Blues artist Carolyn Wonderland returns to Abilene Bar and Lounge to support new album

Carolyn Wonderland has played a lot of shows in Rochester over the years. Some big and outdoors, like at the jazz and Lilac festivals, and some small and intimate, like at Abilene Bar and Lounge on Liberty Pole Way downtown.

“I love them all, but they are so different,” said the blues singer and guitarist in an unmistakable Texas drawl. “At Abilene, you can be very free. I don’t have to watch my potty mouth, and it’s the music lovers who are there. But I also like getting to play festivals, because I don’t think music should just be for people 21 and older.”

Plus, she appreciates the lack of self-consciousness and honesty that children display at shows. “Kids don’t have to drink to dance, and if they don’t like it, they’ll let you know,” said Wonderland, who describes music as the only thing that has held her attention since she was a kid.

She returns to Abilene for a 7:30 p.m. show Nov. 16 (so let the potty mouth fly) on a tour stop in support her new album, Tempting Fate. (Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 the day of the show at abilene.showare.com.)

The LP’s recent release caps what has turned out to be quite a couple of years for the Houston native. Turbulent and scary because of the coronavirus pandemic, but also triumphant, thanks to peak professional moments.

Now based in Austin, she wrapped up a stint playing lead guitar in British blues legend’s John Mayall’s band (a spot once occupied by Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor), was signed to Alligator Records — which put out Tempting Fate, produced by roots rocker Dave Alvin — and embarked on her own tour.

Wonderland, who counts Bob Dylan as a fan, also was the first woman to play lead guitar for Mayall, but in that role she didn’t focus on making music history.

“You can’t, or you’ll just trip all over yourself,” she said. Besides, “It’s about trying to support what John is doing. He’s the magic in that band. That voice of his, that’s what you want to support.”

Regardless, she said, “I definitely got an education. John is all about jumping off that diving board. Take it and run around with it and do something else with it, something different every night.”

Some performances were magical, she said. “Some were, ‘Sorry about that extra flat-seventh there. Whoops.’ Even then, John has great sense of humor about things.”

More: Rochester's jazz festival set for downtown in 2022 after two-year hiatus due to COVID-19

Signed to iconic blues guitar label

She’s breaking new ground with Alligator Records, too, which describes her as its “first female guitar hero” in the label’s 50-year history.

“It blows my mind,” she said, noting that most of the records in her personal collection are by Alligator artists. “I was a little intimidated when I got the call,” she said — and thrilled to have the legendary Alvin, a founding member of The Blasters, in the role of producer.

He told writer Michael Corcoran that he wanted to work with Wonderland because her guitar-playing doesn’t imitate anyone else’s: “She is especially not imitating the imitators, like so many modern blues or blues/rock guitarists do. She developed her own effective way of playing the blues that incorporate bits of folk, country and even psychedelic riffs, plus she always surprises me with her guitar lines and melodic twists and turns.”

Wonderland developed an early love of the genre, which was plentiful in Houston during her formative years, and played her first professional gig at age 15. “There’s a lot of freedom in it,” she said of the blues. “I’m able to jam in a way that you don’t get to in other (music) forms. Even before I was thrown out of high school, I was working my way into blues jams. When you’re a teenager, you’re much more of a sponge.”

Alvin also praised her ability as a vocalist to move from “intimate, whispery gentleness to Earth-shaking, Saturday night bar room loudness.”

Many others have compared her voice to Janis Joplin’s, but she demurs at the comparison. “It’s something I can’t live up to in any way,” she said. “She was singular.” But Wonderland’s live performances have included one of Joplin’s songs, “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do,” which the icon wrote.

Wonderland’s Abilene set will showcase cuts from Tempting Fate, including guitar-heavy original “Broken Hearted Blues” and politically charged “Fragile Peace and Certain War,” as well as a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” and Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry.”

Touring during COVID

She said she loves playing the club, which was the first here to require patrons to show proof of full COVID vaccination, a policy that remains in place.

Wonderland appreciates that as a touring artist who canceled shows because of the pandemic and has resumed them using extreme caution.

“There’s nothing scarier than being on the road during COVID,” she said. “One person gets sick, and the whole thing’s off.”

In addition, “We don’t want to be contributing to the worsening of the situation. Our motto is: Safe travels, dangerous music.”

And while some artists have spoken about the weirdness of playing to masked fans, it hasn't fazed her.

“If you see people’s eyes, you can tell when they’re smiling,” she said. “You can definitely see smiling eyes.”

The hardest part of the public health crisis for her has not being able to hug her friends, she said.

“I’m really looking forward to the day when that’s not a consideration.”

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Carolyn Wonderland returns to Abilene Bar and Lounge in Rochester NY