We've just added some more details on a number of upcoming UK and Ireland dates as well as two newly-added performances in the Netherlands. Check them out on the tour page!
New Sheet Music Available and Sabatical Update
Hi everyone!
Although we miss performing for you all we are relishing this time at home, reconnecting with our loved-ones and our creative selves. We thought we'd let you know what we are all up to. On the Jennys front, next month we will be digging into the live recordings we did in Jim Thorpe, Pensylvania and will let you know what we find! We also wanted to let you know that we finally have sheet music for the Jennys' arrangement of 'The Parting Glass' and it will be available on the website under Music & Store, along with 'Arlington' and 'One Voice'. Stay tuned! READ MORE.
Updates On Our Sabatical and Live Album
Hi everyone!Although we miss performing for you all we are relishing this time at home, reconnecting with our loved-ones and our creative selves. We thought we'd let you know what we are all up to. On the Jennys front, next month we will be digging into the live recordings we did in Jim Thorpe, Pensylvania and will let you know what we find! We also wanted to let you know that we finally have sheet music for the Jennys' arrangement of 'The Parting Glass' and it will be available on the website under Music & Store, along with 'Arlington' and 'One Voice'. Stay tuned!To find out what all the Jennys have been up to, check out some updates below. If you want to stay informed about each member on a regular basis, head over to the links page on the website and you'll find everyone's websites and MySpace pages.HeatherHeather is performing regularly in NY with her band Heather and the Barbarians as well as with many other varied projects. She has plans to record a solo record in January at Red Rock Recording Studios with Kent Heckman (the amazing engineer that recorded a live Jennys show in Jim Thorpe, PA in August). Heather and some of the members of the band will be doing a short tour in the Northwest in December with the help of our good friend Jess Byers. Heather is also releasing an ep in the next few months called Many Moons, a dreamy duo album with pianist Jed Wilson that includes a couple of Heather's original songs and as the title suggests, songs about moons. She's enjoying some nice quality time with her sweetheart and getting accustomed to the bright lights and fishy smells of her Chinatown home.Ruth Ruth is happy to be off the road for the first time in ten years. She has been enjoying living minutes away from her favourite organic grocery store, experimenting with winter soup recipes, and doing lots of yoga. She is spending most of her creative time writing and preparing new songs for her first full-length solo CD, which will be recorded in the spring of 2009. More details to come. She is also involved in the 'Praetorius project' with Camerata Nova, which will be the Winnipeg premiere of the glorious Praetorious mass. This will be the first (and likely the only) time Ruth will ever be heard singing solo in German, accompanied by a lute. In the New Year, Ruth will keep her musical interests balanced with some old-time banjo studies in Toronto with Chris Coole, and some special appearances with her old band-mates Jeremy Penner and Oliver Swain. For now, keep an eye out for brand new songs from Ruth on her Myspace and Facebook pages.Nicky Nicky (and her partner Grant, the Jennys' sound engineer) are happy to be hanging out in their house with their two cats after an epic road trip that took them across Western Canada, down to L.A. and back. Since then, Nicky has been busy working in different capacities as a mentor and consultant to other musicians through Manitoba Music, a non-profit organization that fosters the development of the local music industry. At the moment, she's getting ready for a performance and a stint as a judge with the Winnipeg International Centre's musical showcase for new immigrants. After many years of traveling around the globe, she's excited to be involving herself as a volunteer with different community-based organizations on a regular basis. Nicky is also looking forward to taking some drum lessons with local drummer Daniel Roy and writing some new songs (and maybe finally updating her website!). In the meantime, she's taking tai chi, has joined her very first book club and is generally feeling the creative juices flowing!(Wailin') Jeremy In September, Jeremy and his wife, Erin, embarked on a three week road-trip along the West Coast, from Vancouver all the way to Jalama Beach, California, and back. It was a trip filled with spectacular views, great camping, and of course, amazing wine-tasting in the Napa region! Since October, Jeremy has been working on writing new instrumental old-time-influenced tunes, as well as exploring new musical collaborations. He has also been spotted working out and eating healthily, as he needs to deal with the residual effects of life on the road (at least how he experiences it)!That's all for now but please stay tuned to the website for more information.Have a lovely holiday season,
Guestbook Answers and New Photos
Hey everyone - for those of you who asked questions in the recent guestbook entries, we have finally answered them! Also, in case anyone missed them, there are new photos from the spring and summer in the "Photos" section. Happy Halloween!
Hey this is Jill, writing from The Wailin Jennys management headquarters in (snowy?!) Vancouver, BC. This is our first contribution to the Jennys e-newsletter; hopefully youll enjoy the future blurbs we send you from time to time. Heres whats been news worthy and what weve got cookin in The Jennys kitchen
The Wailin Jennys were featured on Uncut magazines December Tribute to Neil Young compilation Like A Hurricane. The bands song Old Man (from 40 Days) was in great company with other artists including The Flaming Lips, kd lang, Paul Weller, Cowboy Junkies, and The Be Good Tanyas. You can order archive issues at www.uncut.co.uk
Old Man has been added to the Starbucks in-store playlists in the U.S. Keep in ear out for the song. Were hoping to have more of their catalogue added in the near future!
The Jennys hometown concert in Winnipeg (recorded on October 14 -- my birthday!) is available on CBCs Concert on Demand website.
Coming up on February 29 and March 1, the band returns to the stage at the Fitzgerald Theatre to perform on A Prairie Home Companion. Check out schedule and ticket info here and your local PHC broadcaster here
You can catch a podcast featuring an interview with Ruth, Nicky, and Heather at last fall's Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite, CA here: Michael Gaither: Songs and Stories
Along with the web team, were working up some great new Jennys contests including a Jennys video contest. Stay tuned to the website for details!
Special thanks to Ellie Grace for the great live videos of Glorybound, Orphan Girl, and Beautiful Dawn from The Jennys performance at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC. Click here to check them out!
Just a note that The Jennys will be performing with Kelly Joe Phelps at their February 9 show at Vancouver's Chan Theatre. Check out the tour page for more on this and other upcoming shows.
The Jennys' October 14, 2007 performance at the Pantages Playhouse in Winnipeg will be re-broadcast this coming Monday, September 22 at 8 pm, on Canada Live at CBC Radio 2. Tune in to hear The Jennys perform in their hometown!
Tour Wrap-Up and A Break
Hello!It's hard to believe the summer is over. We toured almost the whole way through, playing in New England, California, Montana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New England again, and then Oregon, where we ended this year's touring at the Sister's Folk Festival. Let's see what I can rememberǃ_We played (and felt right at home) in the Moody Mountain Barn in Wolfboro, New Hampshire. We watched a massive storm hit and flood our uncovered outdoor stage in Portsmouth, NH. We played, hung out and rocked the bgs to California Dreamin' at Stone Mountain in Brownfield, Maine (best green-room in the world, and one of the best venues). We swam in Kezar lake and recharged with the lovely Masse family in Lovell, Maine. We played a record eight shows in three days between California World Fest and our shows at the Freight in Berkeley (and survived!). We opened for the awe-inspiring Ani Difranco in Bozeman, Montana. We descended like vultures on the Patagonia clothing outlet store in Dillon, MT (Jeremy spent the most money). We sampled some stellar steaks (fish for Heather) at the Lynn Street cafe in Iowa City (some of us two nights in a row, mmmmmmm). We revisited some familiar territory in Minnesota (love the Paramount theatre in St Cloud!) which i think put us at our 57th tour of that state. And we rocked the Big Top in Bayfield, Wisconsin, where the crew gave each of us a bag of warm, decidedly squeaky cheese curds when we went up for our encore (we love you guys!).After a short break, we reassembled in Burlington for more good fun at the Higher Ground, returned to Saranac Lake, NY (great to see you Frannie!), played two shows at Joe's pub in NYC (a great venue, in spite of the subway trains that roll right underneath the stage every five minutes and the two and a half hours it takes to park the van), spent two whole days off in NYC!!!, skipped over to Weehawken, New Jersey and played an outdoor show in front of one of the loveliest backdrops imaginable (for one of the loveliest presenters!), potentially recorded a live album in Jim Thorpe, Pensylvania at the Mauch Chunk Opera House (these are real places), and finished off in Massachusetts at another one of our favourite venues, the Iron Horse. That was it for Grant, but the rest of us flew out to Sisters Oregon for one last hoorah at the Sisters Folk Festival, which included some good hang-time with friends Jess Byers, Deanna Masse, Carl and Tracy, Leela and Steph, and Jamie 'the ice cream man' Webber, some well-overdue catching up with our friends The Waifs, creative inspiration in the form of witnessing Tim O'Brien rock various stages, an impromptu on-stage collaboration with the amazing Rose Polenzani, margaritas for breakfast on Sunday ('when in Mexican restaurant'...), and an emotional Parting Glass at the end of our final set on Sunday. Oh, and who could forget the special appearance made by our beloved US agent Herschel Freeman (aka Herschie), who came to see us all the way from Tennessee?Now it's time for the Jennys to take a break from touring. After almost seven years on the road we've decided to take a year to rest and reconnect with life, home, family, and our creative selves: all the things that take the back-seat for a touring musician. Don't worry, there will be special appearances, and there will be live material released throughout the touring break. There will also be news updates, and new photos and videos from the road up soon. And, most importantly, we will be writing and planning our next studio album during this time off, so there will be much to share with you in the New Year.As always, thanks so much to all of you for your support. Stay tuned to the website, as we will be in touch...