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Carolyn Wonderland

“The more guitar you play, the more you sing, the better you get,” says award-winning Texas guitar slinger, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Wonderland. Since performing her first professional gig at age 15, she’s never stopped singing and making music. Her music includes a bold mix of timeless original songs and reinventions of some of her favorites, ranging from blistering electric blues to deep, heartfelt ballads to cosmic country to soulful Tex-Mex. Every song is fueled by Wonderland’s forceful yet melodic Texas-flavored guitar work and her full-throated, heart-on-her-sleeve vocals. She’s recorded ten previous albums under her own name, including four produced by famed musician Ray Benson, founder of multiple Grammy-winning band Asleep At The Wheel. Wonderland, who spent the last three years as lead guitarist in John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, now joins the Alligator Records family as the first female guitar hero in the label’s storied 50-year history. Her spine-chilling, soul-deep singing matches her guitar prowess note for note. And she has a knack for writing songs that sound like instant classics. Her Alligator Records debut, the Dave Alvin-produced Tempting Fate, is the next chapter in Wonderland’s remarkable story, one that is already overflowing with countless and colorful once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

On Tempting Fate, Wonderland delivers ten riveting songs, including five fiery originals (and one co-write with her Mayall bandmate Greg Rzab). On every song—from the searing, guitar-heavy Broken Hearted Blues to the tender and poignant Crack In The Wall to the very Texan love song for her boot collection, Texas Girl And Her Boots, to the politically-charged Fragile Peace And Certain War to the take-no-prisoners version of the Grateful Dead’s Loser—Wonderland throws herself completely into the music. Her shining duet with Jimmie Dale Gilmore on Bob Dylan’s It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry redefines the song. Her explosive guitar work and commanding vocals on John Mayall’s The Laws Must Change makes his song hers.

In addition to her longtime road band—bassist Bobby Perkins and drummer Kevin Lance—who anchor every song, guests on Tempting Fate include Gilmore, Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel guitar, Marcia Ball on piano, Shelley King on background vocals, Jan Flemming on accordion and Red Young on organ and piano, with producer Dave Alvin playing guitar on three songs. “I can’t wait to share the new album,” says Wonderland. “I got to record a dream list of songs and play with a dream list of people. And Dave really got me to kick the doors in. And it’s hip to be on Alligator. If you could see my record collection, it’s full of Alligator albums.”

Alvin told writer Michael Corcoran, “I wanted to work with Carolyn because her guitar playing isn’t imitating anyone. She is especially not imitating the imitators, like so many modern blues or blues/rock guitarists do. She developed her own effective way of playing the blues that incorporate bits of folk, country and even psychedelic riffs, plus she always surprises me with her guitar lines and melodic twists and turns. As for Carolyn’s vocals, they are soulful and powerful to the point of being often spine-tingling. Her ability to move from intimate, whispery gentleness to earth shaking, Saturday night bar room loudness, always impresses me, both for the obvious gifts of her vocal range but also how well she uses it to advance the drama or the story of the song. I also love that Carolyn has a wonderful, mischievous sense of humor that makes her performances honest and charming and keep them far away from getting too bogged down in too much serious ‘artiste’ posturing.”

Carolyn Wonderland, born Carolyn Bradford in Houston, Texas in 1972, grew up in a house full of music and instruments. She first starting making music at age six, and by eight had decided, in her own mind, that she was a musician. After she scratched up her mother’s vintage Martin guitar by imitating Pete Townsend’s famous windmill move, she was forbidden from using a pick. Because of that, she developed her aggressive, distinctive finger-picking guitar attack. Her early influences include her mom, Houston guitar legends Albert Collins, Jerry Lightfoot, Joe “Guitar” Hughes, and Little Screamin’ Kenny, as well as blues and soul vocalist Lavelle White. Singing came naturally, as did learning to play just about every instrument she got her hands on. She plays trumpet, accordion, lap steel, piano, and mandolin.  She’s a whistler, too. Her renowned whistling can be heard to great effect on her song, On My Feet Again.

By age 15, she was performing at Houston’s famed Fitzgerald’s club, playing solo or with friends. As a 16-year-old, she found herself swapping songs with Townes Van Zandt. She formed her first band when she was 17, and began proving herself on the tough, competitive Houston club scene. A year later, she joined forces with famed Houston musician Little Screamin’ Kenny and formed The Imperial Monkeys. Before long, Carolyn Wonderland And The Imperial Monkeys were swinging high on the vine, touring as far as Utah, New York and South Dakota, and winning every music award Houston had to offer. A booking at Austin’s famous Antone’s club left a strong mark on Wonderland, who moved to Austin in 1999 at the urging of Doug Sahm (who told her, “It’s the land of free guitar lessons”). For two years she traveled with her band in her van, and stayed with friends in Austin and on the road, trading chores for meals and lodging. “I wasn’t home-less,” she says. “I was van-full.”

Wonderland released Alcohol & Salvation in 2001 on a tiny local label. The self-released Bloodless Revolution followed in 2003, and brought her new fans, along with local press and radio attention. Her growing reputation as a hotter-than-fire live performer kept her touring calendar full. Then one day in 2003, legendary musician Ray Benson was having lunch with his friend Bob Dylan, who had heard Wonderland’s music. Dylan asked Benson, “Hey, have you heard Carolyn Wonderland? She’s something else.” Dylan wanted to meet Wonderland, so Benson got her number from a mutual friend and called her in Houston, telling Wonderland to get to Austin immediately to meet Dylan. She drove the 165 miles in record time, and they had great fun jamming that night. They’ve crossed paths since, sometimes jamming, sometimes just talking about music (“He’s a real musicologist,” she says of Bob). Dylan once asked Wonderland to write bawdy answer lyrics to his already-ribald Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat, and all but fell over laughing when she played the newly rewritten song for him. “Sometimes he’ll just call,” Wonderland says. “I haven’t changed my number.”

Wonderland’s first Ray Benson-produced album, Miss Understood, came out on Benson’s Bismeaux label in 2008. Upon its release, the mayor of Austin declared “Carolyn Wonderland Day” throughout the city. Benson produced her next three albums, Peace Meal in 2011, Live Texas Trio in 2015 (both on Bismeaux) and Moon Goes Missing (on Home Records) in 2017. According to Benson, “Carolyn’s got that unbelievable, incredible voice, one of the great voices of our times. She’s got the range, the emotion. She’s also an incredible guitar player and a great person. The combination is disarming and totally real. That’s magic.”

The popular and critical response to Wonderland and her music has been nothing short of amazing. She’s appeared on Austin City Limits, NPR’s Weekend Edition and NPR Music’s Mountain Stage. Features and reviews have run in publications from The Los Angeles Times to The Boston Herald. Her music has been heard on FOX-TV’s Time Of Your Life and on NBC’s Homicide. She appears, playing on stage alongside Bonnie Raitt, in the film The Road To Austin. She’s won multiple Austin Music Awards and was inducted into the Austin Music Hall Of Fame in 2020. She’s jammed with musicians including Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, James Cotton, Los Lobos, Vintage Trouble, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Levon Helm. Helm invited her to begin all of her tours with a performance at his famous Ramble in Woodstock, New York. “He always refreshed and recharged us before we hit the road,” Wonderland says.

In 2018, legendary musician and bandleader John Mayall chose Wonderland to be lead guitarist in his band, The Blues Breakers. She became the first woman to ever hold that position. (The all-star list of Mayall’s legendary guitarists includes Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya and Walter Trout.) She toured the world with Mayall, once playing 50 shows in 60 days in 19 countries. She’s also played with her own band all over the U.S. and in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Canary Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Japan.

In addition to her performing and recording with her own band, Wonderland has collaborated with a number of other artists, including Jerry Lightfoot’s Band of Wonder (featuring the Grateful Dead’s Vince Welnick), The Loose Affiliation Of Saints And Sinners (with Papa Mali, Guy Forsyth and others), and James Williamson (The Stooges). She can also occasionally be found singing and playing in Sis Deville, the Imperial Crown Golden Harmonizers, the Austin Volunteer Orchestra, the Texas Guitar Women, and the Woodstock Lonestars.

Wonderland also works tirelessly for a wide variety of charitable and social causes. She has often donated proceeds from her music to benefit organizations including Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, Farm Aid, NORML and the M.D. Anderson Children’s Art Project. She is a founding member, along with Marcia Ball, of H.O.M.E. (Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers), which provides emergency financial assistance to older Austin-based musicians in need.

Wonderland married her husband, humorist A. Whitney Brown, in a ceremony on Austin’s Doug Sahm Hill, performed by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, and documented in The New York Times’ “Vow” section. Nesmith, who had previously produced a song for Wonderland on her Peace Meal album, says, “When she goes into that mode where she decides to grab the heart of the song and hold it up for everybody to see, it’s just so searing. Nothing can be this raw. Nothing can be this real.”

The Boston Herald describes Carolyn as “a dollop of Janis Joplin, a slice of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a big load of soulful individuality. That’s Wonderland, a seething-hot Texas singer-guitarist. And she can write, too.” Now, with Tempting Fate and a major tour in the works, Carolyn Wonderland is excited to get back out on the road and reconnect with her fans and friends. “We will play dang near anywhere that’ll have us,” she says. Of her chosen profession, the effervescent Wonderland told NPR Music’s Mountain Stage, “I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint of heart, but it sure is a good time.”

John Egan

Musician John Egan has a unique sound ranging from traditional country blues to a more modern songwriter style. He is a masterfully skilled guitar player who uses poetic lyrics and vintage resonator guitars to create an expressive personal music. Often performing solo, Egan's guitar style includes, in effect, playing bass, lead, and percussion, all at the same time. He says, "the- rarefied air where Lightnin' Hopkins met Townes Van Zandt serves as an inspiration and an ideal.”

He has immersed himself into his music resulting in a wide body of work that documents the progression of an artistic life. Garnering local acclaim and a mention in the New York Times, Egan's last two releases set the stage for a return to his roots. On Magnolia City he produces a 10-song collection featuring just his voice, stomping boots, and a National Steel guitar that focuses on his live playing and songwriting.

 

Blues-rock prodigies are a special breed. They live and breathe the fiery swagger of electric guitars and the irresistible allure of rhythm-soaked sounds. That’s Clay Melton’s musical calling in a nutshell. At only 27, the Louisiana-born and Texas-based blues-rocker has already spent 14 years performing live. His powerfully raspy voice and wicked guitar licks leave no doubt he’s grown up in the school of barroom blues-rock.

Back to Blue, a 5-song EP coming July 23, 2021, is Melton’s follow-up to 2017’s critically acclaimed, full-length debut Burn the Ships. Back to Blue, which Melton began recording November 2020 in Austin and finished May 2021 in Houston, boasts production and engineering credits by Grammy-winner Danny Jones (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Patti LaBelle, Etta James) as well as Clay himself.

At the center of Back to Blue is “Say That You Love Me”, a scorching blues-rocker that immediately positions Melton as the future of the genre. The song and its accompanying live gig video are proof positive that Melton is a blues-rock dynamo, an artist with an incendiary soul.

Another standout on Back to Blue is the title track, a modern blues ballad dashed with rock and R&B seasoning. The song is also Melton’s emotional manifesto written during a worldwide pandemic that further validated the potent pull of creating music. Also of note on Back to Blue if Melton’s spirited cover of ZZ Top’s chestnut, “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”

Clay Melton is quickly establishing himself as a rising star, most recently picked to open for Grand Funk Railroad at on the Chevrolet Main Stage at the 2021 State Fair of Texas. Past credits also include opening for blues-legend Robert Cray and platinum-selling artist Chris Daughtry.

Arlo McKinley

Gifted singer-songwriter Arlo McKinley will release his debut solo record at age 40 on John Prine’s Oh Boy records – after he almost gave up on music altogether, his story is one of hope and sincerity, and he is living proof that great songs will reach the right ears eventually, even if it takes time.

McKinley’s Oh Boy Records solo debut, Die Midwestern, is deeply rooted in street soul, country, punk, and gospel and draws on personal stories, set against the backdrop of his hometown of Cincinnati Ohio. It was crafted downriver, in Memphis’ legendary Sam Phillips Recording Service, produced by GRAMMY award-winning Matt Ross-Spang, with an all-star Memphis band of Ken Coomer, David Smith, Will Sexton, Rick Steff, Jessie Munson and Reba Russell. There, McKinley recorded ten remarkable songs – some dating back fifteen years – all penned with a weight, honesty and gritty-hope that comes from living in the rustbelt city where his songs were born. Matt Ross-Spang, stated,

“I am in awe of Arlo’s songs and his dedication and embodiment of each one when he performs them . His willingness to bare it all on this record was more electric than the equipment used to capture it.”

Arlo McKinley is the last artist John and his son Jody signed together to their label Oh Boy records. Jody Whelan shared,

“John was reserved in his praise for songwriters. I played him a couple of Arlo’s songs and he heard Bag Of Pills and said, “that’s a good song” which for him, was very high praise. He loved Arlo’s voice, this big guy with a sweet, soulful, gospel voice. He loved the dichotomy of the hard life lived, presented through such beautiful songs and John was very excited about the promise of the album’s release.”

McKinley stated,

“The feeling of knowing that a hero of mine took time out of his day to come see me perform is such an accomplishment in itself to me that if it all ended the next day and I found out music just wasn’t in the cards for me, I would’ve still considered everything I have done as a success.”

On Die Midwestern, McKinley’s songs bleed truth and emotion from a heart scarred by wild nights and redeemed by soulful Sunday morning confessions. His lyrics are laid bare, stark and arresting in their honesty, and often penned from real-life experience. “Bag Of Pills” is an autobiographical and frank account of the drug issues which affect his hometown,

“ I wrote it after I sold some pills so I could take a girl out. Those were rough times and also right around the time I started seeing a real drug addiction very close to me. After watching so many friends die from drug abuse it turned into me praying that it doesn’t get any worse while knowing that it will resulting in my writing of the lyrics, ‘life I don’t want it if it’s so easy to die.’”

“Gone For Good” sees McKinley share his lessons from broken relationships,

“I wrote ‘Gone For Good’ after a serious long relationship of mine ended. It’s about me realizing how short I fell on even trying to make it work.” Title track “Die Midwestern” reflects on McKinley’s love/hate relationship with Ohio, “I love it because it’s everything that I am but I hate it because I’ve seen it take my loved ones lives. I’ve seen it make hopeful people hopeless.” McKinley reflects on his brutal honesty in his songs, “Songwriting has to be real. I’m 100% putting myself out there, I’m not writing fiction. To me it is just about honesty. “

By age 8, McKinley was singing at his family’s church, Bethlehem United Baptist where he first saw the light of music. Early musical loves outside church were his Kentucky native father’s bluegrass and timeless country records of Hank Williams, Sr. as well as, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Otis Redding and George Jones. Then his two older brothers’ punk and metal collection drove him to throw himself raw onto the Cincinnati punk scene.

“I grew up in the punk scene with my brothers and dad has all of that stuff that came out of King Records like Hank Williams and I was just surrounded by it,” McKinley says. “I still take parts of it and I feel I write songs in a punk rock way…”

With concert covers ranging from Johnny Paycheck and The Misfits to Rihanna and Post Malone McKinley shows a diverse range of musical interest, which he attributes to musically melting pot of the Cincinnati music scene,

“You go back to the history of Cincinnati music and you can see and feel that the river back then connected everything and it all flowed into one spot and brought all kinds of music here,” says McKinley, adding, “That’s why I think this town has never been known for one kind of music because so many things came through here.”

He pursued a solo career from 2014, with his own band The Lonesome Sound and achieved some success including a nomination for Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Best Americana Act from the Cincinnati Music Awards, but his career stalled and he almost gave up altogether,

“I don’t know why the world works the way it does but I’m beyond grateful to be in this situation.” McKinley stated, adding, “ I’m a little wiser in my ways and a 20 something me would’ve found a way to destroy the one dream that has stuck with me my entire life. Being a working musician.”

He also almost missed his big break, which came when he was offered an opening slot for Tyler Childers, and his now manager, was trying to reach him on the phone to offer him an opening slot. Arlo initially dodged the persistent unknown caller. Eventually, they connected after a friend hit him up on social media and he took the call.

“My buddy was like, Arlo.. Tyler’s team are trying to get hold of you.. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t take that call. Still delivering tuxedos which was my side job before I was a full-time musician.”

Since, McKinley has been making a name for himself around the country, humbly sharing stages with kindred musical spirits John Moreland, Jason Isbell, Justin Townes Earle, and contemporary rising singer/songwriters Ian Noe and Colter Wall, eventually attracting the attention of Oh Boy, who signed him in March 2020.

McKinley reflects on the significance of the timing of his release, stating, “I only met John briefly and I would’ve loved to have sat with John and talked music which I’m sure would’ve happened but I treasure the moment we had together when he came to see me play a show. His passing was a major knockdown blow for the entire team. I’m sure John had a vision for Oh Boy Records and I’m proud and honored to be able to contribute to the labels continued legacy.”

McKinley’s Die Midwestern remains an album of hope and he knows first hand how his music can connect with his growing audience.

“I had a guy who was dealing with brain cancer walk up to me and say that he was done with it but something in my songs resonated with him and made him get out and start living even though he knows what is ahead of him. Nothing is more important than that. That’s why I write songs like I do. I’m just another lost, hurting person in this place – I just like to sing about it.”

John Egan

Musician John Egan has a unique sound ranging from traditional country blues to a more modern songwriter style.  He is a masterfully skilled guitar player who uses poetic lyrics and vintage resonator guitars to create an expressive personal music. Often performing solo, Egan’s guitar style includes, in effect, playing bass, lead, and percussion, all at the same time. He says, “the rarefied air where Lightnin’ Hopkins met Townes Van Zandt serves as an inspiration and an ideal.”

He has immersed himself into his music resulting in a wide body of work that documents the progression of an artistic life.  Garnering local acclaim and a mention in the New York Times,  Egan’s last two releases set the stage for a return to his roots.  On Magnolia City he produces a 10-song collection featuring just his voice,
stomping boots, and a National Steel guitar that focuses on his live playing and songwriting.  

Musician John Egan has a unique sound ranging from traditional country blues to a more modern songwriter style.  He is a masterfully skilled guitar player who uses poetic lyrics and vintage resonator guitars to create an expressive personal music. Often performing solo, Egan’s guitar style includes, in effect, playing bass, lead, and percussion, all at the same time. He says, “the rarefied air where Lightnin’ Hopkins met Townes Van Zandt serves as an inspiration and an ideal.”

Sara Van Buskirk is a Texas-based Songwriter & Musician whose thoughtful lyrics and moving melodies bring the heart to attention.

Between the potency of his richly detailed songwriting, his intensely emotional, soulful vocals and his piercing, expert guitar work, New Orleans’ Anders Osborne is a true musical treasure. He is among the most original and visionary musicians writing and performing today. Guitar Player calls him “the poet laureate of Louisiana’s fertile roots music scene.” New Orleans’ Gambit Weekly has honored Osborne as the Entertainer Of The Year. OffBeat named him the Crescent City’s Best Guitarist for the third year in a row, and the Best Songwriter for the second straight year. Osborne also won Song Of The Year for his composition, Louisiana Gold.

Osborne’s latest released Flower Box, his second full-length album of 2016, recorded in his hometown of New Orleans late last year, Flowerbox is a heavier, guitar-driven follow-up to the acclaimed Spacedust & Ocean Views.

“I love the way this record comes out stout and determined right out the gate, a four-piece rock & roll band making beautiful and conquering noise,” says Osborne.   “The producer, Mark Howard, has a way of making you play in the moment and being confident.  His sounds and engineering style is that of classic records, with his own special sauce of ‘haunting’ on top of it.  The musicians on here are undoubtedly some of my absolute favorites in the world, both as players and as people. Their contributions are invaluable.  Scott Metzger, Brady Blade, Carl Dufrene, Chad Cromwell, Marc Broussard, David LaBruyere, Rob McNelley & Justin Tocket. Bad boys!  I’ve been wanting to make this record for several years and I am stoked it’s finally here.”

A powerful live performer, the musician has won over fans through non-stop touring as well as a heralded collaboration with the North Mississippi Allstars & Southern Soul Assembly.

Jambands.com said, “Osborne finds a striking balance of muscle and grace that allows for the smaller moments of quiet to be just as resounding as the sonic booms.”  And USA Today has praised his music, saying “The relentless approach amplifies the anguished lyrics, which appear to be about the death of a loved one or a relationship torn asunder or perhaps a spiritual crisis.”  In a review of Spacedust & Ocean Views, Boulder Weekly said the album “finds the guitarist in a (largely) reflective mood, an extended meditation on place and moments in time, memory, passages through and exits from paragraphs in the non-fiction docudrama of life.  Through languid, gently formed figures, Osborne coaxes odes of gratitude and compelling imagery in what seems a little like a travelogue — like watching his kid chasing seabirds on the beach…”

Osborne has earned hordes of new fans. He has toured virtually non-stop, either with his own band, as a solo artist, or as a guest with his countless musical admirers, including Toots and The Maytals, Stanton Moore, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Keb Mo, The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, Jackie Greene and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. He’s produced and played on critically acclaimed albums by Tab Benoit, Johnny Sansone and Mike Zito.

Since his recording debut in 1989, Osborne has written virtually all of his own material and contributed memorable songs to a wide variety of artists. Two tunes co-written by Osborne appear on Keb Mo’s Grammy-winning 1999 release Slow Down. Country superstar Tim McGraw scored a #1 hit with Anders’ song Watch The Wind Blow By. Osborne’s compositions have been covered by artists as diverse as Brad Paisley, Tab Benoit, Jonny Lang, Edwin McCain, Sam Bush, Trombone Shorty and Aaron Neville and Kim Carnes. His songs have appeared in multiple feature films. He can also be seen performing in an episode of HBO’s New Orleans-based drama, Treme.