Carolyn Wonderland — ‘Truth Is” — Alligator Records
The truth is, Carolyn Wonderland is a powerful vocalist, plays electrifying guitar and writes bright, intense lyrics.
And she’s brought all those skills together again for another fine album, the musically eclectic “Truth Is.” Wonderland has been plying her blues trade and recording since 2001 and is just a few years removed from her coveted stint as lead guitarist for British bluesman John Mayall and The Blues Breakers — a spot that has solidified her standing in the upper ranks of blues guitarists, and a spot previously occupied by Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, and Walter Trout.
Wonderland’s last album, “Tempting Fate,” won the Austin Music Award for Best Blues Artists and Best Guitarist, and she was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. She has also been nominated for a Blues Music Award three times.
All of which has led to her second album for blues-centric Alligator Records (her 13th overall), showing off her skills on guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, trumpet and piano. Bassist Naj Conklin and drummer Giovanni Carnuccio join a seeming cast of thousands here for ten original tracks and two covers. The music reflects Wonderland’s penchant for exploring music that ranges beyond traditional blues boundaries, and also gives her songwriting skills room to roam.
Wonderland explains: “I’m kind of a weirdo. I have kind of a genre-less approach. So, it never would have occurred to me that I would be good enough for Alligator or that I would be their kind of thing. So, I was really excited,” she says in interview on American Blues Scene.
The opener, “Sooner or Later,” is example of that genre-bending, as Wonderland’s lap steel dances to a countrified psychedelia, with her vocals carrying their own down-home twang. Producer Dave Alvin is featured on guitar (he also produced “Tempting Fate”). Marcia Ball and Ruthie Foster lend backup vocals on the following tracks — “I Ain’t Going Back Again” and the rocking “Truth Is,” explained in the lyric: “Truth is right there in the very air we breathe. So why is it so hard to believe it.”
“Let’s Play a Game” is a smooth, almost dreamy message: “We’ve marched to the capitols. We’ve sang in the holler. Dined with the kings. And lo, Lord, how hard we’ve tried but peace without justice that’s just freedom denied.” The bluesy, easy-swinging “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard Again” has a distinctive roadhouse flair with Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel and honky-tonk piano from Red Young, plus some concluding Wonderland whistling. “It Should Take” leans toward a bright New Orleans rhythm.
“Wishful Thinking” is the first cover, from Greg Wood and Eddie Hawkins, a gently flowing ballad, with a universal thought: “I wish that everything that ever fell apart could come back together again exploding backwards into perfection but that’s just wishful thinking.”
“Orange Juice Blues” by The Band’s Richard Manuel is a standout track, a fearsome blues riding Wonderland’s guitar and Cindy Cashdollar’s lap steel leads, Shelley King’s acoustic guitar, Young’s B3, Balls’s piano and King on backup harmony. It’s a roughhouse gem of a song, mined from all the rest that glitters here.
“Tattoos as His Talisman,” with Wonderland’s vocals and Alvin’s guitar soaring, is a tough ode to an illustrated man. “Flowers In Bloom” coaxes a slow-dance melody and aching vocals from Wonderland, haunted by a relationship. “Deepest Ocean Blue” floats in on Latin rhythms and leads into the closing deep blue passion of “Blues for Gene,” a tribute to pianist Gene Taylor, a friend of Wonderland’s, who played with the James Harman Band, toured with Canned Heat and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. The song emotionally explains his death during the 2022 power failure amid frigid weather in Texas in 2022. Henri Herbert wraps up his gorgeous piano work here with a raucous boogie-woogie climax. It’s a powerful song, lyrically and musically.
Carolyn Wonderland’s “Truth Is” more than lives up to its title. It’s her musical truth, offered with a splendid rawness and emotion, a passionate exploration of her musical sensibilities and musical skills. Honest. It is.
Here’s an interview with Carolyn Wonderland in Rock & Blues Muse.
Here’s “Sooner Or Later” from the album:
Tracklist and credits:
1. Sooner Or Later 4:13
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
2. I Ain’t Going Back 2:54
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
3. Truth Is 3:39
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
4. Let’s Play A Game 4:00
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
5. Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard Again 4:00
(Carolyn Wonderland & Dave Alvin, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP / Blue Horn Toad Music admin. by BMG Bumblebee, BMI)
6. It Should Take 2:25
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
7. Wishful Thinking 4:16
(Greg Wood & Eddie Hawkins, Chump Salvage Music, BMI / Muscience Music, ASCAP)
8. Orange Juice Blues 3:37
(Richard Manuel, Universal Tunes, a division of Songs of Universal, BMI)
9. Tattoos As His Talisman 3:29
(Carolyn Wonderland & Dave Alvin, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP / Blue Horn Toad Music admin. by BMG Bumblebee, BMI)
10. Flowers In Bloom 4:26
(Carolyn Wonderland, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP)
11. Deepest Ocean Blue 3:52
(Carolyn Wonderland, Shelley King, Naj Conklin & Giovanni Carnuccio III, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP / Lucky Monday Music, ASCAP / Naj Conklin, BMI / Tyrannoscore, ASCAP)
12. Blues For Gene 6:40
(Carolyn Wonderland & Dave Alvin, Wonder Chicken Publ., admin. by Drive Music Publ., ASCAP / Blue Horn Toad Music admin. by BMG Bumblebee, BMI)
Carolyn Wonderland Electric Guitar, Lap Steel, Vocals, Whistling
Naj Conklin Electric and Upright Bass
Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio Drums, Percussion (2,3,6,7)
with
Shelley King Harmony Vocals (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11), Acoustic Guitar (4,5,7,8,9,11), ”Pop” (10)
Dave Alvin Electric Guitar (1,8,9,12)
Red Young B3 Organ (1,2,3,4,8,10,11), Piano (5,10,11)
Bukka Allen Piano (1,7), B3 Organ (7,9)
Kevin Lance Percussion (1,11)
Ruthie Foster Vocals (2,3)
Marcia Ball Vocals (2,3,8), Piano (8)
Cindy Cashdollar Lap Steel Guitar (5,8)
Henri Herbert Piano (6,12)
Stuart Sullivan Percussion (7)
Produced by Dave Alvin
Recorded and Mixed by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording at Point West, Austin, TX
Additional Engineers:Drew Potter and Pete Caponi
Mastered by Collin Jordan and Bruce Iglauer at The Boiler Room, Chicago, IL
Photos by Mary Keating Bruton, MKB Photography
Packaging Design by Kevin Niemiec
Hair and Makeup by Brandi Cowley
Stylist: Cheryl G Smith, Wardrobe Matters
This album is dedicated to the memories of two musicians who changed me for the better, and whom I miss dearly, John Mayall and Gene Taylor. May you find yourself in their music.
Blues Roadhouse 