The Original Jenny Whiteley

Two time Juno award winner Jenny Whiteley is due back in Canada after a year of living in France, and sporting a brand new recording. "The Original Jenny Whiteley" takes a traditional route in a nod to Jenny's musical pedigree and her father's and uncle's well-known band from the 70s, "The Original Sloth Band."The recording was made at H. Chris Brown's Wolfe Island Ontario's "The Post Office" studio with Jenny's pals and musical comrades Sam Allison and Teillard Frost: aka Sheesham and Lotus. The three musicians spent some long days together in Brown's down home recording space and simply played until they got a performance they liked. "It was the most natural, organic, live recording I've been part of ", Whiteley says. "The boys were full of ideas and great energy...we just picked and sang into the wee hours until we got it right." The songs on "The Original Jenny Whiteley" range from bluegrass (Whiteley is a founding member of Toronto's High Lonesome Wednesdays with her band Heartbreak Hill), jug band music (through the 80s and 90s, Jenny and brother Dan were part of Junior Jug Band, a family band with dad, Chris, and uncle Ken), to old time and early jazz (the soundtrack to Whiteley's childhood). There are a fistful of new original songs here, too! Along with vocals and guitar, the songs included here feature jug, banjo, harmonica, fiddle, bones, jaw harp and some pretty unbelievable whistling! From the opening hit of professional reality in Chris Coole's "$100" referencing the working musician's lot, to the a cappella Georgia Sea Islands inspired "Things Are Coming My Way", featuring Chris and Ken Whiteley, this record is full of surprises (comme une chanson en francais) and a gem of a collection.