Party: Loudon Wainwright III at the Dakota

Party: Loudon Wainwright III at the Dakota

Loudon Wainwright III

“…one of America’s most astute lyrical commentators…lyrically compelling and emotionally overpowering.” – Mojo Magazine

Loudon Wainwright III at the Dakota 7pm: http://sa1.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/TicketRequest?eventId=1092293&presenter=DAKOTA&venue=&event=&version=

Loudon Wainwright III is one of — if not the — first to be anointed with the title of the “new Bob Dylan” back in the late 1960s, when he began plying his trade in the folk clubs of Boston and New York. His self-effacing wit and broad humor earned a cult following — and, in 1972, a bona fide top 40 hit in the form of the rollicking “Dead Skunk.” By the middle of that decade, his reputation as one of the folk-rock scene’s true characters — in contrast to his peers, he had a fondness for Brooks Brothers’ flannels and neatly-shorn hair — had spread far enough that he was tabbed as a recurring character on the CBS series M*A*S*H, on which he portrayed “singing surgeon” Calvin Spaulding.

While Wainwright has maintained a parallel career in front of the cameras — appearing in such flicks as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Slugger’s Wife and Elizabethtown — he’s always been most at home with guitar — or, even more accurately, a pen — in hand. Always one for unsparing detail, he spent the ‘80s turning out stinging, critically-acclaimed discs like Fame and Wealth — on which he shrugged off the importance of both — and 1989’s Therapy.

His career has led to a sometimes tumultuous personal life, and the rearing of several offspring, including acclaimed singer-songwriters Rufus and Martha Wainwright, the latter of whom joined in on Loudon’s 2003 album, So Damn Happy. In recent years, Wainwright’s been reaching new sets of ears, thanks in part to a plethora of soundtrack work, like the compositions he and Joe Henry contributed to the blockbuster Knocked Up.