Winnipeg trio laughing more than wailing

Women the toast of festival circuit Wailin' Jennys a new sensation
Women the toast of festival circuit

The first time it dawned on Nicky Mehta that she and her companions in the Winnipeg-based folk trio the Wailin' Jennys had bitten off more than they'd been expecting to chew was when she, Cara Luft and Ruth Moody won a showcase spot at the prestigious North American Folk Alliance conference in Jacksonville, Fla., two years ago.

Until then, the three young women had been steadily building careers as solo artists. Mehta, who had studied dance and drama before being bitten by the music bug, had just released a critically applauded album of original music. Moody, formerly with Celtic roots rockers Scruj MacDuhk, was establishing herself as a singer/songwriter of merit. Luft's first solo release had earned a Prairie Music Awards nomination the previous year. Performing together for the first time in a Winnipeg music store in January 2002 had been a bit of a lark, and even when the first show sold out and a second was booked, the singers had no idea they'd wind up becoming folk festival favourites - fast.

In February they were invited to play at the Folk Alliance, North America's largest annual live folk music market. "Our showcases were jammed, and the audiences were really enthusiastic," says Mehta on the eve of the trio's performance Saturday at the Rivoli to promote the release of their first solo CD, 40 Days.

"It had been a little over a month since we first sang together, and we were suddenly being offered festival spots across Canada and the U.S. It was bizarre. It was another couple of months before we understood just how full time the Wailin' Jennys would be."

In fact, the trio has been on the road so much the three artists have had little time to reord the transcendent harmony arrangements of their own tunes and favoured covers by other artists that constitute their ever-expanding concert set.

A six-track EP was quickly recorded last summer to meet the demands of festival audiences, but studio time over the past two years took second place to live performances.

"Besides, we needed the time to solidify our sound," Mehta continues. "It all happened so quickly, we didn't really understand what we were doing for a while."

Buoyed by the strong reaction to 40 Days, the Wailin' Jennys - the name was a humorous throwaway that stuck after their second performance - have hit the road again, and will be featured in just about every major folk festival across Canada this summer.

"Being in a group requires constant negotiation, an awareness of others' needs for self-expression," continues Mehta, who's planning to record another solo album - this time as a sid project - in her basement over the next months.

"I'm the least folky of the three of us. I'd like to explore other, totally different areas of music on my own."

Prairie Pride

The Wailin' Jennys get the folk out The Wailin' Jennys get the folk out

It's a sweaty mid-May Wednesday in Toronto when I call up Cara Luft at her Winnipeg home, but Luft, one-third of folk-pop trio the Wailin' Jennys, is bundled up in a wooly toque-and-sweater combo.

She's just returned from playing a show at the 'Peg legislature building in honour of Manitoba Day (don't worry-she didn't know the holiday existed either), and she's cursing the massive prairie snowstorm that's got authorities advising local folks to stay home.

The freak flurries are an appropriate backdrop, Luft laughs, since she credits weather extremes with maintaining the thriving Winnipeg music scene.

"Everything's so extreme here", she explains in her chirpy prairie cadence. "The winters are brutal, and the summers are pretty extreme as well."

"There's something about those extremes that encourages people to look beyond their surroundings. People say that Manitoba's friendly, and it's true-there's not much to do here, so we have more of a sense of community."

That strong sense of community, and the support system of arts funding exemplified by organizations like Manitoba Film and Sound and MARIA (the Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association) have helped kick Luft's musical career into high gear.

The daughter of professional folk singers who daylighted as teachers, the Calgary-born Luft's been singing rootsy tunes on stage since she was in kindergarten. She played her first solo show at age 12 and was opening for local acts at folk clubs by 14.

But it was only after hanging out at a Winnipeg guitar shop called Sled Dog Music that she was blindsided in one of those wierd karmic moments that speckle pop music history.

Sled Dog's owner urged Luft to team up with two other local folkies - Celtic belter Ruth Moody of Scruj MacDuhk and backing-vocalist-turned-front-woman Nicky Mehta - for a one-night stand at his store in January 2002.

"We honestly din't think beyond that one night," offers Luft. "It was a weird process entering into a working relationship with strangers. We only knew we had a month to prepare."

"On top of learning and trying to memorize 20 new songs, you're trying to work with people you don't know anything about. You're spending energy just getting to know each other."

They clicked musically, winning invites to play sold-out showcases at folk fests and healthy airplay on the CBC, and set aside their solo schticks to become the Wailin' Jennys, but maintain musical autonomy by operating as a collective - each member receives individual writing credit and lead vocal duties for her own songs.

This sets them apart from that other Canuck roots-pop tri, the Be Good Tanya's, who've become post-O Brother music scene darlings. So do the Jennys' aesthetics. Their brand new 40 Days (Jericho Beach) disk showcases a far more contemporary folk-pop sound more in keeping with Joan Baez, the Indigo Girls and Lilith Fair-style campfire music than with the Tanyas' Americana new grass vibe. While the Jennys' songs may lack the same creaky backroads country soul, they benefit from the trio's strong vocals, which combine Luft's rich alto, Mehta's mezzo and Moody's angelic soprano into choirgirl three-part harmonies.

"There aren't a lot of harmony groups these days" proclaims Luft. "We're an anomaly, and people often tell us how great it is to hear women's voices in harmony."

The Jennys have become quite successful in a short time, considering that earnest folky tunes don't exactly have the insta-popular cool cachet of, say, disco-punk. Luft thinks it's related to their geographcal locale.

"The biggest folk festivals are on the prairies," she explains. "Calgary has the most folk clubs per capita of any city in North America - something like 10 or 12 that run year-round. I heard a rumour that it was because all the draft dodgers from Seattle and that area who came up to Calgary and started the folk boom there."

Working on a New Site!

Hey all,Nicky here. We are leaving for Ontario in a couple of days but I wanted to let everyone know that the new site will soon be up! We have been working with my brother (who has been busy, busy, busy building the new pages) and it's looking fabulous! We can't wait to let you see it. And there will be lots of new pictures--I know I have been promising that for a very long time but soon it will all come true. Some pages will be under construction as we find time here and there to add information, but the bulk of the site will be good to go very soon. I would estimate that we should have something to show within the next couple of weeks.Hopefully we'll see some of you at our shows out east and then many more of you during the summer. Take care and have a great spring. The snow should be gone here in Winnipeg sometime soon (I wish I were joking but I'm not).~ Nicky

40 Days - The Wailin' Jennys

Unspeakably good. Literally stunning. I'm falling deep into the well of this record 40 DAYS (Jericho Beach) ǃ

The Wailin' Jennys - 40 Days

Sometimes, good things really do come in threes WHERE YOU’LL FIND THEM: Living in harmony. FILE UNDER: Women on the verge. LOWDOWN: Sometimes, good things really do come in threes. Case in point: Singers Cara Luft, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody, who make beautiful music together on 40 Days, the winning debut album from their folk-pop outfit The Wailin’ Jennys. Harmonizing with a soothing grace that belies their name, these grievous angels weave gorgeous vocal tapestries that elegantly decorate original cuts of sun-dappled rootspop, blues and Celtic folk. Plus they acquit themselves admirably on candlelit covers of Neil Young’s Old Man and John Hiatt’s Take it Down. Check them out tomorrow at the West End Cultural Centre, before they vanish on the summer folk-festival circuit. ON THE WEB: www.thewailinjennys.com
***1/2 out of *****

CD Review

Good Lord! Can this really be the Wailin' Jennys? The Wailin' Jennys
40 Days
Jericho Beach Music
JBM 0403

Good Lord! Can this really be the Wailin' Jennys? The same Wailin' Jennys who made such a disparately ragged, ad-hoc, six-song debut a year or so back?

While that initial recording showed flashes of true promise, it also had a threadbare, disjointed quality about it as Cara Luft, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody struggled to find common ground. But time has galvanized them into an inspired creative unit and their gorgeous harmonies have grown even more intricate. The proof on Moody's divine, One Voice, and the evergreen traditional heartbreaker, The Parting Glass, is nothing short of spectacular. Those wonderfully emotional voices of theirs lie somewhere between The Roches and the Silly Sisters but grounded in an absolute belief in their own abilities.

Their attachment to the tradition includes the mischieous Saucy Sailor. Obviously, Luft's pungent Come All You Sailors draws its inspiration from the same well. There's also a clever cover of John Hiatt's Take It Down. But their attempt at Neil Young's Old Man never quite puts enough distance between the original. A minor set back though, more than aptly eradicated by Nicky Mehta's brilliant, Arlington, which unearths a truly impressive new writing talent.

Immaculately produced by David Travers-Smith (Harry Manx & Kevin Breit) 40 Days ought to place the Jennys on the same pedestal as the Be Good Tanyas. The first major Canadian folk-roots recording of the year has officially arrived.

CD Release Tour

Hello everyone!We're back in town and I've just had a chance to catch up on my emails and read the guest book. I'm blown away by all the support and kind words people have been sending to us. Thank you so much to you all for writing and for coming out to the shows on this last Western tour. We are so lucky to be able to play for such wonderful audiences.Of course, it sure is nice to be home. Nicky's obsession with Old Dutch potato chips on the drive home from Saskatoon (and her refusal to share them), not to mention our increasingly frequent visits to Dairy Queen in the last few days of the tour, were sure signs that it was time. We now have a couple of days off before we start gearing up for our CD release show here in Winnipeg, which is happening on May 1st. After that we head out East to do CD release shows in Ontario and Quebec. I think Nicky will be sending out a letter soon with all the details.One exciting development I want to mention is that our version of 'Old Man' has been added to JR Country in Vancouver and BX93 in London Ontario, on medium rotation! We never imagined we'd get played on commercial radio, so it's kind of exciting to know that our music is being played out there and that people are actually requesting the song. So, if you live in Vancouver or London, or in the surrounding areas, we would LOVE it if you would call or email these stations and request 'Old Man'. At this point every call helps. The number for JRFM in Vancouver is 604 280 9370 (email is requests@jrfm.com) and the number for BX93 in London is 519 643 2993.I think that's it for now. It's beautiful out there (23 degrees today!) and I just love this city when Spring hits. I'm headed to the grocery store in search of dark leafy greens and other such detoxifying materials.Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. Many thanks to the CBC and CKUA in Alberta for plugging the shows, and to our out of province mums and dads for taking such good care of us.~ Ruth

Roots - CD Review

An exceptionally auspicious debut album, this Winnipeg threesome's folk/roots maiden voyage is chock-a-block with sweet lead and sweeter harmony vocals, low-key, mostly acoustic instrumentation, and a smart mix of original and cover tunes including John Hiatt's Take It Down and the traditional The Parting Glass 40 Days ****
The Wailin' Jennys (Jericho Beach Music)

An exceptionally auspicious debut album, this Winnipeg threesome's folk/roots maiden voyage is chock-a-block with sweet lead and sweeter harmony vocals, low-key, mostly acoustic instrumentation, and a smart mix of original and cover tunes including John Hiatt's Take It Down and the traditional The Parting Glass. The Wailin' Jennys, by the way, are Ruth Moody, erstwhile lead vocalist with the Celtic group Scruj MacDuhk, and former solo performers Cara Luft and Nicky Mehta. Joining forces in 2002, the Jennys have been working the folk festival and club circuit ever since, building a lean, elegant musical identity that favors understatement and encourages us to bring our own emotions to the songs. Made stronger by the determined individuality of each voice, this is a trio to watch.