Music

Patriarch of folk: Loudon Wainwright III keeps it all in the family

From the Ford dynasty of automobile manufacturing to the Waltons' ubiquitous Walmart chain, family brands have often garnered a prominent perch on the American business landscape.

When it comes to music, the Wainwright family holds a similar mantle.

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a culture (of musicians); it's a family business," said singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, the family's patriarch. "You have (my sister) Sloan Wainwright, (children) Rufus, Martha and Lucy. My ex-wives were all singers."

A few branches of the Wainwright family tree will be performing in Anchorage on Sunday, with Loudon Wainwright set to perform with ex-wife Suzzy Roche and their daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche at the Discovery Theatre.

Wainwright has become a favorite on the singer-songwriter scene, with his wry and satirical outlook on life and people's foibles, including his own.

After gaining attention on the folk scene in the early 1960s, Wainwright was one of seemingly dozens of songwriters to be pegged "the new Dylan," but survived the lethal label to record 26 studio albums and earn three Grammy nominations.

Whether poignant or bizarre, Wainwright's songwriting is probably best known for being blunt and unvarnished.

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"The process is always the same," he said. "There are things that piss me off and upset me and make me laugh. In that regard I'm just like anyone else."

While Wainwright considers himself a songwriter and singer foremost, he may be more recognizable to the general public for his work in film and television.

"My main job is to write songs and go out and sing them," he said. "If other things come up, an acting job or writing music for a movie, that's just gravy."

He was initially exposed to television audiences during three seasons of the hit show "M.A.S.H.," playing singing surgeon Captain Calvin Spalding, and has become a favorite of filmmaker Judd Apatow, appearing in "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." He's appeared on screen in films by Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton and also had a recent role in the NBC series "Parks and Recreation."

The Wainwright musical tradition continued with Rufus and Martha, Wainwright's children from a marriage to the late singer Kate McGarrigle.

Both have forged successful careers, with Martha performing mostly in the folk-rock genre, while Rufus has branched out as a composer.

At times, the Wainwright family song catalog has more resembled a car wreck than a car company. Both Rufus and Martha have written songs about their relationships with their father, sometimes in not-so-glowing terms. The most famous of these was a song entitled "Bloody Mother F****** Asshole," written by Martha about Loudon.

Loudon Wainwright, too, has also written songs about life and relationships within the family, some charming and others more sneering.

Despite times of conflict, the members of the family have continued to collaborate together, both in record form and onstage.

"It's great to be written about and it's great to write about them," Wainwright said. "It's the battle of the bands."

Wainwright will play solo for part of the Anchorage show, and Suzzy and Lucy will perform together before all three combine forces on a number of songs.

Wainwright has added a new family project to his portfolio that will be featured during his performance. His father, Loudon Jr., was an editor and columnist for Time magazine, and Wainwright has taken his column, titled "The View From Here," and revived it in spoken-word form.

Although Wainwright had copies of many of the columns, it took some extra research at the New York Public Library to compile everything he needed.

"It's been fun, a posthumous collaboration," he said. "I think he definitely influenced me as a writer. My writing, in a sense, is journalistic. It's very clear and specific."

Over the summer, Wainwright released the album "Haven't Got the Blues (Yet)," which contains plenty of his trademark candor.

"It's an album I made with my friend (producer) David Mansfield," he said. "It includes a variety of musical styles. There's a Christmas song called 'I'll Be Killing You This Christmas.' It's a wonderful record that everyone should buy."

Loudon Wainwright III, Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26

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Where: Discovery Theatre

?Tickets: $38.50 at centertix.net

Chris Bieri

Chris Bieri is the sports and entertainment editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

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