Release: Carolyn Wonderland: Thruth Is on 16 May.

Artiest/Band: Carolyn Wonderland Album: Truth Is Release: 06 may 2025 Label: Alligator Records Produced By Dave Alvin New Song Sooner Or Later  PRE-ORDER YOUR CD BEFORE MAY 16, 2025 AND THE FIRST 300 WILL RECEIVE AN  AUTOGRAPHED COPY ALSO AVAILABLE ON RED VINYL LP Alligator Records will release Truth Is, the ear-opening new album from Texas' award-winning, guitar-slinging, straight-from-the-soul singing Carolyn Wonderland. She's known for her formidable songwriting as much as for her singing and playing, and with Truth Is, she delivers a timeless album for these times. Truth Is will be available on CD, maroon vinyl LP and at all major streaming services..........

Alligator Records will release Truth Is, the ear-opening new album from Texas' award-winning, guitar-slinging, straight-from-the-soul singing Carolyn Wonderland. She's known for her formidable songwriting as much as for her singing and playing, and with Truth Is, she delivers a timeless album for these times. Truth Is will be available on CD, maroon vinyl LP and at all major streaming services.

Truth Is was produced by legendary guitarist and songwriter Dave Alvin (producer of Wonderland’s Alligator debut, Tempting Fate), who also co-wrote four songs, three of which he plays on. Wonderland says of Alvin, “I’ve never had my ass handed to me so thoughtfully in the studio. I came in with songs and Dave took the arrangements I wasn’t married to and put on his “Mad Rearranger” hat to get to the heart of the songs, always looking for and finding something that tells the story better. Dave is amazing. He has an incredible literary mind and is one of the best guitar bashers I’ve ever met.”

The roof-raising first song from the album, Sooner Or Later, premieres today on all digital service providers. “Sometimes a melody just comes creeping out of the instrument," Wonderland says of the song's inception. "Maybe that’s why you gotta spend time listening to what your instrument wants to say instead of shoehorning your will on it, I suppose. The slight melancholy of the lonesome lap steel led me to the lyrics. Hard to say who’s the protagonist when you’re trying to walk in everyone’s shoes, but I felt a longing for connection with these neighbors and adversaries. Can we change when we find we are wrong? Can we make peace with the ghosts of our pasts? I guess we’ll find out sooner or later."

Carolyn Wonderland Electric Guitar, Lap Steel, Vocals, Whistling Naj Conklin Electric and Upright Bass Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio Drums, Percussion (2,3,6,7) with Shelley King Harmony Vocals (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11), Acoustic Guitar (4,5,7,8,9,11), ”Pop” (10) Dave Alvin Electric Guitar (1,8,9,12) Red Young B3 Organ (1,2,3,4,8,10,11), Piano (5,10,11) Bukka Allen Piano (1,7), B3 Organ (7,9) Kevin Lance Percussion (1,11) Ruthie Foster Vocals (2,3) Marcia Ball Vocals (2,3,8), Piano (8) Cindy Cashdollar Lap Steel Guitar (5,8) Henri Herbert Piano (6,12) Stuart Sullivan Percussion (7)

1. Sooner Or Later 4:13 1. Sooner Or Later 4:13 2. I Ain’t Going Back 2:54 3. Truth Is 3:39 4. Let's Play A Game 4:00 5. Whistlin’ Past The Graveyard Again 4:00 6. It Should Take 2:25 7. Wishful Thinking 4:16 8. Orange Juice Blues 3:37 9. Tattoos As His Talisman 3:29 10. Flowers In Bloom 4:26 11. Deepest Ocean Blue 3:52 12. Blues For Gene 6:4 This album is dedicated to the memories of two musicians who changed me for the better, and whom I miss dearly, John Mayall and Gene Taylor. May you find yourself in their music.

On Truth Is, Wonderland, with her vividly detailed, instantly memorable songs, reflects on the world with honesty and righteous conviction. Wonderland’s bold and insightful songs tell common-sense truths that, in her words, “need to be told.” They are driven by her sometimes savage and other times gently melodic guitar fingerpicking, along with her full-throated yet still vulnerable vocals. As for the album’s brutally honest subject matter, Wonderland says, “There’s always hope and we’re still here for each other, but at some point, you have to sing about the elephant in the room.”

Along with bassist Naj Conklin and drummer Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio, Wonderland is joined on Truth Is by guests including Alligator labelmate Marcia Ball and friends Shelley King, Ruthie Foster, Cindy Cashdollar (“the Girl Gang,” says Wonderland), Red Young, Bukka Allen, Kevin Lance, Henri Herbert and Stuart Sullivan. The album was recorded and mixed by Sullivan at Wire Recording in Austin, Texas.

With her dynamic guitar playing, sublime songwriting, and pure Texas vocals, Wonderland has more than earned her reputation as a fiercely independent artist. She has been performing professionally since the age of 15 and has been on the road her entire career. She’s played with icons from Townes Van Zandt to Levon Helm, from Buddy Guy to Hubert Sumlin, from Bob Dylan to John Mayall (as the first female guitar in the iconic Blues Breakers), all while writing her own story.

In 2008 Wonderland recorded the first of four albums produced by her friend, famed musician Ray Benson, founder of the multiple Grammy-winning band Asleep At The Wheel. According to Benson, “Carolyn’s got that unbelievable, incredible voice, one of the great voices of our times.” 

Wonderland’s 2021 Alligator Records debut, Tempting Fate, brought her to her largest audience yet. The response was immediate and glowing. Premier Guitar proclaimed, “Wonderland is a Texas legend…a rising global star. She has a ferocious fingerpicking style and a passion for bringing fire to the blues.” Living Blues said, “Every song showcases Wonderland’s never-waste-a-note guitar work and warm, soaring vocals. There may not be a better album this year.” For her efforts, she won the Austin Music Award for both Best Blues Artist and Best Guitarist and was inducted into the Austin Music Hall Of Fame. She’s been nominated for three Blues Music Awards.

With Truth Is, Carolyn Wonderland stakes her claim among the most influential roots music voices today, delivering the blues’ honest truth to all who will listen. Her courageously empowering music packs an emotional wallop, with every track on the album performed with a rare intensity that is welcoming and ultimately uplifting. “She’s something else,” Bob Dylan once said to Ray Benson. “She should be nationwide.” 

One of Texas’ finest guitar-slingers…from blues to country to rock ‘n’ roll and beyond, she is fiery and deeply soulful. --Austin American Statesman

Pure electricity…astonishing playing and soulful, sophisticated singing…Wonderland delivers her cleverly penned lyrics with sly joy as her guitar bites. Her passionate singing is expressive, romantic and sensual. Her solos burn and elevate the groove. --AllMusic

Carolyn Wonderland is the sound of Texas. She’s a feisty free-ranger, lassoing a variety of roof-rattling styles into her own inimitable take on twangy blues dripping with honky-tonk grease. Her vocals are a bluesy cowgirl’s dream come true. --No Depression