The Jennys will be on a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion on May 26 at 5:35pm. For details, please see the tour page or click here.
Firecracker recently picked up a few awards. The album's artwork by Ron Sawchuk was awarded Best Cover Design at the 2007 Signature Awards. As well The Indie Acoustic Project named The Jennys Acoustic Ensemble in its list of Best CDs of 2006.
Hey everyone - we are very excited to unveil our new lineup featuring New York-based Heather Masse! Check the "Bio" page for more information, the "Image" page for some new promotional shots and our "Tour" page for upcoming dates. For all of you wondering what the new group sounds like, please click here to listen to Heather, Ruth and Nicky singing "Bright Morning Stars". The new track was recorded by David Travers-Smith at the St. Boniface Museum in Winnipeg - many thanks to Philippe Mailhot for allowing us to record in this beautiful space.
Thanks for your support, everyone. We can't wait to see you all in the coming months!
The Jennys picked up a trophy at the 2nd annual Folk Alliance Awards in Memphis for Contemporary Release of the Year. Congratulations to all the nominees!
The Wailin' Jennys are nominated for a 2007 JUNO Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group) and David Travers-Smith has been nominated for Engineer of the Year for his work on Firecracker. Congratulations to all the nominees!
The Wailin Jennys song One Voice appears on Putumayos new compilation CD, Women of the World: Acoustic. The CD is set to be released February 27 in time to celebrate International Womens Day on March 8, 2007. There are many wonderful artists on this CD and you can find more information about it and listen to audio HERE.
The Jennys are up for Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group or Duo of The Year at the 2007 Independent Music Awards in Toronto, along with Angela Desveaux, Natalie McMaster, The Be Good Tanyas, and The Sadies. Winners will be announced on March 7 at Canadian Music Week. A link to the Indies 2007 public voting site will be accessible from www.cmw.net as of 9:00 AM on February 5th when voting opens. Voting will close at midnight on February 23rd. Winners will be determined by a combination of public and industry voting.
We have news that may come as a surprise to many of you;. Annabelle is leaving the band to focus on her solo career. Annabelle joined The Wailiin' Jennys two years ago and since then we have played 233 shows together and recorded Firecracker, an album we are all very proud of. She has made a big contribution to the band and she will be missed. This upcoming tour to the UK and Spain will be Annabelle's last with the band. We wish her all the best!
On a happier note, we are pleased to announce the addition of Heather Masse (pronounced Massey) to the Jennys. Heather is a New York-based singer who is steeped in both bluegrass and jazz traditions. She is a Jazz Voice graduate of the New England conservatory of music and has performed with The Wayfaring Strangers, Joy Kills Sorrow Music and Heather & The Barbarians. Heather will be joining us after the upcoming UK tour and we will hit the road on April 12th. We look forward to beginning this next chapter of The Wailin' Jennys with her. We have some exciting things planned for the spring and will be releasing a brand new track featuring the new line-up very soon, so be sure to stay tuned in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, as a result of this change, we have had to re-schedule eight shows in the United States. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Details new dates (originally scheduled from February 21 to March 3rd in Park City UT, Napa CA, San Rafael CA, Rockland ME, Manchester NH, Barrie VT, and Westport CT ) are available on the tour page. The Las Vegas show has yet to be re-scheduled.
In the meantime, we are looking forward to crossing the pond once again. This promises to be a very exciting tour, with the addition of fiddler Jeremy Penner to the line-up. It will also include our very first appearance in Spain and a performance alongside Roseanne Cash and Phil Cunningham (as well as other notable artists) at the venerable Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Scotland. We are thrilled to be playing at this legendary festival.
And finally, although it seems hard to believe, this weekend marks the 5th anniversary of the The Wailin' Jennys! It has been an incredible five years and we would like to thank you, as always, for your continued support. We feel truly honoured to be able to share our music with you and we look forward to many more years of harmony and song.
Sincerely,
Ruth and Nicky
P.S. - For more information on Annabelle's upcoming solo shows and more, you can visit www.annabelle.org.