"Rufus Wainwright must love challenges. That's the only way to explain some of his recent projects. The
eccentric singer-songwriter, who is the son of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, presented tributes to Judy Garland in
2006 and 2007 that re-created her April 23, 1961, Carnegie Hall concert in its entirety. His live album, "Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall,"
came out last year, as did his fifth studio album, "Release the Stars."
Q. Your aunt Sloan is opening these shows. She's 11 years younger than your father, so is she more like a sister?
A. No. I actually have an aunt, as well, who's younger than I am -- my grandfather was very popular -- so she's not my youngest
aunt, even. But she's definitely the baby of that wing of the family, and she's always maintained a youthful perspective. Q. Will you do any songs with her?
A. We haven't had time to pin that down. I'd love to. What's interesting about her -- about her act -- is that,
in my opinion, of all the many singers that exist in both my mother's and father's families, Sloan and I have the most similar voices.
On one of her albums, we sing a song together where we trade off voices, and sometimes it's hard to tell which one is which."
The Newark Star Ledger April 13, 2008
"Martha Wainwright has grown up and is ready to party
Has marriage mellowed Martha Wainwright? No, but her second album shows she’s grown
[excerpt]Her brother, for whom she started out singing backing vocals, guests on the album,
as do her mother and a couple of cousins. Just how many musical family members are there? “Ha! Too many,” sniffs Wainwright. “I may
have to murder them one by one. My secret weapon is Lily Larkin, Anna McGarrigle’s daughter, who has always sung with me. There is
my half-sister Lucy Roche, who has just released a fantastic album, and my dad’s sister Sloan Wainwright, who is the best out the lot of us.
I have another cousin who recently started up. I try to discourage them, but it’s not working. I guess none of us is good at anything else.”
The London Times April 13, 2008
"It's a big family. You've got Loudon Wainwright III, once declared a "new Bob Dylan," who's been
singing and recording personal folk songs for coming on four decades now. His ex-wife is Kate McGarrigle, of Canada's beloved McGarrigle Sisters.
Their children are singer-songwriter Martha and the grandiose pop star Rufus Wainwright. One of the Roches and her daughter lurk in this family tree,
too. Everyone has their own career, and sometimes they even sing together.
But, as Yoda once said, there is another.
Sloan Wainwright -- Loudon's sister, Rufus and Martha's aunt -- is the undiscovered treasure of this musical dynasty.
Writing and singing since her youth (she's not quite 50), she's been recording only for the last decade. But already her
six CDs have set her apart from her brother's witty, documentarian and occasionally caustic songs..."
The Chicago Sun Times September 7, 2007
"Our live "Folkstage" artist was Sloan Wainwright. What a voice! What
a presence! As I said when I introduced her: A lot of
singer-songwriters are whitebread. Sloan is whole grain.”
WFMT Radio: THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL with host Rich Warren, September 8, 2007
"MUSIC REVIEW:
A few surprises spice up Newport folk fest. ... "Even though there were three other opening sets Saturday morning and Linda Ronstadt's
concert the previous night, Martha Wainwright -- wiping her streaking mascara in the 90-degree heat -- launched the festival
with a stellar performance. Later, Wainwright joined her aunt Sloan Wainwright (whose regal voice could fell a redwood) and half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche
in a song circle that wrapped a pensive take on Hank Williams's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." It left Harris nodding and mouthing
the words as she sat quietly on the sidelines."
The Boston Globe. August 6, 2007
"However, two of the best performers of the day were solo acoustic
singer-songwriters on the second stage. Martha Wainwright was an iron woman, playing a long set of her own and then
joining a song circle with her half-sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and her aunt, Sloan Wainwright....
Sloan Wainwright brought a big, earnest voice to her songs in the circle, including covers of “Mercy Mercy Me”
and “Ring of Fire,” while Lucy Wainwright Roche was sweet-sounding on songs such as her own “I’d Rather Go” and the
traditional ballad “Wild Mountain Thyme.”
The Providence Journal August 6, 2007
"Loudon Wainwright's little sister has a more dramatic voice than he does,
but her songs owe just as much to the 1970s singer/songwriter tradition. Wainwright certainly has her own stamp,
but she still evokes recollections of Carole King and Roberta Flack. "Wild in this World" is a blues that
rocks steadier and cooler than most from this demographic can bring off. "Out of Her Hands" presents an
intensely personal subject in raw detail, but somehow finds its way to hope. The woman has soul."
Dirty Linen Magazine. April/May 2007. Issue #129
"Sloan Wainwright is one of those singers whose performance is
a force of nature. Her big alto voice wraps itself around the lyrics and then wraps the music around you. All of the
11 songs on this CD are originals, many coauthored with Stephen Murphy, her talented longtime producer and engineer....
Wainwright's songs reveal personal dramas and the stories of those within her field of view. Her songs poetically
expose the inner workings of relationships using highly original metaphors and images. ... This recording is far
from the acoustic singer-songwriter sound. There's ample talent here, but you must accept it on its very contemporary terms."
Sing Out! Magazine. Winter 2007. Vol. 50 #4
"Rufus and Martha Wainwright are white hot these days, but the most
talented acorn to fall from the family tree might be their Aunt Sloan. Any nut would tumble from the mighty quake that
is her voice, a muscular and supple sound that soars the high scales one moment and growls with the gutter cats the next.
Life Grows Back is a collection of original and diverse songs. Wainwright can play the straight-up folk singer, but she's also
at home keeping time to Appalachian-style banjo, gritting it out to the bluesy strains of a National guitar, or vocally
matching a cello's resonance. "Out of My Hands" sounds like a lost Joni Mitchell 'Blue' track, and "Something That Comes
Close" has the pent-up power of a climax show tune. This is one of the overlooked gems of 2006."
Valley Advocate. January 2007.
"OK, let's get this out of the way first - - yes, she's a Wainwright,
and yes, of the Rufus and Loudon III sort. She is, however, talented enough to survive - and even thrive - were her
surname, say, 'Whifflepickle.' She's folk-influenced, obviously (you can't grow up in the First Family of Folk and not be,
one imagines), but the real star here is her voice. Warm and smoky and smooth, it makes her earthy, ominous lyrics seem all the
more intense. Thankfully, she never succumbs to wailing or calling attention to herself, or worse, doing the sexed-up heavy
breathing thing so many twee-folk chix rely on"
Creative Loafing. October 2006
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