Martha Wainwright (PHOTO: Dave Abel, QMI Agency)

Montreal singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright had to be talked into making her so-called Piaf Record by producer Hal Willner.

“I initially thought, ‘Piaf’s way too famous, that’s a terrible idea,” said Wainwright, 36, relaxing recently in her Toronto record label offices leading up to Friday night’s show at The Great Hall as part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

But Willner eventually convinced her by sending her over 200 songs sung by Edith Piaf, her favourite singer growing up as the child of famous folkies Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III.

“Then I realized it’s more an homage to, not only Piaf, but also the writers and composers of her catalogue,” said Wainwright. “So then my approach was just to be a singer and a musician, rather than as an actor, trying to do a pale imitation of Piaf ’cause I would not be the person for that job.”

Now is glad she recorded a collection of Piaf’s songs during two live shows in New York City last summer and just released in Canada as Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright’s Piaf Record.

Especially since her mother, who passed away from cancer in January, was such an integral part of the project, playing accordion and singing backing vocals on it, and helping to pick the songs and how they would be sung. In fact, the record is dedicated to McGarrigle.

“It was the classic thing where she, of course, has an opinion on everything and I listened to about half of it and, you know, we meet somewhere in the middle,” said Wainwright.

“And, you know, I’m just terribly grateful for all of her help that she’s given me ’cause I’ve never done anything without her opinion and without her guidance and so hopefully I’ve learned enough to know what to do next.”

Wainwright also avoided recording Piaf’s most famous song, La vie en rose, although, at her mother’s suggestion, she did perform Louis Armstrong’s English version of the tune to get the crowd warmed up.

“She said, ‘Well, you know, you should do something the audience can sing along to,’ and she plays the guitar and I sing. But it’s not recorded because she made sure we didn’t do it on microphones,” said Wainwright. “So that way it was like a cappella and it was like a moment for the audience to go, ‘We’re all here.”

Wainwright, who recently returned from performing a tribute concert to her mother in London with her family, including brother Rufus, and their musical friends, has definitely been through the ringer emotionally in the last six months.

Her first son, Arcangelo, named after bassist-producer-husband Brad Albetta’s paternal great-grandfather, was born prematurely on Nov. 16 in London, after Wainwright started to feel ill during a concert there.

But two months after Arc — as she calls him — was born, her mother passed in hospital in Montreal.

“I put the baby back in the hospital and had to put the tube back in his nose because I had to go see her before she died,” said Wainwright who ended up living in England for three months after her son’s birth. “But Rufus really had to be there for their really tough time and I think I was saved a lot of that misery. Obviously as the daughter, I always imagined that would be my role to take care of her at the end but Rufus did it. And I think it’s just interesting how life never goes the way you plan it to go, at least not for me.”

Wainwright says the recent London tribute was tough to get through as she sang the last song McGarrigle wrote.

“I broke down in tears but somebody had to do it. It was bound to happen. I’d been keeping it together for a really long time because it’s been really difficult. But I’ve had to not fall apart. I can’t afford to be crying all over the baby all of the time. It would be terrible.”

Piaf songs won't be part of tour

Martha Wainwright is touring the U.S. in August opening for her brother Rufus, who’s performing in support of his new album, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, but says the songs off her new Edith Piaf record won’t be part of her show down south.

“Rufus is going to be on the stage solo and so I’m going to do the same thing with my guitar, and so I’m going to try and remember some of my songs and also try and do some new songs that I’ve been writing for the next record and try and get my chops up,” said Wainwright.

“I’m a little bit intimidated because the Songs for Lulu is so intense and he’s been doing it for months and I’m a little out of practice so I hope I don’t get up there and go ‘pling, pling, pling,’ on the guitar and not produce something as wonderful as he.

“But I’m just looking forward to being on the bus with him because it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to spend time together.”