Carolyn Wonderland

Carolyn Wonderland was born in Houston, Texas in 1972, growing up in a house full of musical instruments. She first started making music at age six, and by eight had decided, in her own mind, that she was a musician. After she scratched her mother’s vintage Martin guitar by imitating Pete Townsend’s famous windmill move, she was forbidden from using a pick. Because of that, she developed her aggressive, distinctive fingerpicking guitar attack. By age 15, she was performing at Houston’s famed Fitzgerald’s club, playing solo or with friends. As a 16-year-old, she swapped songs with Townes Van Zandt. She formed her first band when she was 17, and began proving herself on the tough, competitive Houston club scene. A year later, she joined forces with famed Houston musician Little Screamin’ Kenny and formed The Imperial Monkeys. Before long, Carolyn Wonderland And The Imperial Monkeys were touring as far as Utah, New York and South Dakota, and winning every music award Houston had to offer. A booking at Austin’s famous Antone’s club left a strong mark on Wonderland, who moved to Austin in 1999 at the urging of her friend Doug Sahm. “Come to Austin,” he said. “It’s the land of free guitar lessons.”

After two self-released recordings, Wonderland recorded four albums produced by her friend, famed musician Ray Benson, founder of the multiple Grammy-winning band Asleep At The Wheel. According to Benson, “Carolyn’s got that unbelievable, incredible voice, one of the great voices of our times. She’s also an incredible guitar player and a great person. The combination is disarming and totally real. That’s magic.” Carolyn first met Ray when Bob Dylan asked him how to get in touch with her in 2004, as he was a fan. Ray didn’t know Carolyn but tracked her down and the two Texans became quick friends. Then, according to Wonderland, “Bob asked me to write answer verses for his song Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat and he asked me to meet him at soundchecks on his tour.”

The popular and critical response to Wonderland and her music has led to appearances on Austin City Limits, NPR’s Weekend Edition and NPR Music’s Mountain Stage. Features and reviews have run in publications from The Los Angeles Times to The Boston Herald. She’s jammed with countless musicians including Johnny Winter, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, James Cotton, Los Lobos and Levon Helm.

In 2018, legendary musician and bandleader John Mayall chose Wonderland to be lead guitarist in his band, The Blues Breakers. She became the first woman to ever hold that position, with the previous members comprising an all-star list of iconic guitarists including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, Walter Trout and Buddy Wittington. She toured the world with Mayall and played on his last two albums, including the GRAMMY-nominated The Sun Is Shining Down. She’s performed with her own band all over the U.S. and in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Canary Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Japan.

Wonderland’s 2021 Alligator Records debut, Tempting Fate, brought her to her largest audience yet. The response was immediate and glowing. Premier Guitar proclaimed, “Wonderland is a Texas legend…a rising global star. She has a ferocious fingerpicking style and a passion for bringing fire to the blues.” Living Blues said, “Every song showcases Wonderland’s never-waste-a-note guitar work and warm, soaring vocals. There may not be a better album this year.” For her efforts, she won the Austin Music Award for both Best Blues Artist and Best Guitarist and was inducted into the Austin Music Hall Of Fame. She’s been nominated for three Blues Music Awards.

In addition to her music, Wonderland works tirelessly for a wide variety of charitable and social causes. While in her 20s, she lost her lease, and lived in her van for two years, where, she says, “I learned how much more expensive it is to be poor.” She is a founding member, along with Marcia Ball, of H.O.M.E. (Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers, HomeAustin.org), which provides emergency financial assistance to older Austin-based musicians in need.

In 2011, Wonderland married humorist A. Whitney Brown, in a ceremony performed by the late Michael Nesmith on Austin’s Doug Sahm Hill and documented in The New York Times’ VOWS section. Nesmith, who had previously produced a song for Wonderland on an earlier album, proclaimed, “When she goes into that mode where she decides to grab the heart of the song and hold it up for everybody to see, it’s just so searing. Nothing can be this raw. Nothing can be this real.