The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as

Josh Cunningham Joshua Hayden Cunningham is an Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter who is one-third of folk rock band the Waifs. Note: nlineversion established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. ...

(guitar, vocals). Their tour and recording band includes Ben Franz (bass),

David Ross Macdonald The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocals). Their tour and record ...

(drums) and Tony Bourke (keyboard / piano). The band's 2003 album '' Up All Night'' reached the top five of the Australian Albums Chart, achieving double platinum status and winning four ARIA Awards in October. Two further top five albums were issued, ''

Sun Dirt Water ''Sun Dirt Water'' is the fifth studio album by iconic Australian folk rock band The Waifs. It was released by Jarrah Records on 1 September 2007. It debuted at number two in the ARIA Albums Chart on 10 September. It was certified platinum ...

'' in 2007 and ''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' in 2011. The Waifs have three top 50 singles, "

London Still "London Still" is a single by the Australian folk-rock band The Waifs, coming from their album ''Up All Night (The Waifs album), Up All Night''. "London Still" was written by Donna Simpson. The single was nominated for several ARIA awards, inclu ...

" (2002), "

Bridal Train "Bridal Train" is a single by the Australian folk-rock band The Waifs, coming from their album '' A Brief History...''. ''Bridal Train'' was written by Vikki Thorn Vikki Elizabeth Thorn (née Simpson, born c. 1974) is an Australian harmonica p ...

" (2004) and "

". The band supported Bob Dylan on his 2003 Australian tour and then his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival. The Waifs founded the independent label

Jarrah Records Jarrah Records is an independent Australian record label which releases material by Western Australian-formed bands, John Butler Trio and The Waifs, and their members. In July 2002 the label was founded and co-owned by John Butler; The Waifs' m ...

in July 2002, co-owned with fellow musician John Butler and their common manager Phil Stevens, which handles their Australian releases.

History

1992–1996: Fisherman's daughters and a farmer's son

The Waifs formed in August 1992 in Albany, Western Australia, as a folk rock band. The Simpson sisters,

Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People *Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), Ita ...

and Vikki (now Vikki Thorn), had formed a duo, Colours, in Albany to perform cover versions of Bob Dylan and the Everly Brothers at local pubs. Their father, Jimmy Simpson, was a seasonal salmon fisherman at Cosy Corner beach and had bought Donna her first guitar when she was 15. In February 1992, 20-year-old Donna and her 16-year-old sister Vikki headed off in a

Kombi van The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), is a forward control light commercial vehicle introduced in 1950 by the G ...

to tour the state as Colours.

, a

Moruya Moruya is a town located on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River. The Princes Highway runs through the town that is about south of Sydney and from Canberra. At the , Moruya had a population of 4 ...

farmer's son, had started playing guitar in 1987, he was touring Australia playing bass guitar for a band. The Simpsons met 18-year-old Cunningham while Colours were playing

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

in Broome. After a ten-minute jam session, Donna invited Cunningham to join Colours, Cunningham later recalled, "there was a connection that Donna felt that I felt as well ... it's always felt very much like a family to me and I felt instantly welcomed into that right from the very start". Upon return to Albany, Colours changed its name to "The Waifs" (initially styled as "The WAiFS") with Cunningham on guitars, ukulele,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

and vocals, Donna on vocals, guitar and tambourine and Vikki on vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

and guitar. The Waifs used the Kombi van from 1992 to 1996 to travel to gigs across Australia.

1996–2000: First three albums

In February 1996, the Waifs relocated to Melbourne, recorded their debut, eponymous album, '' The Waifs'', which was released in May by independent label Outside Music. The band co-produced it with Jen Anderson and Mick Thomas of folk rock band Weddings Parties Anything. Aside from producing, Anderson was a session musician for the album. Jason MacNeill of Allmusic described ''The Waifs'' as "a more than adequate stab at troubadour folk and acoustic pop ... In some instances, the band is guilty of what can be termed funk folk, a style all too often used with little to no benefit". The group commenced a year-long tour of Australia to support the album. Their second album, ''

Shelter Me ''Shelter Me'' is the second album by Australian folk band The Waifs, first released by Jarrah in March 1998. Track listing #"Heart Lies" (Cunningham) – 2:43 #"People Who Think They Can" (V. Simpson) – 3:15 #"Shelter Me" (Cunningham) – 3: ...

'', was recorded in Adelaide at Mixmasters Studios and, produced by the Waifs, it was released in March 1998. MacNeill felt it was " ructured in a cozy, country-like frame of harmonies and acoustic guitars, most of the album works all too well. A few songs, including the soulful "Time to Part", seem a bit askew from the others, but aren't annoying to the senses". Once again, the album was supported by a national tour. The band released its third album, '' Sink or Swim'', in June 2000. MacNeill states, "Abstaining from traditional folk for a more rural, quasi-country sound, the band rarely misses the mark, although "Love Serenade" is just satisfactory'. They had used

on drums and percussion – he became part of their touring band.

2001–2007: Chart success and ''Up All Night''

In 2001, the Waifs hired Phil Stevens as band manager – he also manages fellow West Australian musician John Butler and the John Butler Trio. The band started to play folk festivals in Canada and the United States. In August, the group made its first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. The ''

Newport Daily News ''The Newport Daily News'' is a six-day daily newspaper serving Newport County, Rhode Island. It publishes in the mornings on weekdays (Monday through Friday) and in the morning on Saturdays. The ''Daily News'' was the state's largest family-owne ...

'' acclaimed them as "the darlings of hatyear's festival". In July 2002, the Waifs, Butler and Stevens founded the independent label

. The label was initially set up to issue both artists' material in North America, later it handled all their Australian releases. The growing international reputation of the Waifs led to the release of ''Sink or Swim'' in the US in 2002 by Jarrah Records. The Waifs first new work for Jarrah was a five-track EP, ''

'', which appeared in July and reached the top 50 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In October, ''London Still'' received two nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 2002 for 'Best Independent Release' and 'Breakthrough Artist – Single'. The Waifs fourth album, ''Up All Night'', was released in January 2003 and debuted at No. 3. It was produced by The Waifs, Chris Thompson, Steven Schram. For the album and subsequent touring, Ben Franz played bass guitar and double bass, and dobro on the title track. The album was certified gold four weeks after release, went platinum in October 2003 and double platinum in February 2004. The ''Lighthouse'' EP was released in April 2003, which was their second Top 50 single. Vikki Simpson told '' The Sydney Morning Herald'' in October that the album's success had taken the band by surprise, "We were nonchalant about releasing albums. We'd released three already and had learned not to put too much hope behind an album because you're usually disappointed. So it was a surprise, but we took it in our stride. It was all very exciting but it didn't seem real to us because it was such a new experience." The band supported Bob Dylan on his Australian tour in March. Dylan offered the group a support slot on his subsequent tour of North America, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival. During the tour Donna met

Ben Weaver Ben Weaver (born 1980) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life Weaver was born in Eugene, Oregon but grew up mostly in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has a worldwide following, though his popularity is strongest in his native Midwest of the Uni ...

, a United States singer-songwriter. They later married and have a son. In 2003, the band also participated in Big Day Out, an Australian travelling

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2003 The 17th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards) were held on 21 October 2003 at the Sydney Superdome. The ceremony aired on Network Ten. Awards ''Winners highlighted in bold, with n ...

, the Waifs won in four categories, Best Roots and Blues Album, Best Independent Album, Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year from eight nominations. "Lighthouse" also reached No. 12 in the

Triple J Hottest 100, 2003 The 2003 Triple J Hottest 100, announced on 25 January 2004, was the eleventh such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. As in previous years, a CD featuring 40 (not ne ...

. The '' Bridal Train EP'' was released in March 2004 and made the Australian Top 50 singles charts in April. The title track tells the story of the Simpsons' grandmother, a war-bride of a United States Navy sailor, Bob Cain. She boarded the "Bridal Train" from Perth to Sydney and then travelled to San Francisco to be with her husband. Thorn won the USA Songwriting Competition for "Bridal Train". The Waifs released a double live album, '' A Brief History...'', in November which debuted in the top thirty of the Australian album charts. A month after the Asian

2004 Boxing Day tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of no ...

, the Waifs joined a cast of Australian artists to perform at the WaveAid concert in January 2005 in Sydney to raise funds for the relief effort. Later in 2005, they indicated that they had no immediate plans for another album, "We won't be going into the studio any time soon. Our collective focus is too outside of music and career right now to put out an album."

2007–2011: ''Sun, Dirt, Water'' to ''Temptation''

The Waif's fifth studio album, ''

'', was released in September 2007. It debuted and peaked at No. 2. Vikki had written the title song, "

", after meeting her husband. By 2007, Vikki had married Matt Thorn, lived on a farm in Utah and had two children. The Waifs performed across Australia in September and October on the SunDirtWater Tour. It started in Broome, and ended at Legs 11, a concert for breast cancer research. In November, the group announced a collaboration with label mates, John Butler Trio, for the Union of Soul Tour in January – February 2008. The tour had five concerts, with shows in various Western Australian cities, Denmark, Margaret River, Swan Valley, and two gigs at the Fremantle Arts Centre. A second live album, ''Live from the Union of Soul'' was issued in January 2009, which peaked into the top 50. During 2009, Simpson and Weaver were divorced. The group released their sixth studio album, ''

'', in March 2011, which peaked at No. 3. It was recorded late in 2010 in a basement studio in Minneapolis over ten days. Once again, they used the rhythm section of Franz and Macdonald. Simpson had attended rehab at Hazelden Treatment Center in Minnesota in 2008 for her alcohol addiction and wrote the album track, "Just Like Me", about her experience. As from March 2011, Thorn lives in Utah with her husband Matt and two sons, Simpson in Minneapolis with her son, Cunningham in California with his wife Jackie, Macdonald in Canada and Franz in Australia. While in Australia, Cunningham recorded his debut solo album, ''Into Tomorrow''.

Members

Current members

* Joshua Cunningham — guitars, vocals,

, ukulele,

(1992–present) * Donna Simpson — vocals, acoustic guitar (1992–present) * Vikki Thorn (née Simpson) — vocals,

, acoustic guitar (1992–present)

Auxiliary members

* Ben Franz – electric bass, double bass, dobro (2001–present) *

— drums, percussion (1998–present)

Former auxiliary members

* Mikel Azpiroz – keyboards (2009) * Jen Anderson – violin (1996, 1998)

Discography

* '' The Waifs'' (1996) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Sink or Swim'' (2000) * '' Up All Night'' (2003) * ''

'' (2007) * ''Temptation'' (2011) * ''Beautiful You'' (2015) * ''Ironbark'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , rowspan="2" ,

AIR Awards of 2008 The AIR Awards of 2008 is the third annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at The Corner Hotel, in Melbourne, Australia on 24 November 2008 to recognise ...

, themselves , Best Independent Artists , , - , ''

'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , - , AIR Awards of 2009 , ''Live from the Union of the Soul'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , - , AIR Awards of 2017 , ''Beautiful You'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , - , AIR Awards of 2018 , ''Ironbark'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , -

APRA Awards

The

APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) *APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...

are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". , - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, , "

" (

, Donna Simpson, Vikki Thorn) , , Song of the Year , , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, , "Lighthouse" (Josh Cunningham) , , Song of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , "Stay" (Josh Cunningham, Donna Simpson, Vikki Thorn, Brett Canning) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - , "

" (Josh Cunningham, Donna Simpson, Vikki Thorn) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , "Falling" (Josh Cunningham, Donna Simpson, Vikki Thorn) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, , "6000 Miles" , , Song of the Year , ,

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. The Waifs have won four awards from nineteen nominations. , - , rowspan="2",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , rowspan="2", ''

'' , , ARIA Award for Best Independent Release , , , - , , ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single , , , - , rowspan="8",

, , rowspan="5", '' Up All Night'' , ,

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, , , - , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - , , Best Group , , , - , , ARIA Award for Best Independent Release , , , - , , Breakthrough Artist – Album , , , - , rowspan="2", Chris Thompson for '' Up All Night'' , , Engineer of the Year, , , - , Producer of the Year , , , - , "Lighthouse" , , Single of the Year , , , - ,

, , ''

'' , , Best Independent Release , , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, , '' A Brief History...'' , , Best Independent Release , , , - , ''A Brief History...'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , ''

'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

, , ''Live from the Union of Soul'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , ''Temptation'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - , rowspan="3" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, , rowspan="3", ''Beautiful You'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - , Engineer Of The Year , , , - , Producer Of The Year , , , -

Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame

The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. , - , 2017 , themselves , Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame ,

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - , National Live Music Awards of 2019 , The Waifs , Live Country Act of the Year , , -

WAM Song of the Year

The WAM Song of the Year was formed by the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. (wins only) , - , 2007 , "Sun Dirt Water" , Professional Song of the Year , , -

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985. , - , 2006 , , Ben Franz (The Waifs) , , Best Bassist , , , - , 2011 , , The Waifs , , Hall of Fame , , , - , 2017 , , The Waifs , , Most Popular Act , ,

Other awards

, - , 2005 , , Rob Bygott (Bard Films) for "

" , , West Australian Screen Awards, Best Music Video , , , - , rowspan="3", 2006 , , rowspan="2", Vikki Thorn for "

"USA Songwriting Competition
2006 Results
. , , USA Songwriting Competition, Folk Category First Prize , , , - , , USA Songwriting Competition, Overall First Prize , , , -

References

External links

* *
The Waifs
''Rolling Stone'' page
Spoonfed UK Article about Shepherd Bush Empire ShowUSA Songwriting Competition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waifs, The Musical groups established in 1992 Australian rock music groups Australian folk music groups ARIA Award winners Western Australian musical groups