Great Barrington — The Wailin’ Jennys appeared at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on November 23 and blindsided a good portion of the sold-out crowd, most of whom ought to have known what they were in for. But if you haven’t heard the Jennys in a while, it is easy to forget how exquisitely lush their vocal and instrumental sound is—lush and yet beautifully spare. A Jennys performance amounts to three things: great songs, tasteful and meticulously polished arrangements, and staggeringly precise vocal and instrumental performances.
The Jennys were a hit with listeners whenever they appeared on the Prairie Home Companion radio show early this century, but they have matured since then, in all the best ways, and motherhood seems to have given their music a sweetly heroic quality that is both inspiring and endearing.
The group has been playing together for over two decades, and a very quick glance tells us the Jennys have been taking care of themselves well during that time. Most notably, they have all kept their voices clear and supple. Their tone is as pure and sweet as it was when they started. This bodes well for audiences another 20 years hence.
It would be inaccurate to describe the Jennys merely as a group of women who sing pretty three-part harmonies. There are quite a few groups like that (e.g., tributes to the Andrews Sisters), and none of them come anywhere near the Jennys’ inspired songwriting and musicianship. The truth is, they are a band of singer-songwriters with voices and chops sufficient to lead their own bands and make their own records, which they do from time to time (e.g. Heather Masse’s “Bird Song,” Nicky Mehta’s “Weather Vane,” Ruth Moody’s “Wanderer”). Lots of people can sing difficult material well. But the Jennys’ vocal arrangements are the secret sauce that has drawn audiences for 20 years. And it separates them from everyone else in the music business.
The Jennys approach to arranging and performing songs comports with the pop-production ethic made famous by Bonnie Raitt’s producer Don Was: “Serve the song.” That is exactly what the Jennys and their side players do, and nobody does it better.
When the Jennys perform new song material, their delivery is so elegant and winsome that audiences quickly lose track of what’s new and what’s old. Even with a few new songs tossed in, their sets have the feel of a greatest hits show, because they can cherry-pick the best songs from six albums, more than they can fit into a single concert. One killer song after another has a way of slaying an audience.
The side players on Saturday were guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Sherman and Ruth Moody’s brother Richard, who plays fiddle as smoothly and soulfully as people like Alison Krauss and Sarah Watkins: Every note pleases. Sherman’s playing works like magic within the Jennys’ arrangements.
Their moniker was a humorous play on the name Waylon Jennings, but it seems the Wailin’ Jennys have eclipsed their namesake. In terms of sheer beauty, their music often surpasses that of many of their heroes.
