September 23, 2023
Doors: 6pm / Show starts: 7pm / Tickets: $45
Loudon Wainwright:
Born in Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1946, Loudon Wainwright III came to fame when “Dead Skunk” became a Top 20 hit in 1972. He had studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon University, but dropped out to partake in the Summer of Love in San Francisco, and wrote his first song in 1968 (“Edgar,” about a lobsterman in Rhode Island).
He was soon signed to Atlantic Records by Nesuhi Ertegun, and after that was lured by Clive Davis to Columbia Records, which released “Dead Skunk.” His songs have since been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, his son Rufus Wainwright, and Mose Allison, among others. Wainwright has recorded 27 albums, including his 2009 Grammy Award-winning High Wide & Handsome.
In 2022 Loudon released Lifetime Achievement, an album of 15 original songs, that established his singular talent as our foremost six-string tragicomedian, not only undiminished, but hitting new heights. The orchestration varies from solo performance, to trio work with his longstanding musical cohorts, Chaim Tannenbaum and David Mansfield, to Nashville and Memphis-style little big bands, to a full-blown string arrangement by Rob Moose. Loudon puts his latest achievement in the context of a lifetime of music making this way: “When I made my first record for Atlantic in 1969, I wanted to make not only a recording, but a document that captures a moment. Now, fifty years later, I guess I still want to make a testament of songs, and I like to think they might last a while.”
Beer, wine, and concessions will be sold throughout the evening.