Women the toast of festival circuit Wailin' Jennys a new sensation
Women the toast of festival circuit
The first time it dawned on Nicky Mehta that she and her companions in the Winnipeg-based folk trio the Wailin' Jennys had bitten off more than they'd been expecting to chew was when she, Cara Luft and Ruth Moody won a showcase spot at the prestigious North American Folk Alliance conference in Jacksonville, Fla., two years ago.
Until then, the three young women had been steadily building careers as solo artists. Mehta, who had studied dance and drama before being bitten by the music bug, had just released a critically applauded album of original music. Moody, formerly with Celtic roots rockers Scruj MacDuhk, was establishing herself as a singer/songwriter of merit. Luft's first solo release had earned a Prairie Music Awards nomination the previous year. Performing together for the first time in a Winnipeg music store in January 2002 had been a bit of a lark, and even when the first show sold out and a second was booked, the singers had no idea they'd wind up becoming folk festival favourites - fast.
In February they were invited to play at the Folk Alliance, North America's largest annual live folk music market. "Our showcases were jammed, and the audiences were really enthusiastic," says Mehta on the eve of the trio's performance Saturday at the Rivoli to promote the release of their first solo CD, 40 Days.
"It had been a little over a month since we first sang together, and we were suddenly being offered festival spots across Canada and the U.S. It was bizarre. It was another couple of months before we understood just how full time the Wailin' Jennys would be."
In fact, the trio has been on the road so much the three artists have had little time to reord the transcendent harmony arrangements of their own tunes and favoured covers by other artists that constitute their ever-expanding concert set.
A six-track EP was quickly recorded last summer to meet the demands of festival audiences, but studio time over the past two years took second place to live performances.
"Besides, we needed the time to solidify our sound," Mehta continues. "It all happened so quickly, we didn't really understand what we were doing for a while."
Buoyed by the strong reaction to 40 Days, the Wailin' Jennys - the name was a humorous throwaway that stuck after their second performance - have hit the road again, and will be featured in just about every major folk festival across Canada this summer.
"Being in a group requires constant negotiation, an awareness of others' needs for self-expression," continues Mehta, who's planning to record another solo album - this time as a sid project - in her basement over the next months.
"I'm the least folky of the three of us. I'd like to explore other, totally different areas of music on my own."