Martha Wainwright
Encyclopedia
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American
folk
-rock
singer-songwriter
. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III
and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle
. She was raised in a musical family along with her older brother, Rufus Wainwright
, in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
.
, an album released by Kate and Anna McGarrigle
. Shortly after this recording, Martha began singing backup vocals for her brother, and released the six-song EP Martha Wainwright in 1999.
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 of whom 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
.
for the Red Hot Organization
's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo
, a tribute to Duke Ellington
, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS
awareness and fighting the disease
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.
She recorded the song "Set the Fire to the Third Bar
" with Snow Patrol
in 2006.
In 2010, Martha contributed background vocals on Hole
's album Nobody's Daughter
.
, London on November 16, 2009.
Canadian-American
A Canadian American is someone who was born or someone who grew up in Canada then moved to the United States. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in,...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer-songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
. She was raised in a musical family along with her older brother, Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early musical development
Wainwright released an independent cassette, Ground Floor, in 1997. The following year, her song "Year of the Dragon" appeared on The McGarrigle HourThe McGarrigle Hour
The McGarrigle Hour is a 1998 album by Kate and Anna McGarrigle.The album was recorded at a family gathering, including Kate's former husband Loudon Wainwright III, their son and daughter Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, Anna's husband Dane Lanken, their son and daughter Sylvan Lanken and...
, an album released by Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
. Shortly after this recording, Martha began singing backup vocals for her brother, and released the six-song EP Martha Wainwright in 1999.
Following her drama classes at Montreal's Concordia University, she moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she established herself as singer and songwriter. She made contacts within the industry, one of whom was producer Brad Albetta, who worked with Wainwright to produce her self-titled debut album, Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright (album)
Martha Wainwright is the self-titled debut album of Montreal singer Martha Wainwright, released in 2005. The album received generally favourable reviews.- Track listing :All tracks by Martha Wainwright except where noted.# "Far Away" – 2:54...
(released April 12, 2005, by MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings is a Toronto based record label.The MapleMusic Recordings label is a project of Canadian roots rock band Skydiggers and entrepreneur Grant Dexter...
).
Albetta worked again with Wainwright to produce her second album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too is the second full-length album of Canadian-American singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright. It was released in Australia on May 10, 2008, with other countries to follow...
, released in Canada on June 10, 2008. Artists contributing to the album include Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
(The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
), Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan ....
(Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
), Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
(The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
), as well as her mother, brother and aunt.
Wainwright is signed with the independent record labels Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in the United States, DiS
Dis
- Academic institutions :* DIS – Danish Institute for Study Abroad, an English language study abroad program located in Copenhagen, Denmark* Dili International School, DIS an International School in Dili, Timor Leste - Companies :...
in the United Kingdom, MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings is a Toronto based record label.The MapleMusic Recordings label is a project of Canadian roots rock band Skydiggers and entrepreneur Grant Dexter...
in Canada, V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
in Europe and Shock Records
Shock Records
Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement 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
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man is a 2005 film by Lian Lunson about the life and career of Leonard Cohen. It is based on a January 2005 tribute show at the Sydney Opera House titled "Came So Far for Beauty", which was produced by Hal Willner...
.
Performance and media attention
In 2001, Wainwright recorded "Star Crossed Lovers" with PropellerheadsPropellerheads
Propellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...
for the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo
Red Hot + Indigo
Red Hot + Indigo is the 13th entry from the Red Hot AIDS benefit series of compilation albums produced by Paul Heck. It marks the tenth anniversary of the Red Hot Organization , an international organization which uses mass media as a fundraising tool for its efforts at increasing public AIDS...
, a tribute to Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
awareness and fighting the disease
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
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
at the V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
and Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
, and performed with her brother at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
in September 2007.
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
joined Wainwright and 22 female artists to raise awareness of the transmission of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
to unborn children in Africa. The single "Sing
Sing (Annie Lennox song)
"Sing" is a song by Annie Lennox, released as the second single from her fourth solo studio album, Songs of Mass Destruction . The single was originally released as a digital download only single in late 2007. A limited 3 track edition was made available exclusively from The Body Shop from 10...
" was released on World Aids Day
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an...
on December 1, 2007, when Lennox appeared at the Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
46664 concert in South Africa.
She recorded the song "Set the Fire to the Third Bar
Set the Fire to the Third Bar
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar" is a song from Snow Patrol's fourth album, Eyes Open, featuring Martha Wainwright on vocals. The song was released as a single on the 13 November 2006.- Background :...
" with Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
in 2006.
In 2010, Martha contributed background vocals on Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
's album Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
.
Personal life
She married her producer Brad Albetta in September 2007. They have a son, Arcangelo, born at University College HospitalUniversity College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
, London on November 16, 2009.
Discography
- Martha WainwrightMartha Wainwright (album)Martha Wainwright is the self-titled debut album of Montreal singer Martha Wainwright, released in 2005. The album received generally favourable reviews.- Track listing :All tracks by Martha Wainwright except where noted.# "Far Away" – 2:54...
(2005) - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings TooI Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings TooI Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too is the second full-length album of Canadian-American singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright. It was released in Australia on May 10, 2008, with other countries to follow...
(2008) - Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record (2009)