The Wailin’ Jennys have a great name and a great sound, as demonstrated in concert last night at the Fawcett Center. The Wailin’ Jennys have a great name and a great sound, as demonstrated in concert last night at the Fawcett Center.
The Canadian folk trio ǃ
Concert preview
The well-educated, classically trained members of the Canadian trio, The Wailin' Jennys, have meshed their diverse talents to create a sound that has found its way into the pantheon of Americana music.
"My mom would sing all kinds of folk songs when we were growing up," says band member Ruth Moody. "I think for whatever reason, it just fit me. I love acoustic instruments.
"People love roots music because it brings reason to a world spinning out of control," Moody says. "If people love three-part harmony, people are gonna like our music."
The Wailin' Jennys began as a one-time gig with founding members Nicky Mehta, Moody and Cara Luft. The chemistry between them was so pure that they began touring together. In 2004, Red House released their debut album "40 Days" in the United States to critical acclaim. The album garnered them a 2005 Juno Award (the Canadian Grammy) for Roots and Traditional Album of the year. They have packed houses in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, thanks in part to numerous appearances on the public radio show "A Prairie Home Companion."
The Wailin' Jennys ǃ
Concert preview
Winnipeg's Wailin' Jennys are still relative folk-scene newcomers, but with a critically acclaimed debut disc and a Juno already under their belts, they're more accomplished than some veterans. Winnipeg's Wailin' Jennys are still relative folk-scene newcomers, but with a critically acclaimed debut disc and a Juno already under their belts, they're more accomplished than some veterans. The Wailin' Jennys would have had a great second record if they'd just repeated themselves, but instead they've honed their skills, grown up a bit and delivered an intelligent, dynamic and occasionally dark sophomore album. Banjo-driven opener The Devil's Paintbrush Road is extremely catchy, while Things That You Know stands up to the Dixie Chicks' most popular material. Theirs are some of the best three-part harmonies in any genre, so the Wailin' Jennys aren't just guaranteed more success in Canada; they're bound to attract left-leaning, country-lovin' U.S. liberals as well.
The Wailin' Jennys play the Mod Club tonight (Thursday, September 28).
Rant 'n' Roll column
The Wailin' Jennys new album, Firecracker, was officially released on June 6 but - although the folk/pop trio played a mainstage show at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in early July the record has yet to be officially "launched" in Winnipeg. The Wailin' Jennys new album, Firecracker, was officially released on June 6 but - although the folk/pop trio played a mainstage show at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in early July the record has yet to be officially "launched" in Winnipeg.
That all changes this week, when Annabelle Chvostek, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody hit town for a round of shmoozing with local music-biz types, followed by a gig at Pantages Playhouse Theatre on Sept. 22.
In the three-and-a-half months since Firecracker
It's a slow burn to success for folk trio
With their new album Firecracker, the Wailin' Jennys' career is exploding. Four years of hard work and lengthy tours by the local folk trio are paying off. They've earned attention and acclaim in folk circles around the world. It's a slow burn to success for folk trio
Work pays off for Wailin' Jennys With their new album Firecracker, the Wailin' Jennys' career is exploding.
Four years of hard work and lengthy tours by the local folk trio are paying off. They've earned attention and acclaim in folk circles around the world. They've even made fans out of luminaries such as Garrison Keillor and Bruce Cockburn.
"We've taken a bunch of small steps that you can feel when you've gotten to another level," says Nicky Mehta, 34, who handles mezzo vocal duties alongside bandmates Ruth Moody (30, soprano) and Annabelle Chvostek (32, alto). Each member of the Jennys is a multi-instrumentalist.
Following the release of the 13-track Firecracker -- their second album -- in the spring, the group was invited on a special Independence Day edition of Keillor's nationally syndicated radio program, A Prairie Home Companion, that was also broadcast on PBS television's Great Performances series.
With a radio audience of four million and untold numbers watching the tube, the show gave the Jennys access to an audience it would have taken several trips across the U.S to reach live. And the impact was immediate.
The day after the show aired, Firecracker shot to No. 2 on the Amazon sales charts, right behind the Dixie Chicks and ahead of Johnny Cash. The band's debut album, 40 Days, came along for the ride and hit No. 4. They also made the Top 5 on the Billboard bluegrass chart (quite a feat for a non-bluegrass band).
A few weeks later at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Cockburn checked out one of their workshops and approached the group about working together.
"He said he picked up Firecracker in the States and told us it was one of his favourite albums. It was so bizarre and surreal because we're big fans.
"At the Edmonton Folk Festival he invited us on the mainstage to sing three songs with him: 'Night Train,' 'If a Tree Falls' and 'Mystery,' one of his new songs," says Mehta. "He was a sweetheart, and to get the approval from a legend is really exciting."
The excitement continues for the group tomorrow when they finally get to hold a hometown release party for Firecracker, which came out June 6. After three solid months of shows in Canada, the U.S. and Britain, the Jennys will celebrate with friends, family and fans at the Pantages Playhouse in their largest local show ever.
"I'm sure if I have nerves it will be because of that room," says Mehta. "It's really exciting. I saw one of my favourite concerts in that room, Jane Siberry in 1988 after she released one of my favourite albums, The Walking."
It's a considerably bigger venue than Sled Dog Music, where the trio got its start in 2002, when Mehta and Moody hooked up for a one-off show with Cara Luft. The three solo artists clicked instantly and became an official unit.
Their debut was released in 2004 and went on to win the 2005 Juno for best roots/traditional album. Luft accepted the award with the Jennys, but had actually left the group to focus on her solo career only months after the album's release.
With a string of touring commitments they couldn't cancel, the remaining Jennys quickly recruited Montreal's Chvostek.
"She's a very artistic person in many different mediums -- she does experimental stuff for dance groups and worked in the cabaret scene so she brings a different sensibility to the group and lots of influences we didn't have before," Mehta says.
The success of 40 Days --which has sold more than 40,000 copies -- could have pressured the group to try to duplicate its sound. But with a new member they could explore different territories, Mehta says.
"I think in this case we pushed the envelope with more of an edge, and thematically the album is darker."
The Winnipeg show is part of a cross-country jaunt, which will be followed by a two-month U.S. trek before a trip to Europe.
"For the next two years we're constantly on the road," says the singer.
WJs Turn Famous Canadian Troll Into a Fan
A few years ago, singer/songwriter Ruth Moody gathered a trio of female musicians together for a one-night gig at the back of a Winnipeg guitar shop called Sled Dog Music. A few years ago, singer/songwriter Ruth Moody gathered a trio of female musicians together for a one-night gig at the back of a Winnipeg guitar shop called Sled Dog Music. At the time, Moody was the lone woman and lead singer in Juno-nominated roots band Scruj MacDuhk.
“I just wanted to sing with women again,” she says. “We were only going to sing for one night, but we sold out and had another show.”
Audiences, it seemed, couldn’t get enough, so the women continued playing together as the Wailin’ Jennys and they haven’t stopped since. They toured, first Canada then the US, eventually making their way to the UK and Australia, and somewhere in the midst of it all, they cut 40 Days, which won a Juno for best album by a traditional/roots music group.
They’ve also been making new fans at every stop. It turns out that even music legend Bruce Cockburn has been smitten by their sound. After hearing the Jennys sing in Winnipeg, Cockburn approached them about accompanying him during his main stage performance at Edmonton’s Folk Fest, after which, he confessed to feeling “like a troll among angels.”
It was a flattering description (for the Jennys, anyway), considering Cockburn’s role as an elder statesman in Canadian folk circles.
“These are the things you don’t ever forget!” Moody exclaims. “It was an honour to sing with Bruce ... the last few years have been so exciting, and this was like the icing on the cake!”
In a day when loud music dominates the charts, the Jennys are content to stay true to their pure, melodious harmonies and traditional acoustic instruments.
“Should we be more upbeat?” Moody muses. “We don’t play party music. People come to listen to the three part harmonies. They seem to be interested in what we’re doing. We have a quiet, open connection with our audience.”
The Wick is Burning
Seems like Winnipeg’s Wailin’ Jennys are playing in town every time I look at a gig-poster plastered pole. The Wick is Burning
And The Wailin’ Jennys are And The Wailin’ Jennys are ready to explode
Seems like Winnipeg’s Wailin’ Jennys are playing in town every time I look at a gig-poster plastered pole. And they’re coming back again on Friday night, for two reasons. One is that they just love it here (but more on that later). The other is they’re cruising around promoting their latest album, Firecracker, a disc that finds them stretching out a bit but still maintaining the great vocal harmonies and musical melodies that they’ve become known for. “It’s a different album than our last, 40 Days, in many ways,” says Nicky Mehta, one third of the Jennys. “Not the least of which is that we have a new member, Annabelle Chvostek. But it’s definitely a Jennys album. The three-part harmonies are still the focus, but the tone of the material has shifted slightly and we are trying some new things. It’s all very exciting and the musical growth is very gratifying.”
When asked about the musical growth and how bringing Chvostek in has changed things, Mehta says that it made the band try new things. And no doubt people will like what they hear on the new disc, both long-time fans and most likely a legion of new followers who will be brought on board by the album.
“Because of the membership change-up, we have all been forced outside of comfort zones and that’s necessary and greatǃ
The Wailin' Jennys set off a "firecracker"
From meeting Meryl Streep while on tour with Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion to headlining the venerable Winnipeg Folk Festival, it's been quite a summer for The Wailin' Jennys From meeting Meryl Streep while on tour with Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion to headlining the venerable Winnipeg Folk Festival, it's been quite a summer for The Wailin' Jennys. Rooted firmly in the roots genre with equal sprinkles of folk, bluegrass and old time music, this trio of harmonious ladies are like three little birds singing softly and sweetly in the early morn.
The Wailin' Jennys hail from Winnipeg, Canada and feature alto Annabelle Chvostek, mezzo Nicky Mehta and soprano Ruth Moody. The band's latest record - Firecracker - showcases the breadth of these three distinct voices; it also allows each songwriter to strut their stuff, with each contributing four songs.
The eerie opener "Devil's Paintbrush Road," which echoes an old time Appalachian murder ballad, was penned by the latest Jenny - Chvostek - who replaced founding member Cara Luft in 2004. The plucking of Chvostek's melodious mandolin steers this song that originally appeared on her solo disc in a stripped down version of just voice and fiddle plucking. Here, it sounds fuller due to the added harmony of her new band mates and the added instrumentation.
"I've heard people say that it sounds like one of those old spooky traditionals," says Chvostek. "I actually wrote it on a canoe trip where I had just taken this old violin with me and nothing else in terms of music. I originally wrote it just plucking the violin. Now it is a full out bluegrass party, and it's pretty exciting to see that unfold."
Firecracker (Red House Records) features a lot of plucking, but also it is also marked by lots of pulsing of accomplished acoustic instrumentation; it explodes from the speakers like a ton of TNT. Guitar whiz Kevin Breit (Norah Jones) adds another spark to the Jennys musical journey throughout.
The group's debut disc - 40 Days - won the band a Juno (Canada's equivalent of a Grammy) for best roots/traditional album in the (group) category in 2005. Since Chvostek joined the band, she's brought some even sweeter songs to the Jennys' repertoire. Overall, Firecracker provides more than 50 minutes of pure musical bliss with nary a blemish. Inspired by a variety of styles, from the country-waltz of "Swallow" to the gospel soul of "Glory Bound" and the a cappella spiritual of "Long Time Traveller," Firecracker is a melding of these songwriting ladies various influences.
"My songwriting has taken many turns over the years and just hanging out with people playing old time country stuff has really gotten into me," Chvostek comments. "Ruth has this wild encyclopedic knowledge of all things folk and roots. At the same time, there is a real love of what is going on in contemporary song. Nicky has this whole Brit pop influence in her stuff, so it all sorts of melds together. I think it kind of echoes of this time in the past, but at the same time it speaks to a contemporary sound as well."
Producer David Travers-Smith (Jane Siberry) once again captured the sounds on Firecracker. Moody describes the intense recording sessions for the band's sophomore release.
"It was a long process," she says. "We started in June 2005 when we met with David Travers Smith out west in Victoria. We first recorded some a cappella material in this beautiful chapel in the middle of nowhere just to get the juices flowing. That was a really nice way to start. We worked with some amazing musicians on this record. We launched into the beds in October, and it was intense. It was an exciting process, but it was also hard work...you are under the microscope, and you have to be playing your best. It's a real challenge and a very intense growing experience. It was exciting to be working with Annabelle in the studio for the first time and also exciting to work with David again. He's a sonic genius. He knows us and knows where we like to go and has great ideas."
Chvostek echoes her bandmates' sentiments about their producer. "He is very intuitive and able to tune into the larger vision in an interesting and fun way," she adds.
Moody was born in Australia, but grew up on the Canadian Prairies, and this rural rearing is seen in the songs she contributes to Firecracker, especially the aptly-titled "Prairie Town." With several roots bands coming out of Winnipeg in recent years (The Duhks and Nathan to name a couple), one wonders what makes this prairie town such a vibrant and vital musical landscape?
"People ask us that all the time," Moody says. "It's really hard to put your finger on something like that. Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the Prairies and the landscape, and it just brings that out. There is that theory that such a long winter can only produce that kind of interest and love of music and sharing of music because there is only so much time you can spend outdoors in the winter, and that is how people pass the time. In a way, it seems like a bogus theory because there are a lot of cold places in the world, but there really is something to that."
"We are also lucky in Manitoba that we have a really supportive organization MARIA - Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association - they provide a lot of resources for artists. It's a non-profit funding body. They help artists tour, help artists record, help artists market their music...that's how a lot of artists can start out and spread the word of their music. It really has fostered a great rich musical community in Winnipeg, not just roots music, but also all kinds of music. There is a feeling in Winnipeg that people know each and people play on each other's stuff...there is a real sense of caring and community there."
The Wailin' Jennys home base is also home to one of the oldest and biggest summer music festivals in North America - The Winnipeg Folk Festival. To have such a festival on their doorstep, where aspiring area artists can get worldwide exposure, is surely another huge help to fostering local talent.
"A lot of people have grown up there and are still growing up there," Moody says. "It's the biggest in Canada. I remember in my early teens going for the first time and discovering this world of folk music, world music, singer-songwriters. I was brought up on classical music and to listen to four days of singing and discovering bands you have never heard of, and perhaps instruments you have never heard of, it really has the potential to blow your mind when you are a teenager."
"The first time I was there was when I was a 17-year-old hitchhiking for the first time across the country, and I stopped in Winnipeg and went to this festival," Chvostek adds. "I said, 'Wow I want to do that.' And this year I was finally here on the stage as opposed to an eager teenager just discovering things."
The Jennys music is easy on the ears, and their three-part harmony is something that has the power to lure you in with the various voices melding into one soulful sound, rather than competing against one another to be heard.
At heart, the Wailin' Jennys are an a cappella band - their voices are the main musical instrument. This lack of amps partly explains why their music is so enticing to people, or so theorizes Chvostek, when asked why she thinks people are drawn to their soothing sounds.
"Maybe it is some kind of post-apocalyptic enjoyment of things that don't require electricity," says the multi-instrumentalist who performed her first gig at the age of seven with the Canadian Opera Company. "We can have a good time and play our mandolins and banjos really loudly and sing at the top of our lungs. Who needs anything else? It is such an intimate kind of experience and it can be very enveloping and welcoming. These are crazy times in the world, and maybe it's something to do with that too - the need to have a connection to something more organic."
"I had no idea that when I was 15 years old and writing these very deep and personal songs that I would get into these really light and fun country tunes."
Moody says that the process of choosing the tunes for Firecracker was a fun and organic process. "We throw songs out there, and when they feel right, we pursue them," she says. "Some songs are 'Jenny' songs, and some are not, and we know that right away. We just picked the ones that fit the best. Some were ready to go...all Annabelle's tunes, except ǃ