'A friend of a friend of ...': Bonnie Hayes

There's a connection that runs deep in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene.  Mention the name Bonnie Hayes around people in that area, and chances are you'll get an enthusiastically positive response.

Bonnie Hayes

Her brother Chris is the former lead guitarist for Huey Lewis and the News.  Her brother Kevin has been a drummer with the Roberr Cray Band.  And then there's Bonnie, with an impressive musical resume in her own right.

She really started getting noticed in the days of New Wave with her band The Punts and the song "Shelly's Boyfriend."  If you saw the 1983 movie "Valley Girl," her song "Girls Like Me" played over the opening credits.  Remember the Bonnie Raitt comeback hit "Have a Heart?"  Bonnie Hayes wrote that.

Bonnie Hayes makes for a fine pop stylist, as a performer and a songwriter.  It's her songwriting abilities that have made other artists perk up their ears when it comes to her work, penning songs that have been picked up by Cher, Bette Midler, David Crosby, Robert Cray, Adam Ant and Booker T and the MGs, and she's produced more than 40 records.

She's performed with the likes of Billy Idol and Bruce Springsteen.  So she's perked up many ears through her performing as well.

It just keeps getting better for her too.  In the first part of September, Bonnie will assume a new role as chair of the Berklee College of Music Songwriting Department.

That's a resume to be proud of.