Short Bio

Sloan Wainwright is a songwriter, singer, performer, teacher, mentor and collaborator. A unique hybrid of pop, folk, jazz and blues, Wainwright’s music is unified by her melodious tone and rich, powerful contralto. Over the course of a 30-year career in music, she has played the great concert halls, the most storied listening rooms and top music festivals while also teaching at the nation’s leading music retreats. She has inspired hundreds of students on their creative journeys and collaborated with dozens of musicians, writers, choreographers and performers.  

Most of all, Wainwright is an artist. As a member of an acclaimed family of artists (brother Loudon Wainwright, sister-in-law Kate McGarrigle, nephew Rufus Wainwright and nieces Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche), Wainwright has charted an artistic path all her own, one based in close observation, joy, and spiritual connection.   

Now, standing on the foundation of a rich and diverse career, Wainwright is tapping into fresh material as she continues to provide transformative, healing, and energetic experiences for her audiences. Always looking to grow as an artist, these days Wainwright is pursuing new collaborative partnerships, exploring traditional music, and developing fresh avenues for teaching and mentorship.  

“They say you stand a chance of being a good musician if you first become a good human being. Sloan is a wonderful singer and all-round musician, and as a teacher really overlaps into the role of a life coach ~ she has given skill and confidence to so many.”  

~ Richard Thompson

Long Bio

Sloan Wainwright is a songwriter, singer, performer, teacher, mentor and collaborator. A unique hybrid of pop, folk, jazz and blues, Wainwright’s music is unified by her melodious tone and rich, powerful contralto. Over the course of a 30-year career in music, she has played the great concert halls, the most storied listening rooms and top music festivals while also teaching at the nation’s leading music retreats. She has inspired hundreds of students on their creative journeys and collaborated with dozens of musicians, writers, choreographers and performers.  

Most of all, Wainwright is an artist. As a member of an acclaimed family of artists (brother Loudon Wainwright, sister-in-law Kate McGarrigle, nephew Rufus Wainwright and nieces Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche), Wainwright has charted an artistic path all her own, one based in close observation, joy, and spiritual connection.   

Growing up, Wainwright drew inspiration from the great female singers and songwriters of the 60s and 70s, including Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Laura Nyro and Linda Rondstadt. Her brother, Loudon, and sister-in-law, Kate McGarrigle, were also major influences and supporters of her early development as a songwriter. 

McGarrigle introduced traditional music to the Wainwright family, gifting Sloan a banjo for her 16th birthday. Wainwright began taking clawhammer banjo lessons with family friend, Jay Ungar, and even played piano in a string band. Ultimately, Wainwright evolved away from the banjo and developed her own hybrid musical style while raising a family and running the Baker’s Cafe in her hometown of Katonah, NY. 

In 1989, Wainwright won the Open Mic Finals at the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, which led to her first show opening for Shawn Colvin, and a whole new career as a critically acclaimed, touring singer-songwriter. For three decades, Wainwright has performed with various incarnations of the Sloan Wainwright Band at venues including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Mountain Stage, Newport Folk Festival, Clearwater Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Cayamo. Guitarist Stephen Murphy has collaborated with her on over ten albums, from her 1993 self-titled release to 2016’s Bright Side of a Rainy Day. 

Twenty-five years ago, Wainwright also began her journey as a vocal teacher and songwriting mentor to hundreds of students around the country. While coaching voice at the famed Swannanoa Gathering in 1994, the noted singing teacher and songwriter, Penny Nichols, invited Wainwright to be a staff member of the SummerSongs songwriting camps, which launched at the Ashokan Center in 1999. In 2004, WUMB’s Dick Pleasants invited Sloan to join the staff at Summer Acoustic Music Week. In the years since, she has also taught at Cosy Sheridan’s Moab Folk Camp, David Roth’s Cape Cod Songwriting Retreat, Richard Thompson’s Frets & Refrains, Dar Williams’ Write a Song that Matters and the Posi MusicFest in Florida. In 2017, Wainwright began teaching master artist courses in songwriting and composition at SUNY Purchase. 

Now, standing on the foundation of a rich and diverse career, surrounded by children, grandchildren, and an ever-deepening community of friends, colleagues, fans and students, Wainwright is embracing fresh material as she continues to provide transformative, healing, and energetic experiences for her audiences. Always looking to grow as an artist, these days Wainwright is pursuing new collaborative partnerships, revisiting traditional old-time music, and developing fresh avenues for teaching and mentorship. Recently, Wainwright has found her way back to the banjo and has been writing new songs on the instrument, which will be compiled on a new EP to be released in 2020. She is also enjoying performing/touring collaborations with a variety of talented musical colleagues and friends, including Brooks Williams and Cosy Sheridan.

"Due to the fact that our family has so many talented members, each one is often dubbed certain titles by members of the public. Sloan is most always crowned 'The Voice', and as well as owning this legacy full-throatily, her multifaceted work in song is an astonishing feat. So proud." 

~ Rufus Wainwright