Loudon Wainwright III

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Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Loudon Wainwright III came to fame when 'Dead Skunk' became a Top 20 hit in 1972. He had studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon University, but dropped out to partake in the Summer of Love in San Francisco, and wrote his first song in 1968 (Edgar, about a lobsterman in Rhode Island). His songs have since been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, his son Rufus Wainwright, and Mose Allison, among others.

Released in 2014, Haven’t Got the Blues (Yet) is the 26th album in Wainwright’s long and illustrious career. It follows his acclaimed Older Than My Old Man Now album—“my death n’ decay opus,” as he calls it, and 2010’s Grammy Award-winning High Wide & Handsome.

In 2017, Wainwright published his memoir, Liner Notes (Blue Rider Press), which led to appearances on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and WTF with Marc Maron.  The NY Times said the book “makes your heart wobble on its axis.”

2018 brought Years in the Making, a compilation of 45 years of off-beaten tracks into over two hours of rare and unissued Loudoniana along with a few brand new songs for good measure. It's a 2-CD audiobiography, full of orphaned album cuts, live recordings, radio appearances, home demos, and more. There are audio snapshots from his early folk efforts, with Kate McGarrigle, George Gerdes, and Steve Goodman, in which Loudon is singing traditional songs, covering Woody Guthrie and, of all people, Bob Dylan. There are his '70s and '80s forays into the rock & roll world, including Leiber and Stoller, Smokey Joe's Cafe and his own "I Wanna Be on MTV."

Additionally, Wainwright has co-written with songwriter/producer Joe Henry on the music for Judd Apatow’s hit movie Knocked Up, written music for the British theatrical adaptation of the Carl Hiaasen novel Lucky You, and composed topical songs for NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered and ABC’s Nightline. An accomplished actor, he has appeared in films directed by Martin Scorsese, Hal Ashby, Christopher Guest, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe and Judd Apatow.  Wainwright has also starred on TV in M.A.S.H. and Undeclared, and on Broadway in Pump Boys and Dinettes. More recently, he appeared in the film Pleased To Meet You (with fellow music legends John Doe, Aimee Mann and Joe Henry). 

Loudon also created a one-man theatrical show, Surviving Twin, which combines his songs and the writings of his late father.  Initially developed as part of University of North Carolina's Playmakers series, it focuses on fatherhood—both being a father and having one—and also explores the issues of birth, self-identity, loss, mortality, fashion, and of course, pet ownership.  Surviving Twin has been performed in limited theater engagements and a filmed version of the show is on Netflix – produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Christopher Guest.