LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III IS SO DAMN HAPPY TO RELEASE NEW LIVE CD, HIS SANCTUARY RECORDS DEBUT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES, California July 1, 2003 - It has long said that Loudon Wainwright III is truly in his element on stage. January 2002, during which time he recorded his upcoming live album titled So Damn Happy, was an artistically fertile time for the veteran singer / songwriter / actor. Wainwright was enjoying the acclaim of a studio album (Last Man On Earth), a Fox TV series ( "Black"), and a string of West Coast shows that he is reunited with friends in the Los Angeles music scene. So Damn Happy, scheduled for August 19 release, presents more than one hours of sublime happiness. The album, his first for Sanctuary Records, was recorded live, both at Largo in Los Angeles and the Mystic Theater in Petaluma, California with the help of musical colleague Richard Thompson (guitar), Van Dyke Parks (piano), David Mansfield (guitar / violin / mandolin) and daughter Martha Wainwright (vocals.). Stewart Lerman also reprises his role as producer on So Damn Happy after his work on 2001's Last Man on Earth happiness. Wainwright's been compounded by a return to Los Angeles, his childhood home (his father ran the LA office of Life magazine in the โ € ~ 50s), where he lives part-time again. De La base helps him maintain a close second in his career, acting. Besides starring in "Black," Wainwright appears in the upcoming Tim Burton's film "Big Fish", alongside Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Albert Finney, Danny DeVito and Steve Buscemi, scheduled for Christmas release. His resume includes roles in Ally McBeal and "Neil Simon's The Slugger's Wife, David Jones's" Jacknife ", starring Robert De Niro, Betty Thomas and the film" 28 Days "starring Sandra Bullock (who also characterized by four numbers Loudon. ) Loudon also appeared on three episodes of "M * A * S * H" 2003 is shaping a musical year for Wainwright. As he prepares for the August release of So Damn Happy, will go to Germany to participate in the Ruhr Triennale Arts Festival. Recording artist Bill Frisell (from Naked City and other musical credits to many to list) is the control "of the festival Century of Song series which will appear as a Wainwright featured performer at the festival July 11 and 13, accompanied by the legendary Van Dyke Parks (who is heard on So Damn Happy) and Frisell himself. Noted songwriters Suzanne Vega and Elvis Costello headline separate nights. The new live disc has a diameter of material from the entire post-1990 career and Wainwright's five brand new numbers (notable exceptions are "Westchester County" in 1983's Fame And Wealth album and "home stretch" of 1986's More Love Songs, which Richard Thompson played both the original and the new live version.) According to Wainwright: "I think it fun in a studio, but my songs are written to be performed, so it is very to get the right reaction - and / or an unintended reaction of a live audience. I hope that listening to this CD will to respond to the chemistry ". Loudon Wainwright III has recorded 20 albums, been nominated for two Grammy awards and ยฎ his songs covered by Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and recently by the son of Rufus Wainwright. He has also written commentaries and topical songs for NPR, The New York Times and ABC's "Nightline." Wainwright's song-story history has many good reviews over the years. Q magazine cited him as "one of the greatest lyricists of the age." The New York Times wrote of him: "Mr. Wainwright wring more human truth out of his contradiction than any other songwriter of his generation. "And the New York Observer added," Mr. Wainwright is one of the few artists who actually got better as he aged. "