The marriage of blues guitarist Carolyn Wonderland and writer/comedian A. Whitney Brown officiated by Michael Nesmith, former member of the Monkees, was the featured wedding in the New York Times Style section on March 6. The ceremony on Doug Sahm Hill in Austin’s Butler Park began at 4:44 p.m. sharp. The time was chosen by Brown, who emphasizes that everything one does occurs at a specific moment. The wedding was as homey and casual as the parties involved.
“The wedding was very sweet and I’m happy being in the New York Times for falling in love because it’s better than being there for doing something bad,” she said. “I look forward to performing in Washington for the first time and want everyone to have a good time listening.”
| Onstage |
| Carolyn Wonderland |
| Where: Hill Country DC, 410 Seventh St. NW in Penn Quarter |
| When: 10 p.m. June 9, doors open at 9:30 p.m. |
| Info: $10 at 202-556-2050 |
Wonderland is equally laid back about her Washington debut at the new Hill Country DC. She trusts that most area guitar fans have caught her eight albums since 1993. No matter, they are certain to remember her after Thursday’s show filled with the songs she composed for “Miss Understood” and her earlier albums.
Growing up in Houston, she was more interested in playing her guitar and singing than attending school. She acquired the surname Wonderland early on from a high school friend.
“We were booked for a gig but didn’t have a name, so he suggested Wonderland and it stuck,” she said. “During high school, I played four or five nights a week in blues bars. If I hadn’t left school, I’d have been thrown out. From the beginning, my family and friends were my biggest support even though my mother would have preferred I stay in school and become a music teacher. Today the support comes from my band. We travel in a van together and appreciate each other’s sense of humor.”
Wonderland, who stands a mere 5 feet 3 inches, is huge in the blues world. Hailed as a “Blues Guitar Goddess,” she has wowed and played with B.B. King, Buddy Guy and other major artists. Since Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel signed her to his label, Bob Dylan has been phoning her to play with him.
The lyrics she has composed for all but a few of the songs on her CDs are carefully crafted. Many like “Annie’s Scarlet Letter,” “Homelessness in Austin” and “Throw My Love” draw on “a little bit of everything” experienced or viewed.
“I don’t want to waste my time hating people, so I write about things that can happen to anybody to teach us to be nice to each other,” she said. This attitude matches the philosophy emblazoned across her albums, “I speak not with guns, but with flowers.”
