Carolyn Wonderland

Truth Is

Alligator Records

Carolyn Wonderland was born in Houston, Texas in 1972. Growing up in a house full of musical instruments, she started making music at age six and by age eight had decided that she was a musician. After she scratched her mother’s vintage Martin she was forbidden from using a pick. Because of that she developed her aggressive, distinctive fingerpicking style. By age fifteen she was performing at Houston’s famed Fitzgerald’s club. At sixteen, she swapped songs with Townes Van Zandt; and at seventeen formed her first band. A year later, she co-founded The Imperial Monkeys, winning every music award Houston had to offer. Carolyn moved to Austin in 1999 at the urging of her friend Doug Sahm. After two self-released recordings, Bob Dylan asked Bensen to track her down, and Bensen the founder of the Grammy winning Asleep At The Wheel produced four albums for Carolyn. Dylan also asked Carolyn to write answer verses for his song “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat. Appearances on Austin City Limits, NPR’s Weekend Edition and NPR Music’s Mountain Stage followed. She jammed with Johnny Winter, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, James Cotton, Los Lobos, and Levon Helm; before John Mayall chose Wonderland to be lead guitarist in his band The Blues Breakers. Carolyn became the first woman to hold the position previously held by Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, Walter Trout and Buddy Wittington. Carolyn toured the world with Mayall and played on his last two albums including the Grammy nominated “The Sun Is Shining Down”. Carolyn’s 2021 Alligator Records debut “Tempting Fate” brought Carolyn her biggest audience yet, resulting in her winning the Austin Music Award for both Best Blues Artist and Best Guitarist; she was also inducted to the Austin Music Hall of Fame, and received three Blues Music Award nominations.

“Truth Is” was produced by legendary guitarist, and songwriter Dave Alvin who also produced Carolyn’s Alligator debut. The album was recorded and mixed by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording at Point West, Austin, Texas. The ensemble includes Carolyn, electric and lap steel guitars, vocals and whistling; Naj Conklin, bass; and Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio, drums and percussion. Backing vocalists include Ruthie Foster, Marcia Ball, and Shelley King (who sings harmony on nine tracks). On the opener, “Sooner Or Later” Carolyn sings “I used to warn you now I’m pulling out thorns, for going down with you in the eye of the storm, there ain’t no lesson unless you want to learn, sooner or later everybody gets burned, yes sooner or later everybody gets their turn, sooner or later everybody gets burned.

“I Aint Going Back” features the girl gang, the trio of backing singers, as Carolyn chimes “Oh I, I ain’t, I ain’t going back again, my will’s too strong to break or bend so step aside or lend a hand, I ain’t going back again”. Also with the trio, is the title track “Truth Is” as Carolyn sings “Truth is, it is hard to stay free, truth is, there ain’t nothing guaranteed, truth is there in the very air we breathe, so why is it so hard to believe it ? Truth is, the first casualty of war, truth is, then as now worth fighting for, truth is painfully necessary in order to know more, rich and poor, you know we gotta believe it, may not like it, but we’d better believe it”, with Red Young on the organ.

My favorite “Let’s Play A Game” features Carolyn as she cry’s “I’ve done things for food that I ain’t always proud of, been caught and pled my case in the courts of the law, been told that I’m a soul who ain’t got no country, and my life is the silver lining of it all. We’ve marched to the capitols, we’ve sang in the holler, dined with the kings and scraped by in the squalor, and lo, lord, how hard we’ve tried, but peace without justice, that’s just freedom denied. How long from the bombs should we worry? tell me just how far from the rocket’s red glare? when shall we ease all this suffering, when so much goes to waste that should have been shared…she said, ‘let’s play a game where we sit still and be quiet…”

“Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard Again” is co-written with Alvin, “My work is done I’m hanging with my friends, hoping this night will never end, well, my bills are due, but for now I will pretend, I’m whistlin’ past the graveyard again. Tomorrow morning won’t be near as fun, so tonight I’m gonna go get my bell rung, next paycheck, I may pray that there’s more money left to spend, I’m just whistlin’ past the graveyard again”, with Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel, and Marcia Ball on piano.

“It Should Take” with a second-line beat and Henri Herbert on piano, “It should take some time to get used to, it should take a little less of a toll, it should take you by the hand and lead you, you should have some jelly, honey, with your roll. It should take it’s time to get to know you, it should take an act of Congress to pass, it should take your breath and leave you wanting, you should take your time, and make it last, it should take two at three in the morning, it should take a stand for what is right it should take five trains to keep me laughing you should go on…and take me tonight”.

“Wishful Thinking” is a cover, written by Greg Wood and Eddie Hawkins “I sometimes wish that I was yesterday and you were still tomorrow, all the tangles were still unwound, the lines were easy to follow and backing up befor the chaos starts we’re just standing there naked, yeah, I sometimes wish that I was yesterday, but that’s just wishful thinking. I wish that everything that ever fell apart, could come back together again, exploding backwards into perfection, but that’s just wishful thinking, oh that’s just wishful thinking.

The second cover “Orange Juice Blues” was written by Richard Manuel of The Band, Carolyn, Marsha and Shelley sing; while Cindy Cashdollar, and Carolyn swap guitar leads as Carolyn chirps “I’ve hard time waking this morning…”.On “Tatoos As His Talisman” Carolyn chants “He’d wear your crown around his wrist, it should fit cause he’s the bigger man, you should never cross my friend, with his tatoos as his talisman”.

“Flowers In Bloom” again features Young on organ and piano, as Carolyn bursts “You and your self-imposed burdens, me and my big mouth, I don’t suppose we read writing from the same walls, I doubt we’ll ever figure it out. When here comes the sun, flowers in bloom. whether I see them from the darkness of my room, bring on the night, it’ll be alright, all right, it’ll be all right”. “Deepest Ocean Blue” co-written with King, Conklin, and Carnuccio as Carolyn croons “Watercolor Skies, as waves go crashing by, finally we have made it out to sea, losing track of time, looking for those friends of mine, it’s fine as long as you are here with me. Deepest ocean blue, only one thing left to do deepest ocean blue, as long as I am here with you”. On the closer, “Blues For Gene”, a tribute to the pianist who played with The Blasters, Canned Heat, the Fabuous Thunderbirds, The Formerly Brothers, and as a solo artist, with Henri Herbert on piano, Carolyn sings “I might appreciate the roses, they’re the prettiest ones in town, I might appreciate the roses, by far the most fragrant to be found, but buy me drink while I’m living who knows how long we’ll be around”.

Dedicated to the memories of John Mayall and Gene Taylor, on “Truth Is” Carolyn Wonderland stakes her claim as one of the most influential roots music voices today, telling truth to all who will listen. Her empowering music packs an emotional intensity that is ultimately uplifting. Keep listening as she will be around for a long, long time.

Richard Ludmerer
Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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