Martha Wainwright

Martha Wainwright

Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk/blues musician Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle. With her older brother, Rufus Wainwright, Martha was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in a musical family.

Early musical development

In 1998, Wainwright took the first step toward her musical career, through the recording of her song "Year of the Dragon" as a contribution to The McGarrigle Hour, an album released by her mother, Kate, and her aunt, Anna McGarrigle. Shortly after this recording, Martha began singing backup vocals for her brother.

Following her drama classes at Montreal's Concordia University, she moved to New York City, where she established herself as singer and songwriter. She made contacts within the industry, one was producer Brad Albetta, who worked with Wainwright to produce her self-titled debut album, Martha Wainwright (released April 12, 2005 by MapleMusic Recordings).

Albetta worked again with Wainwright to produce her second album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, released in Canada on June 10, [2008. Artists contributing to the album include Pete Townshend (The Who), Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Garth Hudson (The Band), as well as her mother, brother and aunt.

Wainwright is signed with the independent record labels Rounder Records in the United States, DiS in the United Kingdom, MapleMusic Recordings in Canada, V2 Records in Europe and Shock Records in Australia.

She performed "Tower of Song" and "The Traitor" at the Cohen tribute concert which became the film and album Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

Performance and media attention

Since the release of her album, I Know You're Married..., Wainwright toured in Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia. She has positive reviews; Tricia Summers, of Spin.com, describes Wainwright's stage presence, of July 23/08, as: "Slowly strumming her guitar and along on stage with a powerful voice, she knew she had the crowd wrapped around her finger".

Wainwright has received positive reviews for her performances. She appeared at the 2007 Bonnaroo and at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Inverness-shire in August 2007. She duetted with Snow Patrol at the V Festival and Lollapalooza, and performed with her brother at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2007.

Annie Lennox joined Wainwright and 22 female artists to raise awareness of the transmission of HIV to unborn children in Africa. The single "Sing" was released on World Aids Day on December 1, 2007, when Lennox appeared at the Nelson Mandela 46664 concert in South Africa.

On November 18, 2009 she appeared on the BBC Two TV music show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Personal life

She married her producer Brad Albetta in September 2007. They have a son, Archangelo, born prematurely in Camden, London in November 2009.

Discography

Main article: Martha Wainwright discography

• Martha Wainwright (2005)
• I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (2008)
• Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record (2009)

External links

• Official site
• Martha Wainwright interview at musicOMH.com
• [1]
• [2]
• “The Guardian profile: The Wainwrights” by Richard Jinman of The Guardian. (2005-04-15)
• Audience recording of Martha at Shepherds Bush Empire
• Martha Wainwright returns to sing Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins 31 January - 21 February 2009
• Martha Wainwright Live Performance/Interview on The Highway Girl 2008