Sharon "Shari" Ulrich is a Canadian/American musician and songwriter. She has won a Juno Award for "Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year" and worked as a television host, actress, film composer, and educator. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays violin, mandolin, guitar, piano, and dulcimer.
Early life
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, 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.
Career
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 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 and have released a studio albumTightrope Walk. Ulrich continues to perform solo. 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.
Personal life
Ulrich was married to musician, songwriter and artist David Graff. They have a daughter, Julia Graff, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and is a busy audio engineer, music editor in film and television, and videographer having received her Masters In Music in Sound Recording from McGill University in 2013. Shari also has a son, Mike Magee, who was given up for adoption in 1967, with whom she reunited in 2009, who is an architect in Eugene, OR where he lives with his wife Ann and daughter Abigail.
