Carolyn Wonderland at San Jose Jazz Winter Fest at San Pedro Square Market

A musical force equipped with the soulful vocals of Janis Joplin and the guitar-slinging skills of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carolyn Wonderland reaches into the depths of the Texas blues tradition with the wit of a poet. Growing up the child of a singer, Wonderland began playing her mother's vintage Martin guitar when other girls were playing with dolls.

Along with the guitar and the multitude of other instruments she picked up – trumpet, accordion, piano, mandolin and lap steel among them –Wonderland’s vocal proficiency was well-established in the singer's mid teens, landing her gigs at the famed Fitzgerald's by age 15. She absorbed Houston influences like Little Screamin' Kenny and soaked up the “Mad Hatter” of Texas music, Doug Sahm. A move to Austin renewed Carolyn Wonderland's focus on her multiple talents, underlining luxurious vocals with fine guitar work, trumpet, and piano, as well as a remarkable ability to whistle on key....

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A musical force equipped with the soulful vocals of Janis Joplin and the guitar-slinging skills of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carolyn Wonderland reaches into the depths of the Texas blues tradition with the wit of a poet. Growing up the child of a singer, Wonderland began playing her mother's vintage Martin guitar when other girls were playing with dolls.

Along with the guitar and the multitude of other instruments she picked up – trumpet, accordion, piano, mandolin and lap steel among them –Wonderland’s vocal proficiency was well-established in the singer's mid teens, landing her gigs at the famed Fitzgerald's by age 15. She absorbed Houston influences like Little Screamin' Kenny and soaked up the “Mad Hatter” of Texas music, Doug Sahm. A move to Austin renewed Carolyn Wonderland's focus on her multiple talents, underlining luxurious vocals with fine guitar work, trumpet, and piano, as well as a remarkable ability to whistle on key.


Wonderland has sat in with Los Lobos, Robert Earl Keen and Ray Wylie Hubbard, recorded with Jerry Lightfoot, and toured with Buddy Guy and Johnny Winter. She has appeared on PBS’s Austin City Limits and her music has been featured in such television series as Time of Your Life and Homicide. She has received acclaim for her three solo releases, 2001’s Alcohol & Salvation, 2003’s Bloodless Revolution, and 2008’s Miss Understood.

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