Every day til the end of December we'll review one of our 2011 DC favorites: Some artists have the ability to simply transcend their genre, creating music with enormous appeal that knows no set boundaries or limitations. For us, no one exemplifies this better than the acclaimed roots/folk trio The Wailin' Jennys -- Nicki Mehta, Ruth Moody and Heather Masse. With their first new studio recordings in four years, Bright Morning Stars , out February 8 via Red House, the mostly Canadian trio (newest member Masse is from [...]
Though it falls on Columbus Day, Canadian Thanksgiving Day seems relatively untainted by the parallel history of white privilege and savagery which have come to typify the two American holidays with which it shares either date or name. Rather, though giving thanks in the territories is still partially grounded in the European exploration of territories and provinces, Thanksgiving Day in Canada was originally established as a harvest holiday, pure and simple, first as a natural extension of the human need to celebrate the cornucopia, and subsequently by proclamation, in 1957. My connection to Canadian Thanksgiving is familial: [...]
Newport Folk 2011 Photos by Mark Jenko Wailin' Jennys - Storm Comin' The are Hundreds of Stories At Newport Folk, This is But One.... With a flourish of instrumentation, hand claps and vocal harmony, The Wailin' Jennys opened [...]
Today's Friday Mixtape comes to you from Jan and it's entitled PaperPlanes. It's very much softer and slower . There will be no rump shaking around here this week. Thanks to everyone else who sent in their respective mixtapes. This was my favorite for the week if only because it's an auditory exploration of Also there is no full length streaming version of this just individual mp3s. Play this week's mixtape: 13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed - A Silver Mt. Zion [...]
A stripped-down masterclass in close harmony singing Beautiful three-part harmonies, country-inflected melodies, acoustic arrangements punctuated by occasional electric accents -- these elements have earned the Wailin' Jennys a loyal fan base. Their two previous albums, 40 Days and Firecracker, solidified their status as alt-country divas, and nothing in their latest release, Bright Morning Stars, will undermine that. The three voices of Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Heather Masse intertwine in impeccable harmony, with each song perfectly suited to the singers' strengths. This...
Bright Morning Stars is the fourth album to come from this incredibly talented trio, the Wailin' Jennys were formed after a chance meeting for a one-off in store performance at a guitar shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, back 2004 they released their first full-length album 40 Days which won them a Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, the follow up Firecracker was equally well received spending over a year on the Billboard bluegrass charts, with the departure of Annabelle Chvostek New York based Heather Masse joined the group to record Bright [...]
On July 25th, 1965, one of the most fabled concert moments in history occurred when Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI. In homage to that man's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," this year's George Wein's Newport Folk Festival line-up was revealed with the help of fans turning over cards displaying the artists' names. And like years past, those names make one hell of a lineup. The Decemberists, Emmylou Harris, and Elvis Costello (solo acoustic) will all make return appearances, this time as headliners. Other familiar faces making a [...]
It's almost too easy to overlook The Wailin' Jennys . Everyone wants to find the new buzz band in the hottest made up genre, and as a result, we let timeless melodies and stop-you-in-your-tracks vocal work slip through our fingers like handfuls of sand. With seemingly limitless talent, a musical appreciation that can make a music critic blush and a style as warm as a summer breeze, you just kind of assume the Jennys have been around forever, and always will be. That's why it's hard to believe it's been almost 6 years [...]
Not sure how I missed The Wailin' Jennys releasing a new album this week. They got Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams) to produce and have a whole slew of Canada's finest joining them: Bill Dillon (Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel), Kevin Breit (Norah Jones), Colin Cripps (Kathleen Edwards), Richard Moody (The Bills) and Jeremy Penner. Recorded in a nice looking shack near Haliburton, Ontario. Check the video below for a behind the scenes and listen/download to the mp3 from their record label ( Red House Records ). Listen: The Wailin' Jennys ∞ Swing [...]
Some artists have the ability to simply transcend their genre, creating music with enormous appeal that knows no set boundaries or limitations. For us, no one exemplifies this better than the acclaimed roots/folk trio The Wailin' Jennys -- Nicki Mehta, Ruth Moody and Heather Masse. With their first new studio recordings in four years, Bright Morning Stars , due February 8 via Red House, the mostly Canadian trio (newest member Masse is from New England) have created an exquisite album of dazzling beauty. Gorgeous, three-part harmonies don't get much better than they do here and with [...]
It's been a while since Gord Downie has come to town, and despite the fact that 90% of the Hip's fans are insufferable idiots no one wants to be around, the man is a Canadian music legend and can pen a song that stands the test of time. Quite unexpectedly, I fell hard for his latest, Walla produced solo effort, The Grand Bounce ( review ), and I have to admit I'm pretty excited about seeing Downie & The Country Miracles - his backing band that includes Morningstar, Clark, Doiron, and Finlayson - in a sit [...]
I have a thing for sweet harmony of any type, but not all harmonies are created equal - or should be. And though there are many factors which can affect how voices blend - from range to accent, from tone to purity of voice - gender pairing has much to do with the fundamental possibilities which can emerge from singing together. More often than not, strong male/female duos and mixed-gender groups produce a study in contrast, leaning heavily on the contrast between their vocal range and tone - see the newest [...]
My friend Julie first introduced me to The Wailin' Jennys , and I'm really grateful to her for that. The Jennys are from Winnipeg, and have influences from Bluegrass, Country, and Traditional Scots-Irish tunes. In a lot of ways, perhaps, it's both apt and misleading to say that the Jennys are a sort of countrified Indigo Girls. But I think that the emphasis on vocal harmonies, and attention to craft, make it a moderately-successful analogy. In any case, their sound features big, goosebump-inducing harmonies, and their performances (as you can see below) are both commanding and gentle. Not the [...]
You know what's tasty this time of year? Smooth, sweet and cool ice cream. I just had some - well a variation on the theme since I can't eat dairy- and it brought to mind another tasty item, cover songs. Since I'm still in too much of a food coma to finish off the post I had started earlier today I am instead sharing with you the musical equivalent of the huge serving of ice cream I just inhaled. These are the top picks from my recent covers acquisitions. So, eat up! I Love You Always [...]
I don't sing my children to sleep as much as I used to. Now that they're older, and need more time to wind down after long days at school and play, bedtime has by necessity shifted to something more solo, wherein we read a story or two, kiss their brows, and then leave them to their own devices, letting them read or listen to audiobooks before they drowse into dreamland at their own pace. It's good to give our children the space to find their own rituals as they grow; important, as a [...]
Downtown Mount Vernon consists of a five-block main street on the western edge of Skagit County, Washington. It is not exactly a hub for the arts, but the townies had been buzzing for weeks about the upcoming Wailin' Jennys appearance at their very own Lincoln Theatre . Posters of the three-piece band from Winnipeg were displayed proudly in just about every window-front—the bookstore, the vacuum store, the barbershop. So it's no surprise that the Wailin' Jennys sold out both their matinee and evening performances on April 10. Why would this [...]
May you live in interesting times , says the old apocryphal proverb and curse, and we do: as I teach my students each December and May, the rise of the digital is in full swing, and even as the window of possibility that digital technologies have wrought begins to close, the power to leverage this new technology and fundamentally wrest society's power back into the hands of the people still theoretically lurks among us - though the Huxleyan tendency towards passivity, and the wont of those in power to work to stay in power, mean the deck is stacked high [...]
Annabelle Chvostek, formerly of the Wailin' Jennys, strikes out on her own in this concert, and shows off her beautiful songs and passionate voice.
Traveling on the information superhighway, you are often forced to move at an autobahn worthy pace; hands gripping the wheel tight with eyes focused forward looking for potential pitfalls instead of enjoying the view. No matter how much you love a record, you need to find a new one for the next day or you have nothing to write about. Unfortunately, that means you almost never have the chance to reflect on what you see in the rear view or make a return trip to a town you wished you could have stayed in for a few extra days. [...]
There's lots of news coming out of The Wailin' Jennys camp these days. The Winnipeg folk rock trio with an awesomely clever name released a live album, Live At the Mauch Chunk Opera House earlier this year and are heading into the studio to record a new record. They'll follow that up with a tour in the spring. But wait, if that's not enough Heather Masse is poised to release her solo album,
Direct Current
Cover Lay Down
the RSL weblog
Friday Mixtape
PopMatters
Beat Surrender
Consequence Of Sound
Herohill
The Late Greats
Shh, Listen...
The World In A Paper Cup
melophobe
Raised on Indie
Snob's Music
mp3: soko – i just want to make it new with you
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
Woah. I think Diplo has just brought Usher back into the...
Music Alliance Pact – February 2012
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
