According to Google, it will take Martha Wainwright a little more than seven hours to travel between her gig at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 14 to reach Sidney for her Nov. 15 gig at the Mary Winspear Centre B次元官网网址� assuming everything goes smoothly.
It is not clear yet when Wainwright and her accompanying band will hit the road for Sidney after their Portland show, but she is preparing for a long drive unlikely to be luxurious.
B次元官网网址淭his is a complicated tour, because originally, we would have hoped to have gotten a bus,B次元官网网址� the Canadian-American singer/songwriter said. The music business, like many, is sputtering as it resumes against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
Like many industries, it is suffering from a lack of labour and an absence of logistics, including tour buses. B次元官网网址淎nd there are no drivers available. So we are doing it in an van and the van is actually leaving from Toronto in a couple of days and will drive down to Los Angeles with the gear in it.B次元官网网址�
WainwrightB次元官网网址檚 show in Sidney is part of a longer tour that starts in Quebec, heads to the U.S. West Coast and British Columbia, then zig-zags across the western provinces before winding up in Ontario, a schedule that prompts her to call the crew B次元官网网址渞oad warriors.B次元官网网址�
The tour is in support of her recently released fifth studio studio album, Love Will Be Reborn. An accompanying video for the title track features her sons, Francis and Arcangelo, dressed as English and French knights duelling in a dark, gloomy forest.
B次元官网网址淢y eldest son (Arcangelo) wanted to play King Arthur, but they ended up casting my youngest son, which caused some anguish,B次元官网网址� Wainwright said. B次元官网网址淏ut the director (received) pay-back because he had to deal with my two kids. But I was proud of my children.B次元官网网址�
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So was the video, perhaps unconsciously, playing out CanadaB次元官网网址檚 dual nature?
B次元官网网址淎lways,B次元官网网址� she chuckled. B次元官网网址淲e are always playing that out. We live in Quebec, in Montreal, so that is our part-time job.B次元官网网址�
If some of the imagery in the video recalls the raw, dark and conflict-rich elements that run through WainwrightB次元官网网址檚 earlier music, the song itself strikes a far more optimistic tone as it praises new beginnings.
So is there a kinder, gentler Martha Wainwright out there now?
B次元官网网址淥r maybe sort of beaten down B次元官网网址� no, I am kidding,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淐ertainly, the softness of the sound relates to the producer (Pierre Marchand, who has worked with Sarah McLachlan among others) and the production.B次元官网网址�
WainwrightB次元官网网址檚 confessional tone is still there, but the edges are blurrier.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a little bit softer, itB次元官网网址檚 a little bit lighter, itB次元官网网址檚 a different kind of feel and it really frames the more aggressive nature of my songs and the lyrics.B次元官网网址�
As such, she finds herself in transition and as one review noted, the album lacks overt references to WainwrightB次元官网网址檚 brother Rufus and their parents B次元官网网址� the late Canadian singer Kate McGarrigle and American-born Loudon Wainwright III, whom Martha once called a B次元官网网址渂loody mother (expletive) assholeB次元官网网址� in a song.
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But the subject of family is never far away, especially as Wainwright prepares to leave her two children with their father, music producer Brad Albetta, to whom she was married for 10 years.
Wainwright said she does not know yet the long-term effect of the pandemic on her family relations. On one hand, she, her brother and father are used to not seeing each other for long periods due to their respective musical careers. They would often meet up on the road, but with the music industry shut down for months, those opportunities ceased.
B次元官网网址淭he whole thing is hard, but I think really what the pandemic has taught us, is that we really have to toughen up,B次元官网网址� Wainwright said. B次元官网网址淥therwise, it is really easy to get dragged down and it has really required a hope and the idea that we will see each other again.B次元官网网址�
Martha Wainwright plays SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Mary Winspear Theatre on Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. For ticket and other information, visit .
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