Martha Wainwright

• Genre: Adult Alternative
• Hometown: Montreal
• Martha Wainwright Website

About

Martha Wainwright is the daughter of singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and folk singer Kate McGarrigle, whose turbulent family and eventual divorce was exposed to the world in songs like "Pretty Little Martha" and "Father-Daughter Dialogue." In 2002 at the age 25, after abandoning her pursuit of a career in the theater, Martha released her first EP Factory having honed her vocal technique as a backup singer on tour with brother Rufus. In February 2005, she released a second EP closely followed by her impressive full-length debut Martha Wainwright, a confessional album filled with shimmering songs of loneliness and grit. Comparisons to her father's work are unavoidable. "There's no argument that it sounds like one of [my father's] songs," says Wainwright about the title track of her February 2005 EP Bloody Mother F*cking *ssh*l*. "Subconsciously it might be me trying to get his attention or gain his respect. That's what the song's about. So why not use his medium?"

- Neil West