio albums, written and arranged for a multitude of artists, and was nominated for the 2000 Mercury Prize, Mercury Mus ...

and Neill MacColl, and

Frank Sidebottom Frank, FRANK, or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a Germanic people in late Roman times * Franks, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crus ...

. * 2008: Performing composer for ''Powerful Voices, Women of Ancient Greek Drama'' at The Onassis Cultural Center, New York. * 2010: Original recorded score for ''

The Lion in Winter ''The Lion in Winter'' is a 1966 play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas 1183. It premiered on Broadway at the ...

'' at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. * 2010: Composer and musical director for a new English translation of '' Sophocles' Elektra'' at

Getty Villa The Getty Villa is an educational center and an art museum located at the easterly end of the Malibu coast in the Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. One of two campuses of th ...

, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, featuring

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, in some 60 films, and in approximately 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in the ...

.Theater review: 'Elektra' at the Getty Villa
,

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

. Accessed 25 June 2014.Sophocles' Elektra Staged at the Getty Villa
,

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

. Accessed 25 June 2014.The Venerable Brought to Vivid Life
,

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

. Accessed 25 June 2014.

Filmography

Films about Shive

*''Whisper Rapture: A Bonfire Madigan Suite'' (2018) – by Ken Paul Rosenthal, 36-minutes

Soundtrack contributions

* 1998: "Pity Rock" by Madigan featured in '' Sleeping Beauties'' short film by

. * 1999: "Glass Vase Cello Case" by Tattle Tale featured in ''

'' feature film by Jamie Babbit. * 2001: "Snowfell Summer" by Bonfire Madigan featured in '' Chain Camera'' feature length documentary film by

Kirby Dick Kirby Bryan Dick (born August 23, 1952) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Best Docume ...

. * 2002: "Scraps" by Bonfire Madigan featured in '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' feature film by

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. His films have grossed over $3 billion USD worldwide . He is best known for his directorial work on ...

. * 2006: "Cage" by Bonfire Madigan featured in ''Laibach 3: Divided States of America / Laibach Live (2006)''.

Other film contributions

* 2002: "7 Mile Lane" performed live by Bonfire Madigan, and an interview with Shive, featured in '' D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist'' documentary film by Michael W. Dean. Also includes contributions from

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...

, John John Jesse, Jim Rose, J. G. Thirlwell,

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

, Richard Kern

Ron Asheton Ronald Franklin Asheton (July 17, 1948 – Wiktionary:circa, c. January 6, 2009) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter for the rock band the Stooges. He formed the band along with Iggy Pop and his brot ...

, and

Dave Brockie David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician. He was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus, and he was a bassist and lead singer in the bands ...

. * 2003: "Mad Skywriting" performed live by Bonfire Madigan in ''Angel Food'' by Harper Carter. 26-minute documentary short film following Shive on her solo tour of France. * 2006: "Mad Skywriting" performed live by Bonfire Madigan in ''Don't Need You: the Herstory of Riot Grrrl'' documentary film about the origins of the Riot Grrrl movement. * 2009: Score, starring role and co-director (with Hilary Goldberg) of ''Transliminal Criminal'' short film. * 2010: Shive contributed cello compositions for ''Crooked Beauty'' documentary short film by Ken Paul Rosenthal about artist-activist Jacks McNamara's journey from childhood abuse to psych ward inpatient to mental health advocacy.Crooked Beauty
, Ken Paul Rosenthal. Accessed 26 June 2014.

Books with contributions by Shive

*''Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-destruction.'' New York, NY:

Seven Stories Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books is a museum and visitor centre dedicated to children's literature and based in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, close to the city's regenerated Quayside. The renovated Victorian ...

, 2008. . Edited by Sabrina Chapadjiev. Shive contributes a chapter, "Cello Speak: Exploring New Languages for Madness".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shive, Madigan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American punk rock cellists American punk rock singers American women singer-songwriters American women punk rock singers Singers from Seattle American feminist musicians Kill Rock Stars artists Riot grrrl musicians Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) 21st-century American women