Tantalizing trio stands legitimate chance at international success Tantalizing trio stands legitimate chance at international success
After wowing crowds at the recent Folk Alliance conference in San Diego and the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas, the Wailin' Jennys have been tracked down in that most Canadian of venues.
"We're at a Tim Horton's in Portage la Prairie about to order coffee and chili to go," announces Nicky Mehta.
Just over two years ago, Mehta and her musical friends Cara Luft and Ruth Moody had at best a handful of gigs to their credit and were making plans to knock up a low-budget, six-song recording.
Today, the Winnipeg trio has a legitimate shot at finding an international audience. They have played many of the nation's major folk festivals and basked in the overwhelmingly response to that debut EP.
They're now hitting the road to promote their new full-length recording 40 Days.
"Considering that the EP wasn't a planned thing and that we threw it together in a matter of days, it turned out to be an incredibly beneficial tool," says Moody. "It was raw, but it was representative of what we are, and it got us a lot of interest."
Another year of touring and writing allowed them to build their repertoire and find their places in each other's tunes. They consistently knock out sizeable crowds who are bathed in the glorious three-part harmonies that are the focal point of the new album.
"We didn't want a producer who was going to stamp his sound on the record, we wanted our sound to prevail and a producer who was good at capturing vocals," said Moody. "That ended up being David (Travers-Smith)," whose credits as an engineer or producer include sessions with Harry Manx, Rita Chiarelli, and Mia Sheard.
Moody had been recording and touring as a member of the popular Scruj MacDuhk before embarking on this new project.
While the vocals are layered and glisten on Moody's One Voice, Mehta's sombre yet soothing Arlingtonand Luft's sturdy-meets-sweet Untitled, the supporting cast that included guitarist Kevin Breit and bassist Andrew Downing locked into a collective mindset of embellishing the material.
That streamlined approach to recording the album - which also delivers comfortable covers of Neil Young's Old Man and John Hiatt's Take it Down - means live shows should match up well with what is presented on 40 Days.
Fans will find out for certain Friday as The Wailin' Jennys headline a triple bill with Orange Records artist Jim Bryson and opening act Daisy Blue Groff who will make her way onto the Sidetrack Cafe stage at 9:00 pm. Tickets are $10 at the door.