With a folk covers album and upcoming 50th birthday, Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright is drawing influence from the past
By Simon Button
Rufus Wainwright
AS HE MARKS 25 years since the release of his debut album, Rufus Wainwright muses: “I’ve learned to take advantage of my failings. I tend to be pretty, well, not lackadaisical but I’m very instinctual. I don’t spend all my time studying and practising. I let my heart take me where it wants to go and I always like to maintain a certain level of ignorance.”
He used to think that approach might be a negative character trait. “But over the years I’ve realised it’s kind of an asset. I’ve maintained a sense of discovery whenever I’m doing anything new or interesting. It’s always very dangerous and exciting for me, as opposed to something I’ve fully mastered.”
The man whose albums include 2020’s Unfollow the Rules has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Whether it’s mining diverse musical styles, composing operas or recreating Judy Garland’s Carnegie Hall concert album live on stage, he’s an iconoclast who defies categorisation.
When we speak he’s at home in Laurel Canyon, casual in a loose-fitting shirt, sporting a grey beard and a full head of dark hair. He’s looking forward to performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival in what he promises will be “a fun show” with his new folk band, which includes his half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche and his musician friend Petra Haden.
Is there anything he especially enjoys about performing outdoors? “I was going to say that it depends on the weather,” Rufus grins, “but I have quite a few fantastic memories of performing in England for outdoor crowds when the weather has been pretty crap and people get into it anyway.
“Especially in the northern hemisphere of Europe, there’s a kind of acceptance that you’re just going to have to contend with the elements. If it’s a beautiful evening then you’re in luck, but if not you’re going to have a great time anyway.”
The son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle partly grew up on the festival circuit. “Oh God, I’ve been to so many festivals,” he says in that unmistakable laidback drawl of his. “I came to the Cambridge Festival as a kid with my parents and I thought the world was one big festival for a while. If only.”
Rufus will have celebrated his milestone birthday by the time he takes to the stage in Cambridge. “It’s a big one for sure and funnily enough I’ll be turning 50 in Dublin when I play the National Concert Hall there [
