River Forest, IL — Dominican University will host Grammy-winning folk singer and humorist Loudon Wainwright III and singer-songwriter Dar Williams to kick off its 2012-2013 performing arts season on Saturday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lund Auditorium on Dominican’s Main Campus, 7900 W. Division Street, River Forest, IL.
A 45-year veteran of the folk scene, Wainwright’s music is well known for both its humor and for its deeply personal reflections on his life and family. He is the patriarch of one of America’s foremost musical families. With his first wife, the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle, he fathered popular artists Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright. His daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche, from his second marriage toSuzzy Roche of the venerated Roche sisters, is also a popular musician.
His latest album Older Than My Old Man Now takes a retrospective look at his life, colored by his turning 64 years old and thus outliving his father, the famed LIFE Magazine writer Loudon Wainwright Jr., who passed away at age 63. The title track focuses on this subject, and a number of songs from the album deal with similar themes of aging and death, albeit often with a healthy dose ofWainwright’s familiar sardonic wit.
Younger audiences may recognize him for his more recent roles in TV’s Parks and Recreation and movies The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, for which he also composed music. His acting stretches back decades, including a prominent guest role as the memorable “singing surgeon” Capt. Calvin Spaulding for a multi-episode stint on M.A.S.H.
At Dominican, he’ll pair up with folk favorite Dar Williams for a double set. Wainwright will play solo, followed by a solo set by Williams before the two team up for several duets to close the show. Williams is one of popular folk music’s most beloved artists, having released nine successful albums since breaking onto the scene in the early 1990s, including her latest, 2012’s In the Time of Gods.
Tickets start at $25. Dominican student tickets are $10. Ample free parking is available on campus. For tickets, contact the DUPAC box office at (708) 488-5000 or visit dom.edu/pac.