The Wailin' Jennys are a Canadian music group. A 2011 review says they "sing like siblings and play like seasoned veterans". They have released several albums and received two

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

. The group has been featured several times on the

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

program ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was 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 ...

''.

History

The group was founded in 2002, when a

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

guitar shop called Sled Dog Music brought

Ruth Moody Ruth Moody is a Canadian soprano singer-songwriter and member of the folk trio the Wailin' Jennys. Moody was born in Australia and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with her parents Charles and Marcelline, older brother Richard (The Bills) ...

, Nicky Mehta and

Cara Luft Cara Luft is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist and clawhammer banjo player, and founding member of the Canadian folk trio The Wailin' Jennys. She returned to her solo career in 2005. Early life and education Luft was born 27 May 1974 and ...

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
of ''A Prairie Home Companion'', viewed 2006-10-10 The group's name is a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

on the name of country singer

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

. Jennings died the same month, causing anger at a music conference where they were playing. "They thought we were making fun of him or something", says Luft. However, the band never expected to last for more than a few shows, seeing they were all part-time musicians. The band released a self-titled EP and an album, ''40 Days'', in 2004. The group now consists of soprano

, mezzo Nicky Mehta and alto

Heather Masse Heather Masse is an American alto singer and member of the Canadian folk trio The Wailin' Jennys. She was born and grew up in Maine, and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music as a jazz singer. She is currently based in Taos, New Mexico ...

. In previous years, the Jennys have also toured with

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

and

mandolinist A mandolin (, ; 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 eight strings. A ...

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 I ...

, a singer/songwriter from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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

, a

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

-born singer and member of the band Heather & the Barbarians. The Wailin' Jennys have won two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group): in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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 follo ...

'' and in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

for ''Bright Morning Stars''. They were also nominated for the same award for ''

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 ...

'' in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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 Canadian all-female bands All-female folk groups