Hey everyone! Be sure to check out our wonderful Heather Masse's collaboration with Dick Hyman on "Lock My Heart". Available on Amazon, iTunes, and via the fabulous Red House Records. 
And stay tuned for some exciting Jennys news and tour date announcements coming soon! Thanks, as always, for your continued support. We'll see you soon!Much love,The Jennys
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!Wishing everyone a peaceful and safe holiday season, and a happy New Year! We so look forward to getting back out on the road next year and reconnecting with you all. Thank you so much for your support and for being the best fans we could ever ask for!Love,The Jennys
Winnipeg Harvest - Helping Out
Here's a shot of Winnipeg Harvest's executive director David Northcott with Nicky at the "Souper Lunch" fundraiser. The Jennys painted a bowl for the event and it was auctioned in a raffle alongside bowls painted by such personalities as artists Loreena Mckennitt, Great Big Sea and Maroon 5, author Miriam Toews, and curler Jeff Stoughton. All proceeds went to Winnipeg Harvest, Winnipeg's non-profit food bank and training centre. For more information about this much-needed organization, please visit www.winnipegharvest.org.
The Decade of The Wailin' Jennys
Written by Nicky Mehta for the Red House Records Blog
It’s hard to believe we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary as a band, and yet, there’s so much to look back on, so much of which to be proud. I’m proud that we’ve thrived as an independent band for this long, working at a grassroots level with other smaller organizations (our agents and labels – yay, Red House!) and proud that we’ve worked hard to produce music that is true to our hearts. That our music has been embraced so lovingly by our fans all these years is such a thrill.
During the last decade, we’ve seen much of the world, had the great fortune of playing alongside musical heroes (Roseanne Cash, Bruce Cockburn, Bruce Hornsby, Jerry Douglas, to name a few exciting examples) and become better writers and musicians along the way. We’ve learned from each other all the way along and learned how to weave our different styles together to bring out all of their individual strengths – it’s an ongoing process as we all mature as singers, writers and players. I think we could all say that we’ve made each other grow and challenged each other to move outside our comfort zones. Being in this group has brought a wealth of experience and learning opportunities that I might have missed as a solo artist and it’s been a significant journey for me.I think what has also been profoundly significant for all of us are the stories our audiences tell us. People thank us for staying after shows to sign CDs but we hardly think of it as a sacrifice. It’s there that we hear about the various ways our music impacts our fans, helps them deal with loss, gives them joy and inspires them to create in their own lives. Considering that we all do this for a living in part to help and connect with others, this feedback means so much to us, it inspires and energizes us. Writing and performing is important to us all, but I think that our fans’ stories are part of the creative equation. Ten years later, time spent communicating with our fans is every bit as important as it was in the beginning.So what’s next? Well, stay tuned! Part of what makes a band successful and ensures longevity is allowing for all members to be creative and fulfilled outside of the band’s parameters. That means solo albums and tours, family life and rest. So that’s what we’re doing and soon we’ll come together and map out the future as best we can. We thank everyone for being here with us these last ten years and we invite you all to keep an eye on our website for news of the next chapter!
~Nicky Mehta of The Wailin’ Jennys
Happy Holidays 2011!
To all of our amazing fans, we send you warmest wishes for a peaceful and happy holiday season. Thank you for another year filled with your enthusiastic encouragement and support. It means the world to us and we couldn't do what we do without you.
Midway Through the Rockies
We are hanging out in Denver right now after a sold-out show last night to a truly amazing crowd. What took us so long???
It's been a great first visit to Colorado so far, complete with amazing food, stunning scenery, and two very restorative days off in the picturesque ski-town of Crested Butte. After lots of big talk about skiing and snowboarding, most of us just rested up and caught up on work while we were there. But we did all get to check out the town and some of us (whose stomachs could handle it) ate fish tacos and drank margaritas at a sweet little Mexican restaurant called Teocalli Tamale. During the day, no less. Not something you'll see us do every day, but hey, sometimes it feels right.
We also made dinner and had a belated celebration for our new record release. It's so rare that we have access to a kitchen so we went nuts and made bacon wrapped dates, a big hearty salad, and scallion potato pancakes (which were lovingly prepared by Heather, who also made apple cinnamon pancakes for desert, because one kind of pancake per meal is just not enough). We would have celebrated on the big release day but we were in the middle of a 17 hour drive from Billings to Crested Butte and still recovering from a nasty and debilitating stomach virus that swept through our travelling party and put several of us in the hospital. Our bus-driver Gene is a hero. So are Nicky and Grant for getting themselves and their boys through this illness (with the help of our amazing road-angel, Tracy).
Thanks to the illness it's been a somewhat challenging tour so far, but we are kept going by your encouraging words and loving messages and we are continually amazed and grateful to see so many of you at the shows. Special thanks to all of you in Billings who were able to come out to the rescheduled show last Monday, and apologies once again to those who couldn't. We have not had to cancel a show in the nine years we've been together and we hated to have to do it last weekend. Thank you all for being so understanding, and then some.
We have three more shows here in this uncharted territory for us that is Colorado: Loveland, Aspen and Durango. Then we finish off this leg of the tour with a return to Albuquerque, where we haven't been for four years. New Mexico in February is just fine by us.
It's wonderful to finally have Bright Morning Stars out in the world.~ ruth
Touring with Tots, Cockburn, and A Prairie Home Companion
Holy moly, it's been a long time since we last checked in and a lot has happened in those months. As you can well imagine life on the road (life in general!) has changed dramatically since we've started touring with the boys and the last few months have been exhausting, exhilarating, challenging, inspiring, you name it. For Grant and me, it's been a lot of trial and error to figure out how to travel with babies and still remain standing! Fortunately, this band is chock-full of supportive folk; devoted, patient nanny/road manager types (Tracy), fellow goofball parents (Jeremy), willing, singing experts of unforgettable childrens' songs and baby-crazy hams (Ruth and Heather). We have a good village!
And on the practical side of things, of course, travelling with infants does not come without an immense amount of stuff and an even more detailed commitment to making sure said stuff is the most efficient and safest gear around. I've invested what seems like thousands of hours researching baby travel gear and food, so if anyone out there needs tips on how to travel with kids, just ask me!
While getting the chance to tour with my family ranks at the top of the list of great life opportunities, the Jennys have also been fortunate in the realm of pinnacle career moments. Singing with Bruce Cockburn again was an honour and a thrill - it was nothing short of magical to be part of the tribute concert to him at the venerable Massey Hall in Toronto in June. Also, as a former film studies major, getting the chance to sing "Goin' Down the Road", a song from one of the first Canadian films I ever studied at a time when Bruce was simply one of my musical influences, was one of most surreal moments in my life. A good reminder that strange and great things can happen in life that you can never predict or imagine.
We were also lucky enough to perform once again on the Winnipeg Folk Festival's main stage but this time, we played before Emmylou Harris and were stunned to see her sitting in the wings listening. The idea that a musical hero can be even remotely interested in hearing your music is pretty exciting to say the least. She was lovely to talk to and we all walked away a little lighter from that experience.
We also visited our Prairie Home Companion family once again and had the pleasure of hearing the likes of Brandi Carlile and Hilary Thavis. As usual, we were learning several songs last minute and so for me, whose brain is somewhat compromised from chronic lack of sleep, a lot of those shows were spent with fingers crossed! They went well, though, and I enjoyed the rare chance to get more than four consecutive hours of sleep before returning home to my boys!
As always, we've been treated to beautiful scenery across the continent and have had the chance to talk to so many of our fans across North America. We really couldn't be luckier. You all show so much enthusiasm and share so much with us, we can't help but feel all of that when we get up on stage. And I have to say that as a mother of crazy little toddlers who sometimes shows up to venues a little bleary-eyed and spent, I couldn't keep doing this if our shows did not leave me feeling energized and inspired. So thank you to all of you. You keep us going!
~ Nicky
We have the best fans on the planet
Okay...I have to say it even if it sounds cliché - we have the best fans on the planet! The shows were so much fun and it was so great to be out on the road again playing for you all. This was a whole new experience for us, as many of you know. Nicky brought her beautiful twin boys out on the road for the first time and somehow managed to be a mother to two and a Jenny all at the same time - she can tell you more about her experience herself (in all her spare time) but suffice it to say she is a force of nature. Papa-Grant and Auntie-Tracy were also amazing, and although it was hard work for them everyone survived and it was wonderful to have this new energy on the road with us.
Some highlights: Napa wine, the bats and sirens of the Stoughton Opera House, the beautiful folks and abalone shells of Ft. Bragg, sweet people and the best co-op ever in Decorah Iowa, The O'Shaugnessy in St. Paul (felt like Hometown!), Heather Stewart (helper extraordinaire), playing our new songs for you, two amazing sold-out audiences at the gorgeous new Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, pedicures in Pasadena (with participation by Jeremy), Weezie massages in Chico, Heather's birthday cake on stage in Chico, Nicky singing the Mr. Doodle song in Chico, Pismo beach strolling, and California in general.
We just got back from playing A Prairie Home Companion at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle - it was so much fun to be back on the show and to see everyone again! And what a treat to meet and hear Brandi Carlisle! Good times all around - thanks for listening and thanks for all your sweet comments and messages. (And thanks to Jamie for the ice-cream!)
We have a week or so off the road and then we are back out there. It's a big one - Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Georgia, DC, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Phew!
See you at the shows, and thanks, as always, for all your support.