For an artist who has always laid his soul into his music, Rufus Wainwright’s latest album All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu may be his most personal. It was written and recorded while his mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle, was battling sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. McGarrigle passed away in January at the age of 63, after her son had completed the album.

"It was probably completed at the darkest moment of my life. It was just before mother died. I had mastered and mixed the album. Because it was a piano voice record I was able to shoot into the studio a week here and a week there to finish it off and then, rushed back to her side. It’s a... I wouldn’t say reactionary... somewhat affected work by the shadow of death. It’s interesting I did finish it before her passing and it’s not about her going away necessarily, it’s her pending death. It is not so obvious."

The complex album is performed with just Rufus and piano, which he recreated on his tour in support of the album. The tour recently made stops in Edmonton and Calgary (see our review online at www.gaycalgary.com). The songs are dark, even for Rufus, and very personal. The song Martha, for example, is a phone message to his sister.

"I’ve always borrowed heavily on my life experiences and friends and family. There’s not much of a border between the person you see on stage and back stage.... It seems to continue on this way, record after record. I think it’s a positive experience, a positive prospect. I haven’t run out of inspiration... life keeps throwing strange situations my way."

My first exposure to Wainwright was his cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on the Shrek motion picture soundtrack. While this song has been covered by everyone from Bon Jovi to Susan Boyle now, Wainwright’s remains one of the best, in my opinion. From his film debut in Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller to his recent opera Prima Donna, he has kept busy to say the least.

"My career blossomed in a very, very interesting period of pop music. I had an amazing amount of support with my record company. I was all chummy with the big wigs and all of that, the big studios. Right as that was happening, the fortress was collapsing around me, you know? All the labels were folding, radio wasn’t playing us anymore, people weren’t watching music videos. I kind of stepped out of that palace into the rubble. So I was luckier than most, nonetheless I was a bit... It was a shock, that dark avenue. I immediately had to diversify my portfolio and use any kind of ability available to make money. Luckily for me, before I was signed, I’d had so many other experiences with my parents or other things. I’ve had the sort of education to fall back on and finish and learn my way around - if anything it is a testament to staying in it and being determined."

"It’s my first opera, and to be completely honest it’s been a pretty amazing first step. That doesn’t mean I’m a great composer or anything, and I think the goal now is to make the second one better than the first, which will really determine how things go. But it looks like, compared to a Verdi or a Puccini or a Wagner I mean, my first one was right up there as a first piece. So it’s very exciting, but you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to keep progressing. It by no means gives me the great composer award. Definitely the gauntlet has been laid down."

Wainwright is unique in so many ways, including having been openly gay since the start of his career. Most artists don’t come out until they are well established, if at all.

"It’s very uncommon. It’s amazing how uncommon it is. The music world is somewhat accessible but only after being established, there are very few people starting out that way - there are some. The acting world it hasn’t changed one single bit. I think we’re a long way off at the moment. I actually think it has gotten worse since Obama was elected, not because of Obama but because of the real right wing backlash that we’re battling right now."

Being out has been both a positive and a negative. Over time, when described in the media, Wainwright has gone from having the gay label applied - "gay singer-songwriter," "gay Canadian" - yet his art has spoken for itself. Certainly his sexuality plays into his live show and his music, but is no longer the focus of others.

"I definitely went out there [being] out, and I felt the need to do that mainly because I’m a terrible liar. I knew that if I pretended to be... asexual or something, I wouldn’t be able to pull it off... or I would have pulled off all my clothes... and I also knew that the more it was out there, I knew that people can’t talk about the same thing all the time which has proven to be true. So I think it was a good idea. I do think that I took a hit, there were a lot of opportunities that were not available to me because of my honesty. I could feel the difference between someone who decided to hide their sexuality and someone who was very honest about it. But on the other hand I do think that my fans followed me through the years... have really stuck with me. The base I have is so solid because of my honesty. It’s not going to evaporate any time soon."