Following family legacy

Juno-winner Jenny Whiteley member of a talented clan

A year ago, Toronto-based singer/songwriter Jenny Whiteley caused a stir at the Juno Awards with her victory in the Best Solo Roots & Traditional Recording category. She beat out such high-profile artists as Neil Young and Jane Siberry, but almost missed her moment of glory.
"I went there with my manager and friends for the pre-show reception," Jenny recalls. "The early awards started at 6.30, but at 6.25 we were about to have a quick pint. Then as I was walking to my seat, they started to announce my category. I hadn't let myself think for a moment before that that I could win it, but as they started announcing, I had a premonition. I kept walking, dropped my purse and my jaw, and walked right up on stage to collect my award. I didn't have a chance to get nervous at all!"
The well-deserved honour brought both a career boost and pleasure to Whiteley. "Knowing that a bunch of people in this area of the business decides that your album deserves an award as best of its kind is very gratifying."
She won for her self-titled debut album, a compelling country-folk record that complements her pure voice and a poetic songwriting style. Jenny Whiteley is the first release under her name, but she is far from a novice.
She grew up surrounded by music, as she is the daughter and niece of, respectively, Chris and Ken Whiteley, two of Canada's most respected folk and blues musicians. She and her guitar-playing brother Dan frequently performed with the elder Whiteleys, but she gave the academia a shot too.
"I took anthropology at university in Montreal, and going for a PhD. seemed possible. I really enjoyed that life. I always knew I would do music, but without realizing I would do it full-time until about seven years ago."
A turning point for Jenny's future career came a decade ago. "When I was 20, my mother gave me my first guitar for Christmas. I had a house largely to myself, so I started learning it and then began writing songs. I wrote four in the first six months, and still perform two of them."
The siren call of music lured Whiteley back to Toronto. She and Dan helped put together bluegrass band Heartbreak Hill, who soon became favourites on the club and festival circuit. Their sole recording earned a Juno nomination, and Whiteley's songwriting chops were honed by that experience.
The group disbanded in 2000, but Whiteley still performs weekly with bluegrass combo Crazy Strings in a popular residency at The Silver Dollar. "It's an interesting underground scene," she says of the genre's revival. "The average age of the audience is under 35, and that's wonderful."
Rather than cash in on the phenomenon, Jenny decided to spread her creative wings and go solo. "In Heartbreak Hill, most of the songs were co-writes by Dottie Cormier and myself, and we threw in a few solo tunes. I was very focused on trying to write something that would fit the bluegrass genre and the band's instrumentation. I wasn't interested in any kind of fusion approach. As a result, I had all these songs hanging around that weren't bluegrass and that I wanted to do something with. I was hearing different instrumentation, different treatments, when I was writing those songs."
The tunes on Jenny Whiteley are all solo compositions, save for one co-write with close friend Fred Eaglesmith, a cover of his "Soda Machine," and a joint composition with Cormier and Eaglesmith ("75").
Whiteley admits she is not the most prolific of writers. "I write maybe one song a month I really like, but I have written very few songs that I have ever had to trash. I love to co-write, any time, any place. Finishing songs is one of my favourite things in the world."
One current co-writer is her guitarist/bassist, Joey Wright. The pair got married last month, so it'll be interesting to see how this affects Jenny's writing. "More and more I am writing personal songs, whereas before I wrote a lot of story songs. The personal ones are harder to write, but I like them better as I'm putting more of myself out there."
Jenny Whiteley is released via Festival. She plays Rancho Relaxo on Feb. 11. Crazy Strings regularly play at The Silver Dollar.

Publication Date: 2002-02-03
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=914