Carolyn Wonderland | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Carolyn Bradford |
Born | Houston, Texas, United States | November 9, 1972
Origin | Houston, Texas |
Genres | Blues |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
Years active | 1990s–present |
Website | www |
Carolyn Wonderland (born Carolyn Bradford, November 9, 1972) is an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. She is married to comedian and writer A. Whitney Brown.
Carolyn Wonderland was born Carolyn Bradford [1] in 1972 in Houston, Texas, United States. Wonderland dropped out of Houston's Langham Creek High School to pursue her music ambitions. [2]
During the early 1990s, she toured with her own group, Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys. In 1999, Wonderland moved to Austin, Texas; in 2001, she lost her apartment lease after her landlord became ill, and decided to live out of her van since she was spending more than 300 days a year on the road performing. [2]
Wonderland's instrumental abilities include guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, trumpet, and piano. Although primarily a blues artist, Wonderland likes to incorporate elements of country, swing, zydeco, surf, gospel, soul, and cumbia into her musical mix. She usually performs with Cole El-Saleh on keyboards and Kevin Lance on drums.
In February 2008, Wonderland released the CD, Miss Understood, on the Bismeaux Productions label, [3] and the title song has been on the Top 50 of the 'Roots Music Report' chart since the album's release. [4] Fans of Wonderland's music include Bob Dylan, [5] and Ray Benson, founder of Asleep at the Wheel. Benson produced Miss Understood, and has been one of her songwriting collaborators. Wonderland credits several blues and Texas musicians as influences on her music. One notable influence is Austin singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix, as Wonderland covered two Hendrix songs, ("I Found the Lions" and "Throw My Love"), on Miss Understood.
Wonderland has been involved in a number of recordings, including several that were self-produced on independent labels. She was the lead singer fronting the band Imperial Monkeys. Wonderland released Bloodless Revolution in 2008, and is the primary singer on the Jerry Lightfoot's Band of Wonder Texistentialism CD with Lightfoot and Vince Welnick (Grateful Dead, Tubes.) [6]
Wonderland was a founding member of the Loose Affiliation of Saints and Sinners (with Papa Mali, Eldridge Goins, Guy Forsyth, and others), with several of her songs being featured on their Sessions from the Hotel San Jose Rm. 50 CD. [6] She was also the lead guitarist in the all-girl, southern rock band Sis DeVille (other members include Shelley King, Sarah Brown, Lisa Pankratz, and Floramay Holliday), and a founding member of the Austin Volunteer Orchestra. [6]
Wonderland appeared on Austin City Limits in 2008, [7] and has had her music used on NBC's Homicide and Fox's Time of Your Life. She was a headlining artist at the annual Rochester International Jazz Festival summer 2009 at the Eastman Theatre and New York. In 2003, Wonderland opened the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, after performing there for the previous ten years, singing the National Anthem with 'The Imperial Monkeys'. [8]
Wonderland also performs with the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers, raising money for local Austin charities, food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and on behalf of the legalization of marijuana. [6]
On April 6, 2018, Wonderland joined John Mayall as his first (& only) female lead guitarist in his 60+ year career until his death in 2024. [9]
Wonderland married writer-comedian A. Whitney Brown on March 4, 2011, in a ceremony officiated by Michael Nesmith. [1]
Wonderland has won the following awards: [10]
Title | Year | Artist Name | Label | Producer |
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Groove Milk | (1993) | Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys | Pulse/Montrose | Richard Cagle |
Truckstop Favorites Vol. 2 | (1994) | Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys | Pulse/Montrose | |
Play with Matches | (1995) | Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys | Big Mo Records | The Imperial Monkeys |
Bursting with Flavor | (1997) | Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys | Justice Records | Randall Hage Jamail |
Blue Lights (CD single) | (1997) | Carolyn Wonderland and the Imperial Monkeys | Justice Records | |
Alcohol & Salvation | (2001) | Carolyn Wonderland | Mix-O-Rama Records | Eldridge Goins |
Bloodless Revolution | (2003) | Carolyn Wonderland | Indie release | Stephen Doster |
Miss Understood | (2008) | Carolyn Wonderland | Bismeaux Productions | Ray Benson |
Peace Meal | (2011) | Carolyn Wonderland | Bismeaux Productions | Ray Benson, Larry Campbell, Michael Nesmith |
Live Texas Trio | (2015) | Carolyn Wonderland | Bismeaux Productions | Carolyn Wonderland |
Moon Goes Missing | (2017) | Carolyn Wonderland | Home Records | |
Tempting Fate | (2021) | Carolyn Wonderland | Alligator Records | Dave Alvin |
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, and film producer. Known as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded entertainers and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 220 million records worldwide. Houston's crossover appeal on popular music charts and her performances influenced the breaking down of gender and racial barriers, as well as popular culture. Known for her vocal delivery and live concerts, Houston was ranked second by Rolling Stone on its 2023 list of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Her life and career have been the subject of multiple documentaries and television specials.
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers were an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, bassists John McVie, Jack Bruce and Tony Reeves, drummers Hughie Flint, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood and Jon Hiseman, and numerous others.
John Brumwell Mayall was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
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Still Alive and Well is an album by blues rock guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. It was his fifth studio album, and his first since Johnny Winter And almost three years earlier. It was released by Columbia Records in 1973.
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Patrice Pike is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.
Guy Schwartz is an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, videographer, music journalist, media activist, and 2016 presidential candidate, mostly known for his collaborative involvement with other Texas musicians, a couple of regional minor-hit records in the 1970s and 1980s, his three local Houston, Texas cable access TV series featuring local and regional original music, and live performances featuring set pieces plus spontaneous music and lyrics.
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