The Wailin' Jennys are a Canadian music group. They have released several albums and received two
Juno Awards. The group has been featured several times on the
American Public Media program ''
A Prairie Home Companion
''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'' and their album ''
Firecracker'' peaked at number two on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Bluegrass charts, in 2006. Their album ''
Bright Morning Stars
''Bright Morning Stars'' is the fourth full-length album from Canadian folk trio The Wailin' Jennys
The Wailin' Jennys are a Canadian music group. They have released several albums and received two Juno Awards. The group has been featured ...
'' peaked at number one on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Bluegrass charts, in 2011, and ''
Fifteen'' peaked at number one on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Bluegrass charts, in 2017.
History
The group was founded in 2002, when a
Winnipeg guitar shop called Sled Dog Music brought
Ruth Moody,
Nicky Mehta and
Cara Luft together for a joint performance. The show was well received and the owner, John Sharples, scheduled a follow-up performance
and suggested they "go on tour and call themselves the Wailin' Jennys."
[Notes the 2005-05-21 episode](_blank)
of ''A Prairie Home Companion'', viewed 2006-10-10 The group's name is a
pun on the name of country singer
Waylon Jennings.
The band released a self-titled EP and an album, ''40 Days'', in 2004;
The group now consists of soprano
Ruth Moody, mezzo
Nicky Mehta and alto
Heather Masse. In previous years, the Jennys have also toured with
fiddler
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Although in many ...
and
mandolinist Jeremy Penner, who is from Ruth's former band,
Scruj MacDuhk. Other band members have included
Annabelle Chvostek
Annabelle Chvostek (born October 5, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario.
Life and career
Born in Toronto, she is the daughter of Canadian television producer Milan Chvostek (''The Nature of Things'') and journalist ...
, a singer/songwriter from
Montreal, and Ruth Moody's brother Richard on viola and mandolin. Both Penner and Moody have appeared on The Wailin' Jennys' albums. In 2007, Chvostek left the group and was replaced by
Heather Masse, a
Maine-born singer and member of the band Heather & the Barbarians.
The Wailin' Jennys have won two
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
s for
Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group): in
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 ...
for ''
40 Days
''40 Days'' is the debut full-length album from Canadian folk trio The Wailin' Jennys. The lineup of the group at the time was Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Cara Luft. This was the last recording to feature Luft, who left the group the followin ...
'' and in
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 ...
for ''Bright Morning Stars''. They were also nominated for the same award for ''
Firecracker'' in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
.
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wailin Jennys, The
Musical groups established in 2002
Musical groups from Winnipeg
Canadian alternative country groups
Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group winners
2002 establishments in Manitoba
Canadian indie folk groups
Red House Records artists