When Carolyn Wonderland started performing around Houston as a teenager, people said that she was going places. And they were right. Since her humble beginnings at Fitzgerald’s and the Last Concert, Wonderland has gone on to earn the admiration of Bob Dylan, played guitar as the first female member of John Mayall’s legendary Bluesbreakers, and released eight albums under her own name, most recently Truth Is, her second on the prestige blues label Alligator Records. In celebration of the new record, Wonderland will perform on Friday, May 16, at the Heights Theater, with locals Moses Guest opening.
Speaking via Zoom, Wonderland, who is now based in Austin, provides some background. “The first record [released on Alligator] I had finished up before I knew it was going to go anywhere, and I was really surprised when Bruce [Iglauer, Alligator president] said, ‘I hear you’ve got something I might want to hear.’ And I was like, ‘I’m kind of a weirdo, I’m all over the place.’ I was surprised that he liked it. He said, ‘Leave it like it is.’”
Both of Wonderland’s albums on Alligator were produced by Dave Alvin, formerly of the Blasters and currently performing in a duo with Texas singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore. According to Wonderland, Alvin fully occupies the role of producer, from ensuring that the performances are properly recorded to assisting with songwriting. “We call him the Mad Rearranger, and it’s for good reason,” Wonderland says. “The first album, I came in and had songs in mind, some covers and some stuff that I had written, and I was pretty much married to how it went.
“And on this record, I came in with about half the songs, unmarried. Like, ‘These are the words, this is what I think the melody is going to be like, but I’m ready to tear it apart.’ Dave has such a good way about him, cutting to the chase, like, ‘What are you really trying to say there?’ So I ended up co-writing about four of them with him because it was such a radical change. It was really fun.”
Truth Is, which was recorded in Austin, boasts an impressive roster of guest musicians (more about that later). “I finally figured out that, if you record in January or February, when your friends are home and not so much on tour, you stand a pretty good chance of kidnapping a couple of them,” Wonderland explains.
The album is dedicated to pianist Gene Taylor, a member of the Blasters and the Fabulous Thunderbirds who died during the Texas freeze and power outage of 2021, and to John Mayall, who passed away in 2024. “With Gene, I was always such a big fan, and when we ran into each other, he was always so sweet. I think the first time I met him I was 19 or so, and he was just incredibly kind and didn’t treat me like a girl. And that stood out to me. I was like, ‘I really dig this cat.’”
Taylor’s death inspired Wonderland to write “Gene’s Blues,” one of the standout songs on Truth Is. “I was so angry and sad at the same time,” Wonderland recalls. “For me, he was a hero and a friend, but for Dave Alvin, he grew up with him. They had spent their whole lives together. So if there was someone to figure out if the song could pass muster, I figured it would be [Dave].” The recording was an emotional experience. “We were sweating and crying, and it was perfect. I was really glad we got to do that.”
“You might make a mistake, but it’s better to have taken the chance that to play it safe.”
As for Mayall, Wonderland is equally laudatory. “John, man – he and Levon Helm (drummer for The Band) were the two people in my life that most exemplified playing with joy and playing for joy,” Wonderland says. “He taught me that the trip is what the trip is, but when you get to be on stage, it doesn’t matter, everything else falls away. I’d watch years fall off of him as he would walk up to the microphone, and it was an amazing thing to behold. And he was incredibly generous too. He was generous musically with everyone in the band. Everybody got a chance to show themselves and play and change the song. He did not want it the same way twice. And I think that was a lesson in jumping off. You might make a mistake, but it’s better to have taken the chance that to play it safe. I was so excited to get to play with him as long as I did.”
In a press release for Truth Is, there is a reference to “the girl gang,” a group of women who perform on the new album. The gang’s ranks include Marcia Ball (piano, vocals), Shelley King (guitar, vocals), Ruthie Foster (vocals) and Cindy Cashdollar (lap steel guitar). “The women that I run with, we tend to stick together and look out for each other. And we are always recruiting new girls into the fold, and that makes me really happy.
“I think about it, not just in music. There’s a group that I volunteer with here in town, HomeAustin.org. We’ve been doing it for 12 years. We started at Marcia Ball’s kitchen table, just wanting to keep [singer] Lavelle White in her house, and now we’ve got 30 clients, and we’re expanding to keep people in their houses. And it’s all women. We all just volunteer to make sure that it gets done. The people we serve are [age] 55 and up musicians in Austin. We try to cater to musicians in particular, because there are so many in Austin. And there’s no safety net, no 401k. You get sick, you miss a couple of gigs, and that’s it. You can easily lose your house.”
In addition to her performance at the Heights Theater with Moses Guest on May 16, Wonderland will be doing an in-store at Cactus Music the same day. “We’re doing Cactus beforehand at 4 p.m. and then we’re kind of splitting it with Moses Guest up there at the Heights, so I recommend getting there early. I always look forward to seeing Moses Guest, so I figured the only way we could have a chance this time was if we had a show together!”
Though she performs around the world, Wonderland plays on a reasonably regular basis in her hometown. What’s it like coming back to Houston after growing up here? “I love coming back to Houston,” Wonderland says. “I was texting with Dave Alvin when we were on our way to Jazz Fest [in New Orleans] the other weekend, and we were driving through Houston, and I was like, ‘Yeah, rambling on the I-10 of my misspent youth.’ I like Austin too, don’t get me wrong, but Houston definitely still feels like home.”
Carolyn Wonderland will perform at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 16, at the Heights Theater, 339 W. 19th, with Moses Guest opening. $22.50 – $36.50. For more information, call 214-272-8346 or visit theheightstheater.com.
For more on Carolyn Wonderland, visit carolynwonderland.com.
