Wailin' Jennys debut disc sounds like a Juno winner Wailin' Jennys debut disc sounds like a Juno winner
Canadian roots and traditional musicians, take heed. There are now only four Juno nomination spots left open for next year's group album of the year.
And you'd better be on your toes if you hope to snatch the winning rug out from under the Wailin' Jennys debut disc, 40 Days.
You doubt my word? Catch the trio's sparkling harmonies and smart songwriting tonight at the Black Sheep Inn. Then we'll talk.
Cara Luft, Nick Mehta and Ruth Moody are the Jennys. They first teamed up two years ago at Winnipeg's Sled Dog Music for an impromptu show. It sold out, as did the second one, and the buzz started. The trio quickly landed a filled-to-capacity showcase at the North American Folk Alliance Conference in Florida. Folk festival gigs, an EP and a record contract followed.
This year they played the Folk Alliance again as well as South By Southwest in Austin.
Overnight success?
"No," says Moody."It' been pretty quick but we've had to work hard. We didn't know each other very well, so we had to grow together. We get along really well but we're very different from each other."
Luft and Mehta were both well on the way to carving out solo singer/songwriting careers while Moody, after four years as lead vocalist with the now-defunct Winnipeg-based Celtic band Scruj MacDuhk, was about to do the same, when they bumped into each other at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2001.
All long-standing members of that city's thriving folk music scene, they knew of each other's work and promised to get together at some point.
The rest you already know, except that it was John Sharples, the Sled Dog's owner, who hit ont the name Wailin' Jennys. Good choice. You want to say, "Waylon Jennings" and have to think before saying the name aloud. Makes it stick in your head. Like their music,actualy,which roots quickly and deeply.
One Voice,the new album's opening track, is typical of the Jenny's supple arrangements and eloquent three-part harmonies. Written by Moody, the group's soprano, One Voice celebrates musical diversity and unity, each member's voice distinct but complementary, while also offering a vision of world harmony.
"I wanted to write something that would help unify people," says Moody, who studied classical piano and singing before sidestepping into traditional folk and celtic music. "I imagined people singing along."
Quite different in structure and style are Cara Luft's contributions to the album's mostly original content. Songs such as Untitled reveal Luft's one-time rock aspirations (Luft's guitar work rewards close attention) blended with the traditional British folk music she heard her parents, professional folk singers, perform.
Luft, an alto, admits to challenges in surrendering a solo for a trio career. "You have to learn about sacrifice and sharing."
Nicky Mehta's mezzo rounds out the harmonies. She studied dance and theatre before settling on music, has sung in R&B and Jazz ensembles and says fans tell her the Jennys' harmonies are "an emotional experience that leaves them with chills running down their spines. We can't take credit for that, it's just the way the voices blend."
Mehta's songs such as Ten Mile Stilts,poised and thoughtful, deal with issues of alienation, self-deception, the search for permanence.
With all this on their side, are the Jennys bound for fame and wealth? Moody, speaking for the three, is cautious. "As a folk musician, success is just even being able to get out there and perform."
