The Wailin’ Jennys kick off their spring tour in St. Paul!
Last week The Wailin’ Jennys kicked off their first tour in more than a year and a half at The O’Shaughnessy on the campus of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. The nearly sold out theater was brimming over with anticipation and merely 5 rows back I was among the stoked masses.
I had grand plans of taking down the whole set list and taking notes about the different songs, but about two songs into the show realized that that effort was futile. The Jennys’ impeccable harmonies are just too hypnotic to think about anything else but the musical magic happening before you. So, I kicked back and took it in.
They opened the set with Heather Masse’s “Bird Song,” which not only appears on Heather’s solo album, but will also be one of the tracks on the forthcoming Jennys record. Pulling from a from all over their catalog including a stellar off-mic rendition of “Summertime.” A timely tune for us Minnesotans who are sun starved. The song is on their Live at the Mauch Chunk Operahouse, but seeing it done live is like seeing a movie in the theater versus at home. It’s all in the experience.
The Jennys pulled out some of the new tunes from their forthcoming album. Nicky Mehta, 7 months a mother of twins, pulled out a beautiful lullaby performed on the ukulele which I hope ends up on the new album. One of Ruth Moody’s new contributions is “Can’t Keep a Storm from Coming” is absolutely amazing. To be honest, I’m not sure if that’s the actual title, but man… it’s a hook that stays in your head. It’s also highlighted in their featurette video on the making of the new album.
A highlight for me was their take on Ella Jenkins’ “Racing With the Sun” which is on Mauch Chunk, but their bouncing harmonies and Heather’s seemingly endless range make this tune a stand out. Other highlights included “Driving,” “Bring Me Li’l Water Silvy,” and of course “One Voice” as well as an encore featuring my favorite Jennys tune, “Glorybound.”
Jeremy Penner as always joined them on mandolin and fiddle tearing it up on some utterly searing solos.
Even though this was their first show in more than a year, The Jennys had a comfortable looseness on stage that made them all the more captivating. Sometimes falling victim to lost words, they played through like pros and only drew laughter and giant grins from each other. They just looked like they were having fun up there. At one point to open one of their new songs (I forget what it was called) Jeremy played a beautiful mandolin solo, unfortunately it was the wrong chord. Everyone laughed it off and he hit reset and started again and played flawlessly on just a gorgeous song.
The evening ended and the hordes of exhilarated fans stormed the merch table and formed a healthy line around the stairwell. I personally can’t wait for the new album (yet to be titled) and I know the 1500+ fans at the show are chomping at the bit for it too. The Jennys are on tour throughout the spring and if you can see them, get your tickets now!