The Wailin’ Jennys were never supposed to last more than a single night. Ruth Moody pitched the idea to Nicky Mehta at the 2001 Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the two planned one performance: a January 2002 evening at a tiny guitar shop in Winnipeg, a one-time collaboration between solo careers with no design for what followed. What grew from that accidental beginning, after years on the road and once alto Heather Masse joined in 2007, was something the trio’s own biography calls “an achingly perfect vocal sound” — three distinct voices that have spent more than two decades learning how to find each other.
About the Show
The trio brings that sound to the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston on Thursday, November 19, with The Mammals (Mike Merenda and Ruth Ungar) opening the evening. Moody (soprano) carries a classically trained voice and fluency across guitar, accordion, banjo, and bodhrán; she was previously lead singer of the Juno-nominated roots group Scruj MacDuhk. Mehta (mezzo), a self-taught guitarist and classically trained dancer, was raised on ’70s AM radio. Masse (alto) is a Jazz Voice graduate of the New England Conservatory and a longtime fixture on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion. Together they are two-time Juno Award winners: 40 Days, their 2004 debut, took the prize in 2005; Bright Morning Stars, released in 2011 and produced by Mark Howard (whose credits include Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris), won in 2012. The intervening Firecracker charted on Billboard for more than 56 weeks. NPR, reviewing the group at Newport Folk Festival, called them “more than just impeccable bluegrass harmonizers; they’re also terrific bandleaders” who treat traditional material as something still growing. The 2026–2027 North American tour carries more than 20 dates; their September run at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia sold out. Ruth Ungar, who opens the evening alongside Mike Merenda as The Mammals, is the daughter of composer Jay Ungar; the duo has been among the most respected voices in Northeast folk for 25 years.
Venue & Logistics
The Ulster Performing Arts Center sits at 601 Broadway in Kingston, in the Hudson Valley. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. and is presented by Bardavon Presents with DSP Shows.
Tickets
Tickets are $45, $55, $65, and $75, available online through Ticketmaster or in person at the Bardavon and UPAC box offices Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Buy tickets