Veteran acoustic troubadour Loudon Wainwright III is playing a series of UK shows to promote his latest album, a live double collection recorded at his short residency at Nell’s Jazz And Blues in London. The double album includes a couple of new songs from Loudon, and some of his own unique interpretations of songs by artists he enjoys and admires. Loudon guests on the nine-date 2025 Transatlantic Sessions Tour, starting at the end of January. AR’s Andy Hughes enjoyed a chat with Loudon as he queued for a ferry ride near his home.
Your fourth live album, Loudon Live In London is out now, do you adjust your playing and song delivery for working on stage, or do you stick to the original album settings?
I have never really felt that I needed to stick with the way any songs were recorded, when I play them on stage. This album is largely just me and a guitar, so they will obviously sound very different from the original album versions when I played them with a band, or with other musicians. I never intend to do anything radically different with them on any one night, or with any one song. I don’t actually think about it to be honest; I just go out there and sing the songs, that’s really just about it. It’s basically what I’ve been doing for fifty-five years. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Your son Rufus performed on Out Of This World on the album. What’s it like working with members of your family, or do you simply become two musicians working together?
Well, Rufus is a great singer. We have worked together and sun on each other’s records over the years, so there is something kinda familiar about doing it, but at the same time, it’s always something special. I think the audience likes it when I get up on stage with a family member. I have four kids, and three of them are musicians. It’s a treat for me, and I think they like it too.
Have you got a particular favourite from the new album, one that you especially enjoyed recording, or any song from your live set that you are looking forward to performing on the tour?
I don’t think I have any special favourites to be honest. If I was pushed, I would have to say that I do like the song I Remember Sex. It’s a little bit provocative, and I like that. This album has a number of cover versions on it, there is a Bob Dylan Song, a Burt Bacharach song, a Tom Lehrer song, and I am known primarily as a singer of my own songs, so it’s really cool to perform songs by composers that I like and admire. That’s going to add a different dimension to the shows this time. Obviously, anyone else except me writes and sings differently to the way I write and sing, their approach is different, their writing and playing styles are different from mine, and from each other’s. I don’t really try to interpret the songs as they do, I just learn to play them the way I play, and sing them the way I sing, and that’s what works I find. Ideally, it’s not going to come out as a carbon copy, there would be no point in that. I want the song to be the composer’s work but still have aspects of me about it, that’s what I aim for when I cover other artists’ work.
After your long career, and the many songs you have written, over the years, so do find writing easier or more difficult as you’ve gone through your life?
Well, it varies to be honest with you. I think of writing songs as being like sex, if I can bring sex back into the conversation again. Songwriting is still a lot of fun. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, but when it does happen, it’s still magic! It’s not as spontaneous as it was back in the day, but it’s still really exciting. There are a couple of new songs on this live album, one called Tar Heel, and one called Posthumously Yours, and I still get the same kick as I ever did introducing new songs to audiences.
What is your inspiration for songwriting? Is it maybe reading a line in a book or newspaper, overhearing something in a conversation, or anything else that is special to you?
It’s those, and more. Sometimes I have a dream that results in the idea for a song. Quite often something sparks an idea, and then it can get developed into a full song. It doesn’t always work but that’s how I have always done it. It’s a lot like fishing, you keep your lines in the water and sometimes you get a bite, and sometimes you don’t. You have no control over it, the trick is making sure that if something does bite, you don’t let it go, you capture it and take it home where you can do some work on it, and see where it goes.
Have you ever considered the craft of songwriting, the development if an idea into a fully fledged piece of music you can record, and then take out and play for people?
I do think about it, and I confess I don’t really understand it, even though it is something I have been doing for more than sixty years. I see it as a gift, and I do think a kind of magic is involved. I think I’m like a lot of writers, I don’t want to delve too deeply into it, in case I find things out that I don’t actually need to know, and then damage the process so it doesn’t work properly any more. I think sometimes you are best just letting these things happen, and try not to think about it too much at all.
Do you have set times when you decide to have a writing session, or do things just occur to you at odd times and you work on them when the opportunity arises?
I don’t consciously write at any one time. What I aim for is to play the guitar every day, even if it’s only for maybe twenty minutes, it does depend on what else is going on. To refer to the ‘fishing’ analogy again, I think of just playing, and noodling around with no especial aim in mind, is like putting some bait on the hook and casting it out to see if anything is interested. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but you have to be patient and stick at it, and eventually something may come. If not, no problem come back tomorrow and try it again.
Are you a fan of any unusual tunings, or any techniques to aid your acoustic playing?
Well, I think technically, I got to be about as good as I was going to get when I was in my early teens. I usually use standard tunings, I’m not a big believer in being really technical about it, just get some music to put over the song. Occasionally, there are a couple of songs where I put my guitar in an Open E tuning, or I drop the low E string to a D. I use a capo a lot, which some people think it’s cheating, but hey, I’m a cheater! There are always a couple of guitar geeks or purist in the audience who notice things like that, and maybe frown to themselves, and have a discussion about it afterwards. But they are one or two in an audience of hundreds, and it’s the rest of the people that I am looking to entertain. My performances are not guitar master classes, they are about me playing some songs, and enjoying them, and them listening, and enjoying them, so I don’t care at all about the purists!
Have you got a particular favourite among your acoustic guitars?
Well, when I started, I had a couple of old Gibsons I used to use. I had a Gibson Hummingbird, which I wrote about in a song of mine called Red Guitar. And for a long time, I played Martin Dreadnoughts, and I have always really liked those. But this Christmas just gone, I was in Nashville visiting with family, and I walked into a guitar store, not especially looking to buy anything, and I walked out with a Collings acoustic. It’s a great instrument, and I play my Martin, and I also play the Collings, that has been a really good purchase. I think I will be bringing it with me when I come over for my UK dates.
Are you big on practising?
To be honest, I’m not really. I have never thought of myself as a master technician as a guitar player. As I mentioned earlier, I learned pretty early on all the things I needed to be able to do what I do, and I haven’t really felt the need to learn anything else to go with those skills. But I never say never, there may come a time when I conjure up something a little trickier than my usual style, that requires some effort to get right, so I can perform it comfortably, without having to think about it, and risk fluffing it up. If that happens, I’ll be happy to put the work in.
Are you working on your next project yet?
Not yet. What usually happens is, I record an album and put it out, then I play some shows around it, and then I go home and have a rest and try and write some more songs, and when I eventually have enough, there may be another record to come out of that. We’ll see how it all goes.
Loudon Wainwright III plays the following UK shows
Friday, 31 January ~ Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, UK
Sunday, 2 February ~ Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, UK
Monday, 3 February ~ Concert Hall, Perth, UK
Tuesday, 4 February ~ The Glasshouse, Gateshead, UK
Wednesday, 5 February ~ Barbican, York, UK
Thursday, 6 February ~ Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK
Friday, 7 February ~ Aviva Studios, Manchester, UK
Saturday, 8 February ~ New Theatre, Oxford, UK
Sunday, 9 February ~ Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
Tickets and information here – https://www.lw3.com/tour
ANDY HUGHES