In the middle of January 2002, a trio of Winnipeg singer/songwriters got together for a one-time show at Sled Dog Music in Wolseley. The immediate interest in that show spawned a second night, and the interest in both nights would go on to spawn a very promising career that’s taken off over the past 22 months In the middle of January 2002, a trio of Winnipeg singer/songwriters got together for a one-time show at Sled Dog Music in Wolseley. The immediate interest in that show spawned a second night, and the interest in both nights would go on to spawn a very promising career that’s taken off over the past 22 months.
The three musicians who make up The Wailin’ Jennys had each previously worked hard to carve out their individual careers, each with different focuses, but all with promising success.
Nicky Mehta has been singing and playing around Winnipeg since 1995. In 2001, she released a critically acclaimed solo CD called Weather Vane. It’s a collection of serious and thought provoking songs that are introspective and poetic and beautiful. Cara “Lovely” Luft was raised by professional folk singing parents, and has a great love and appreciation for traditional folk. She also harbours, what she calls “her inner rock child” which has helped make her a well-respected guitarist who once played England’s prestigious International Guitar Festival. And Ruth Moody spent four years touring the world as the lead singer for internationally renowned celtic band, Scruj MacDuhk. When that band broke up, she went on to release a solo CD called Blue Muse.
With such promising individual careers, there was no plan to form a band and start something else, the pieces just sort of fell into place, says Nicky Mehta, “I remember at the time, the person who helped us put our first show together, the owner of Sled Dog Music, John Sharples, I remember him saying, ǃ