Loudon Wainwright III
| Loudon Wainwright III | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Loudon Snowden Wainwright III |
| Born |
September 5, 1946 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Origin | Bedford, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Folk, rock, blues, comedy |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, actor, humorist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, banjo, ukulele, percussion |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | Atlantic, Columbia, Legacy, Arista, Radar, Rounder, Silvertone, Charisma, Charisma, Hannibal, Red House, Sanctuary Records, 2nd Story Sound Records, Sovereign Artists, Concord, Proper Records |
| Associated acts | Kate and Anna McGarrigle, White Cloud, George Gerdes, Richard Thompson, Chaim Tannenbaum, Spinal Tap, The Roches, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Joe Henry |
| Website | www.lw3.com |
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an 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 former husband of the late folksinger Kate McGarrigle. He resides in Canada.
To date, Wainwright has released 26 studio albums. Reflecting upon his career in 1999, he stated, "You could characterize the catalog as somewhat checkered, although I prefer to think of it as a tapestry."
Wainwright was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the son of Martha Taylor, a yoga teacher, and Loudon Wainwright, Jr., a columnist and editor for Life magazine. His great-great-grandfather was the politician and diplomat A. Loudon Snowden. His father was not a professional musician, but he played the piano and wrote some songs, exposing his children to musicians such as Tom Lehrer and Stan Freberg, whom Wainwright later cited as influences. Wainwright grew up in Bedford, New York, in Westchester County. Among his sisters is Sloan Wainwright, also a singer. He graduated from St. Andrew's School in Delaware.
Wainwright's career began in the late 1960s. He had played the guitar while in school but later sold it for yoga lessons while living in San Francisco. Later, in Rhode Island, Wainwright's grandmother got him a job working in a boatyard. An old lobsterman named Edgar inspired him to borrow a friend's guitar and write his first song, "Edgar". Wainwright soon bought his own guitar and in about a year wrote nearly twenty songs. He went to Boston and New York City to play in folk clubs and was eventually noticed by Milton Kramer, who became his manager. He acquired a record deal with Atlantic Records, which released his first album in 1970.
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