If you like John Prine or Loretta Lynn, check out Winona Wilde

Hometown: Peterborough, Ont.

The best introduction to troubadour songwriter Winona Wilde’s wry sensibilities is through her delivered-with-a-wink song, “Chick Singer”: “If racism was alcohol and patriarchy LSD/This whole world would be trippin’ balls/Stumbling home and puking in its sheets.” She sings with both exasperation and good humour, because, as we all know, sometimes the truth is so bleak, it’s hilarious. The same autobiographical song also references the blank stares she gets from people surprised to see an Iraqi-Canadian woman singing country songs. Wilde, whose real name is Noosa Al-Sarraj, fell in love with country music thanks to a nanny she had as a kid. Her kickass songwriting abilities led to win an award at the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival’s New Folk competition this year—one of few Canadians to do so, and certainly the first of Iraqi descent. She’s only just stopped living out of her car, she says, at the recommendation of her doctor.

Photo: Brandon Albert

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