Tony Gilkinson came up with the idea of The BEARatones in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1996. The group was originally created to be a trio but before The BEARatones could even get its feet wet, Tony made some life changes and moved to Seattle Washington. In September 1996, Tony put the word out in the Northwest Bears newsletter that he was forming The BEARatones and was looking for singers. This original group stayed together for about 18 months before going their separate ways. It wasn’t until August of 2004, when Tony got the bug again to reform the group. The reformed group debuted at the Northwest Bears Spring Thaw event in April 2005. Recent events include:

2005

• April – Performance at Northwest Bears Spring Thaw Saturday Night Banquet
• September – Recorded ‘Exit 5 Rest Stop’ by Scott House for the film Creatures from the Pink Lagoon.

2006

• April – Performance at Northwest Bears Spring Thaw Saturday Night Banquet
• May - Creatures of the Pink Lagoon premieres in Seattle.
• June – Performance at Kitsap County Pride Festival
• November – Performance at Re-Bar – benefit for Seattle Men’s Chorus Youth Ticket Program.
• December – Performance at Northwest Bears Holiday Potluck

2007

• April – Performance at Northwest Bears Spring Thaw Saturday Night Banquet.
• August – The BEARatones reduce singers from 9 to 5 person consisting of Tony Gilkinson, Mike Krake, Aaron Rodriguez, Steve Wolf, and Junior Roth on piano. The BEARatones welcome newest member Clair Stevenson to the group.
• September – The BEARatones are asked to perform at the Bears Of San Francisco’s International Bear Rendezvous event in February 2008.
• October – The BEARatones rejoin GALA Choruses and secure a performance spot at GALA Festival Miami in July 2008.

2008

• February - Performed at International Bear Rendezvous, on Thursday, February
  14th in San Francisco and at ReBar in Seattle on February 23rd for Seattle
  Men's Chorus | Seattle Women's Chorus Youth Ticket Fundraiser "A Night of a
  Thousand Laughs".