OUTLIERS by Martha Wainwright

In the years before my first album was released I was doing my own version of “artist development” -- playing a lot of gigs and going into the studio to make demos. There were some great people who championed me during that time.

Nicholas Hill was my first manager. He was an important part of the downtown music scene having recorded and worked with Jeff Buckley, Michael Hurley, Amy Rigby, The Dream Syndicate, Victoria Williams and many others. His weekly show “The Music Faucet” on WFMU was famous when I got to the city in 1998 and he took me under his wing booking me shows across the country and trying to get me signed. He introduced me to many great artists as well as many of the musicians who are on these recordings. That time is a magical blur of fun and discovery, meeting musicians, playing and seeing shows, and going into the studio. Hopping from bar to bar in the Lower East Side and Williamsburg, where most of us lived.

These are some of the recordings that came out of that time. Some were released on EPs that I would sell at shows but others have never been released. Going through countless hours of music stored mainly on DAT, these are the ones I feel best reflect that time, and the wild eclecticism I’ve always had, for better or worse, as an artist. Some stuff I found was a little too rough around the edges to make the cut. But I was rough around the edges too, and even though a couple of these make me cringe a little – I’m thinking “Sex Song” mainly – I still included them.

Nicholas Hill produced several of these tracks: “Can You Hear Me”, “The Sex Song”, “NY. NY. NY.”, along with Rick Chertoff for “Factory #2”. Kate and Anna – my mom and aunt – and their producer Michel Pépin produced “Our Love”, “The Car Song”, “When the Day is Short (Demo)”. Some are just me and an engineer or musicians: “Far Away” with Garth Hudson, “It’s Over”. Brad Albetta, who would later co-produce my first record (and my 2 kids!) along with other incredible musicians from this era can be heard: Tom Mennier, Lily Lanken, Joel Zifkin, Bill Dobrow, Doug Weiselman, Andrew Hall, David Mansfield, Cameron Greider, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Michel Pépin, Toni Maimone, and Jon Schuman. A big thanks to all for helping me along the way.

With an undeniable voice and an arsenal of powerful songs, Martha Wainwright is a beguiling performer and a refreshingly different force in music. Martha began building a buzz with her well-noted EPs, prior to her 2005 critically and commercially successful debut LP, ‘Martha Wainwright’.

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