Ruth Moody is an Australian-born soprano singer-songwriter and member of the 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 several times on the American Public Media program ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and their album ''Fire ...

Biography

Moody grew up in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Manitoba, Canada, with her parents, Charles and Marcelline, and three siblings, older brother Richard (The Bills), older sister Jane and younger sister Rachel. She was trained classically from the age of four but unlike her two sisters and brother she did not take to a stringed instrument, and from her mid-teens began to train vocally instead. In 1993 she began to study English and French literature at university with the intent of becoming a teacher like both her parents. She changed her course in 1996 and decided to forge a life out of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

instead. Moody's first band was the Juno-nominated roots band

Scruj MacDuhk Scruj MacDuhk was a Juno-nominated Canadian folk music group based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band included singer-songwriter Ruth Moody, current member of the Wailin' Jennys, and also Clawhammer banjo player/vocalist Leonard Podolak, who went ...

, for whom she was lead singer from 1997 until the group's break up in 2001. After this split Ruth began to focus on her songwriting and picked up the guitar, adding it to her repertoire of piano, bodhran, accordion and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

. It was also at this time that she started a musical collaboration with

Nicky Mehta Nicky Mehta is a mezzo singer-songwriter, and member of Canadian folk trio The Wailin' Jennys. Early life Before fully entering into a life of music, Mehta attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario where she attained an honours degree i ...

and Cara Luft. In 2002 the three took to the stage as

. The Jennys (now Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and New York-based Heather Masse) have won international critical acclaim and numerous awards including

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 o ...

s for their albums ''

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 foll ...

'' and ''Bright Morning Stars''. They have toured in North America, Europe and Australia. Since 2002 Moody has released four full-length albums and an EP with The Wailin' Jennys, and an album with two ex-members of Scruj MacDuhk, Jeremy Penner and Oliver Swain, called ''South Bound''. In July 2002 she released a solo EP called ''Blue Muse'' and in April 2010 she released her first full-length solo album, ''The Garden'', produced by David Travers-Smith. ''The Garden'' was critically acclaimed and nominated for a Juno award, a Western Canadian Music Award, and three Canadian Folk Music Awards. In 2013 Moody released a new full-length solo album entitled ''These Wilder Things'' which included guitar and vocal support from

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

among others. She also released a split 7-inch single with Old Man Luedecke in the spring of 2014, entitled "Far and Wide". The album was once again produced by David Travers-Smith. In 2015, Moody recorded a duet with

entitled "Wherever I Go", which subsequently appeared on his 2015 release, '' Tracker''. She has toured as direct support for

a number of times in Europe, and has appeared on stage with him for a handful of shows in the US. Since the release of "These Wilder Things" in 2013 Ruth Moody has been touring non-stop throughout the world, as both a solo artist with her own band, or with The Wailin' Jennys. Moody has received recognition for several of her compositions in the USA Songwriting Competition and the

International Songwriting Competition The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), founded in 2002, is an annual songwriting contest for both amateur and professional songwriters. There is no physical event to attend as the competition is held online, and anyone in the world can en ...

. In April 2012 she won first prize in the International Songwriting Competition (Gospel Category) for her song "Storm Comin".

Discography

Scruj MacDuhk

* ''Live at the West End Cultural Centre'' (1997) * ''The Road to Canso'' (1999)

Solo

* ''Blue Muse'' (2002) – Solo EP * ''The Garden'' (2010) – Solo album * ''These Wilder Things'' (2013) – Solo album

The Wailin' Jennys

* ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

Firecracker A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...

'' (2006) * '' Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House'' (2009) * '' Bright Morning Stars'' (2011) * '' Fifteen'' (2017)

Other recordings

* ''South Bound'' (2003) – album by Moody Penner and Swain * ''Putumayo – Women of the World Acoustic'' (2007) – with the Wailin' Jennys – compilation featuring Moody's "One Voice" * ''Down at the Sea Hotel'' (2007) – with the Wailin' Jennys – compilation of lullabies featuring

Red House Records Red House Records is an independent folk and Americana record label in St. Paul, Minnesota. The label was founded in 1983 by Bob Feldman after seeing a performance by Iowa folk singer Greg Brown. Origin The label is named for a farmhouse in I ...

artists * ''

Privateering A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

'' (2012) – guest vocals with

* Far and Wide (2014) – split 7-inch with Old Man Luedecke * '' Tracker'' (2015) – duet with Mark Knopfler on "Wherever I Go"; backing vocals on "Skydiver" and "Long Cool Girl"

References

External links

Ruth Moody
official website
The Wailin' Jennys
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Ruth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Bodhrán players Canadian folk violinists Canadian women folk guitarists Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian women violinists and fiddlers Musicians from Winnipeg The Wailin' Jennys members