Martha Wainwright - Biography
Coming from such a talented family, the pressure was on Martha Wainwright to deliver something noteworthy, something that stacked up against the musical output of her father, mother, and brother. Martha's parents are the well-respected folk musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. Her brother, Rufus Wainwright, has made an even bigger name for himself than his parents as a master of baroque chamber pop. Martha met those expectations beautifully, releasing a couple of solid EPs before recording her impressive eponymous debut. Since then, she has cemented a reputation as a top-notch singer and songwriter. Perhaps the greatest compliment to her talent was that critics compared her second album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (2008 Zoë Records), to her first album and not her family’s body of work.
Martha was born on May 8th, 1976, the younger of Loudon and Kate McGarrigle’s two children. A year before Martha’s birth, McGarrigle enjoyed the release of Kate and Anna McGarrigle (1975 Warner), her debut album with her sister Anna. It was a critically hailed collection that included their original song “Heart Like a Wheel,” which would soon become famous in the hands of Linda Ronstadt. The year of Martha's birth, Loudon, whom McGarrigle would later divorce, released his sixth album T Shirt (1976 Arista Records). Loudon’s album proved to be ill-fated, unfortunately released right as punk rock was really gaining steam. Martha and Rufus (who had a three-year head start on his sister) grew up in Montreal, Quebec, surrounded by music. Understandably, the expectations put on Martha to follow in the footsteps of her parents began to turn her off from music altogether. After high school, she decided to become an actress and enrolled at Montreal's Concordia University.
Martha never completed her studies at Concordia. This had little to do with her talent as an actress, but everything to do with her natural ability as a musician. While studying acting, she had begun to compose her own material, playing in clubs and coffeehouses around the Montreal area.
She gathered her compositions together for a demo cassette called Ground Floor, self-released in 1997. The next year, she contributed a song called “Year of the Dragon” to Kate and Anna McGarrigle's album The McGarrigle Hour (1998 Hannibal), which featured contributions from all three Wainwrights, the McGarrigle sisters, and several unrelated guests such as Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Also in 1998, Rufus released his eponymous debut on which Martha sang back-up.
Soon after that, Martha relocated to New York to appear in a stage musical called Largo. In 1999 and at the age of 23, she released a self-titled EP on Querbes Service [Martha Wainwright (1999 Querbes Service)]. Five years later, she released a second EP, which caught the public’s attention with its provocative title, Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole (2005 Zoë). The title-track of which was reportedly named for her father.
Her full-length, self-titled debut followed later that same year. Martha Wainwright (2005 Zoë) hit number 43 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. The songs “When the Day is Short” and “Far Away” were both released as singles, but “Factory” was released on the Factory EP (2005 Drowned In Sound) with three other songs following the album’s release. Reviews of her debut ranged from good to glowing. Critics were quick to compare her to her brother, and most decided that she was of an equal caliber. Stylistically, the only thing that connected Martha's debut to the work of Rufus was their family bloodline. Martha puts forth an energy that is sexual at times and cunning at others, always using her captivatingly breathy vocals to get her message across. In late 2005, she released another EP, I Will Internalize (2005 Maplemusic), in Canada only.
The following year, Martha covered two Leonard Cohen songs, “Tower of Song” and “The Traitor” for the soundtrack to the documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2006). In September of 2007, she married producer Brad Albetta, who had produced her first full-length album and would go on to produce her second.
In 2008, Martha and Albetta released I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (2008 Zoë). In her second full-length album, the singer deals with themes similar to those found on her debut, such as unrequited love and infidelity, but she explores other themes as well. Martha moves through the album touching on suicide, joy, and everything in between. The album marked an admirable step forward for the singer’s songwriting capabilities as well as her performance quality. Critics began to compare Martha to the likes of Patti Smith. I Know You're Married featured collaborations with Pete Townshend, Garth Hudson, Donald Fagen, and, again, her brother Rufus. The album peaked at number six in Canada and number ten on the Billboard Top Heatseeker chart.
Late night television performances followed the album's release, as well as a world tour. In December of 2008, Martha performed at the McGarrigle Christmas Hour at Carnegie Hall hosted by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Guests included Rufus Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Lou Reed, Jimmy Fallon, and Teddy Thompson. The multi-talented Martha went on to play the role of Anna in Will Tucket's adaptation of Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins at the Royal Opera House in London for the early part of 2009. Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris; Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record came out in 2009, followed by Come Home To Mama in 2012.