Carolyn Wonderland

Tickets on sale now for March 8, benefiting the SIMS Foundation. After valiant efforts by music editor Kevin Curtin to deliver last year’s Austin Music Awards in his van, the annual event returns in-person to Emo’s on March 8. The Chronicle music team is excited to announce the...

Carolyn Wonderland is celebrating the release of her new album with a live performance Friday at StageOne in Fairfield. Wonderland has been called a fiery blues rocker with incendiary guitar chops and raw, powerful vocals. An award-winning Texas guitar slinger, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, she’s marking the release of her Alligator Records debut album, “Tempting Fate.” The album, her 11th, was produced by famed master roots musician Dave Alvin, and features Wonderland’s signature, blistering six-string and lap steel playing, intense vocals and original songs, melding blues, rock and Americana.

Not just any player gets the call to be in John Mayall’s band. Early members of legendary British artist’s group included musicians who went on to form Cream (Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce) and Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green). And guitarist Mick Taylor did time with Mayall both before and after his 1970s tenure with the Rolling Stones.

It’s been 3½ years since Carolyn Wonderland played the Zoo Bar, but not entirely because the coronavirus shut down touring for more than a year. Since 2018, Wonderland has been the guitarist in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, following in the footsteps of Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Coco Montoya and Walter Trout accompanying the British blues legend.

Carolyn Wonderland is a blistering guitarist; fire-breathing, soulful singer; and gifted songwriter from Houston, Texas. She just ended a three-year stint in John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, the first female lead guitarist in a band that has featured Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor. Her new album, Tempting Fate, is produced by Dave Alvin and features guest performances by Alvin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Marcia Ball, Cindy Cashdollar, and Shelley King.

Austin, Texas-based blues guitarist, Carolyn Wonderland (born Carolyn Bradford), just wants to play music. Hers is a simple-yet-noble ambition. For the frontwoman, who is a whirling dervish on the six-string and who offers a formidable growl on the mic, to participate in song is not about ego or shine. Instead, it’s about the glory of the artform, the chance at harmony, the opportunity to participate in unison with other talented folks who have similarly devoted decades to the craft and journey.

Austin360 On The Record is a weekly roundup of new, recent and upcoming releases by local and Austin-associated recording artists. Carolyn Wonderland, “Tempting Fate” (Alligator). One of Texas’ finest Americana guitar-slingers for the past three decades, Wonderland returns with her first album since 2017’s acclaimed “Moon Goes Missing.” Two auspicious developments: She’s now on renowned independent blues label Alligator Records, and she enlisted Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Dave Alvin as producer.

In Their Words: “Well, sometimes we write ourselves advice we don’t take for a while, don’t we? I started writing ‘Fortunate Few’ one hard, bleary-eyed morning on the road while holding my head in one hand and trying to count my blessings on the fingers of the other. It originally had a more John Prine feel to it (think: ‘In Spite of Ourselves’), but I thought better of trying to emulate the master in a form so closely related to that chord structure and started banging away on some acoustic blues. The title made me realize I also must have been listening to a lot of Delbert McClinton the night before. That is never a bad thing!” — Carolyn Wonderland.

Carolyn Wonderland is the sound of Texas. But don’t try to fence her in. Even though her boots are firmly planted in the Lone Star State, she’s a free-ranger, lassoing a variety of styles she hogties into her own inimitable take on twangy, bluesy honky-tonk, hand-plucked and feisty. Wonderland’s hand-plucking...

Ladies’ choice. Three completely divergent, guitar-driven blues women deliver landmark albums packed with no-holds-barred passion. Rather than climb the walls, Sue Foley opted to shake the plaster from them. Foley and her friends hammered out “Pinky’s Blues” in three days of raw lockdown liberation. The way it’s supposed to be...

Carolyn Wonderland the Texas guitar slinger and singer-songwriter will take to the road with the 2021 Tempting Fate Tour, that runs from September 2021 through the end of the year. Wonderland is promoting her Alligator Records debut album, Tempting Fate, which drops on Friday, October 8. It’s the 11th album...

Award-winning Texas guitar slinger, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Wonderland will release her Alligator Records debut album, Tempting Fate, on Friday, October 8. The album, produced by famed master roots musician Dave Alvin, is the next chapter in Wonderland’s remarkable career, one that is already overflowing with countless, colorful, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. She spent the last three years as lead guitarist in blues legend John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, and has now joined the Alligator Records family as the first female guitar hero in the label’s storied 50-year history. But that's not all. 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.

Dreamland arts and entertainment complex in Dripping Springs will host the inaugural DreamFest on May 1. The free event will feature performances from Austin artists Carolyn Wonderland, Del Castillo, Zach Person, Beat Root Revival and more. The fest will also host the Redbud Artisan Market & Art Festival, featuring works...