The Wailin' Jennys - Firecracker

Like three little birds singing softly and sweetly in the early morn, the harmony of the Wailin’ Jennys pleasantly rises from the speakers and greets the listener with a refreshing start to the day Like three little birds singing softly and sweetly in the early morn, the harmony of the Wailin’ Jennys pleasantly rises from the speakers and greets the listener with a refreshing start to the day. Produced by David Travers-Smith, this is the first disc to feature the alto stylings of Annabelle Chvostek, who replaced founding member Cara Luft in 2004. She contributes four songs, including the eerie disc opener “Devil’s Paintbrush Road,” which echoes an old-time Appalachian murder ballad. The plucking of Chvostek’s melodious mandolin steers this song, which originally appeared on Chvostek’s 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 mezzo Nicky Mehta and soprano Ruth Moody, and the added instrumentation. Guitar whiz Kevin Breit (Norah Jones) adds another spark to the Jennys’ musical journey throughout. “Swallow,” “Apocalypse,” and “Long Time Traveler” are just three of the many harmonious highlights. Overall, Firecracker provides more than 50 minutes of pure musical bliss with nary a blemish.

Tell me about recording Firecracker? Chvostek: It was a really incredible process from arranging the songs together to working with David Travers-Smith, who is very intuitive and able to tune into the larger vision in an interesting and fun way.

What influences the band’s songwriting? 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. And Ruth has this wild encyclopedic knowledge of all things folk. At the same time, there is a real love of what is going on in contemporary songǃ_ Nicky has this whole Britpop influence in her stuff, so it all sorts of melds together.

Why do you think more and more people are being drawn to roots music? Maybe it is some kind of post-apocalyptic enjoyment of things that don’t require electricity. We can have a good time and play our mandolins and our 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 ǃ

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

Forget The Dixie Chicks! The folk and country trio, The Wailin' Jennys, are back again transforming the instruments and the harmonies of folk and country into something wonderfully different. Forget The Dixie Chicks! The folk and country trio, The Wailin' Jennys, are back again transforming the instruments and the harmonies of folk and country into something wonderfully different. Famous for their appearances on Prairie Home Companion, The Jennys (Annabelle Chvostek, Nicky Mehta, and Ruth Moody) have released their second CD entitled Firecracker. The thirteen tracks (twelve of them written by the band's members) feature the group's signature harmonies and their fondness for that old-time sound. It is a beautiful CD to listen to, rich with captivating melodies, terrific acoustic instrumentation, and soulful songwriting!

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

Beautiful vocal harmonies also highlight the second album from this Canadian trio Beautiful vocal harmonies also highlight the second album from this Canadian trio, which should appeal to fans of singers such as Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Another largely acoustic collection of mostly original songs, Firecracker ranges from country-rock rave-ups to gentle ballads, all featuring soothing three-part harmonies.

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

Taking folk music in an entirely different direction are The Wailin' Jennys, three highly talented young singer-songwriters from Canada. Taking folk music in an entirely different direction are The Wailin' Jennys, three highly talented young singer-songwriters from Canada. While OCMS can be prickly and raucous, these women are polished and subtle, melodic, and often lush - but just as original. Like the trio Nickel Creek, The Wailin' Jennys take the instruments and the harmonies of folk and country and transform them into something entirely different. But here there's a tight backup band and three voices - strong and sweet as Alison Krauss's - that work melodic magic. Each of the songs is written by one of the Jennys. The one exception - a beautiful a cappella interpretation of the traditional song "Long Time Traveller" - reminds you of where they're coming from.

Grade: A

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

It took me a long time to warm to this album. It wasn't that there was anything wrong; on the contrary, these three Canadian women are all wonderful singers It took me a long time to warm to this album. It wasn't that there was anything wrong; on the contrary, these three Canadian women are all wonderful singers - each is an accomplished if hardly original writer, and they all play a variety of instruments. But sometimes albums just elude you before suddenly falling into place. I think it was Nicky Mehta's heart-shaped “Begin” that began to melt my affections, closely followed by Annabelle Chvostek's “Swallow” and Ruth Moody's “Glory Bound.” All 13 tracks have plus or minus traces of folk and country influences, but it is the sound of the three women harmonising throughout that is Firecracker's outstanding and abiding quality. 4 stars.

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

We were very blown away in our review of the last Wailin' Jennys CD, 40 Days. But Firecracker is a faster, bigger horse of a different color. Since last we left our heroines, that horse has run and won a lot of races. We were very blown away in our review of the last Wailin' Jennys CD, 40 Days. But Firecracker is a faster, bigger horse of a different color. Since last we left our heroines, that horse has run and won a lot of races.

And the cast is new. The very talented Cara Luft left the group (her new record will soon be covered in these pages) and was replaced by Annabelle Chvostek, who brought great songs with her and plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, and violin, and sings, well...sings as good as you'd have to sing to be in this group.

The vocal blend is the first aspect I noticed that had hit a new level. They're now a seasoned outfit, top of the game. It's a folk record, sure, but it's uptown. Producer David Travers-Smith does a brilliant job in every aspect, as well as playing trumpet, E Flat Peck Horn, Hammond M3, and percussion. Many of the fabulous players from the last record again appear, notably Kevin Breit and Mike Hardwicke on guitars and dobros, the former additionally on National and mandolin. Christian Dugas is stellar on skins throughout, this time mostly with Joe Phillips on acoustic bass, though three other bassists cameo.

While I've not yet had the pleasure, from many quarters I've heard how great this group is live. Recently a friend who was helping run sound at the Kate Wolf Festival in Northern CA called and said the Wailin' Jennys were the best act on the bill, had I heard of them. Yes, indeed.

This new member, Annabelle Chvostek, has got the over-the-top eclecticity that's the x factor in the chemistry of the trio, and the choice is inspired. (Check out her solo discs, iTunes makes it so easy.) From afar, Ruth Moody seems to the cover the angelic side of the tracks, and the Celtic influence. (She was formerly the lead singer of Scr__j McDuhk, which morphed into The Duhks.) Nicky Mehta epitomizes the classy, deep, darker songwriter angle. (Her solo CD Weather Vane won a 2002 Canadian Music Award.) Annabelle brings the jazz, the wild child from Slovenia vibe. They're each artistes of a different stripe, which makes the combination all the more potent. (And then they're all super hot, so they got that going for 'em.)

The two openers begin with Ruth Moody's bell-like banjo tones, first on what must be the single, Annabelle's "The Devil's Paintbrush Road," which originally appeared on her Burn My Ass EP [sic] from 2005 on the Massive Quantities of Good Vibes label. The opener pulls you in, on the second one Ruth chills you out, and the third one Nicky gives it to you right between the eyes. I noticed that on the last one; it's like a sonic cocktail, and they got the medication right.

With Red House Records as their U.S. home, this should be the year that The Wailin' Jennys crack it even harder in the States. They're touring the world, with labels and agencies in the UK (where they are at this writing) and Australia. If you're not on to The Wailin' Jennys yet, then get on board. There's no stopping this outfit.

And tune in next month, when we interview them.

Firecracker - The Wailin' Jennys

Firecracker is the first official recording with the Winnipeg-based Jennys' new lineup Firecracker is the first official recording with the Winnipeg-based Jennys' new lineup. Cara Luft has left the band to pursue her own interests and Montreal's Annabelle Chvostek has joined the trio as the alto and multi-instrumentalist. I wasn't certain what to expect with this new record, as I had fallen in love with the previous album, 40 Days. Rest assured that the new Jennys lineup is in excellent shape. Not only have they played the Winnipeg Folk Festival's main stage,Firecracker is full of beautiful harmonies and sweet, sweet vocals. Favourite tracks of Firecracker include "Starlight," "Prairie Town" and "Long Time Traveller." I highly suggest checking out the Jennys live if you are given the chance; Firecracker is well worth the listen.

Firecracker - The Wailin'Jennys

Aptly named indeed, this new release from Canada's Jennys (and only their second!) positively sparks, bristles and fizzes with an explosive vitality that takes their home-grown down-home rusticity onto a higher plane Aptly named indeed, this new release from Canada's Jennys (and only their second!) positively sparks, bristles and fizzes with an explosive vitality that takes their home-grown down-home rusticity onto a higher plane while letting the glow it creates linger long in the memory. It's less contemporary in overall sensibility than their debut 40 Days, with an altogether more pronounced roots-Americana feel yet retaining the girls' penchant for lush and well-coordinated vocal harmonies within tightly controlled musical grooves.

The lineup change since 40 Days has if anything crystallised the trio's approach even more, with a striking new degree of cohesion that their debut at times only hinted at, which is still perhaps more than mildly surprising given the three girls' distinct musical personalities. New member Annabelle Chvostek (Cara Luft's replacement) has already more than proved herself over on two successive UK tours, and here she shows herself to be an integral part of the Jennys' unique mix, contributing a depth of register that really complements the soprano voices of the other two Jennys. She's contributed four of the album's 13 compositions (including the title track), as have both Ruth (Moody) and Nicky (Mehta), the remaining cut being a drop-dead-gorgeous a cappella rendition of the traditional “Long Time Traveller.” Annabelle and Nicky have both contributed songs that inhabit the more pure bluegrassy idiom: of Annabelle's, “Swallow” is a delicate country-waltz, while “The Devil's Paintbrush Road” ushers in a rush of fresh air like a breakneck Appalachian breakdown. Of the other songs, Nicky's “Starlight” and Ruth's “This Heart Of Mine” definitely have the feel of lost Alison Krauss (or Emmylou) classics. As is often the case, the sweet, heart-stoppingly beautiful sound of the girls' combined voices belies any dark content in the lyrics yet sometimes only serves to make the pain of that expressed beauty more intense (check out the desperation Ruth evokes in “Prairie Town” for starters). There's no harm in optimism however, as Nicky's romantic-pop opus “Begin” and Annabelle's “Apocalypse Lullaby” thoughtfully remind us. And there's a gently anthemic nature to “Avila” and the seriously gospelly “Glory Bound” (the latter a real killer that stopped me getting as far as track three for ages!).

As I've already more than hinted, all three Jennys are in superb voice here, and the Jennys' own (possibly undersold) instrumental talents are capably augmented by four guitarists including Kevin Breit and Mike Hardwick, four bass players including Joe Phillips, as well as drummer Christian Dugas, while Richard Moody (violin, viola) and album producer David Travers-Smith (trumpet, organ etc) widen the palette still further. There are some fine solos too (notably from Kevin on “Prairie Town” and “Avila”), but none of the musicians get to hog the spotlight to the exclusion of either the Jennys or their songs. And the recording is exceptional, admirably lucid and with buckets of presence. Without wishing to be disparaging, it's almost that the Jennys are what the Dixie Chicks had sort-of-promised to be; their degree of natural talent is just mind-blowing, and I get to wonder just how long they'll be able to continue producing brilliant albums like this. But for the time being, this is one of those totally exquisite CDs that I'll be returning to again and again, I just know it!