Ruth Moody

Ruth Moody is a Canadian singer/songwriter with a crystalline soprano and multi-instrumentalist who plays piano, accordion, bodhran, banjo, and guitar. Former lead vocalist with the progressive Canadian roots band Scruj MacDuhk, she is a founding member of folk trio the Wailin' Jennys. Her recording and performing credits number in the dozens, and she has appeared on albums by Mark Knopfler, Aiofe O'Donovan, Allison Russell, and Rodney Crowell, among others. Moody's debut solo album, The Garden, appeared in 2010 on Red House. Following the Wailin' Jennys' Juno-winning Bright Morning Stars in 2011, Moody recorded and released her second Red House offering, These Wilder Things, in 2013. After touring with Mark Knopfler, she took a decade off.Moody was born in Australia to Marcelline, a master musician mother, and Charles, an English teacher father. Her parents emigrated to Canada when she was a year old, and raised her and her three siblings (including musician and older brother Richard Moody (of the Bills), older sister Jane, and younger sister Rachel, on a goat farm. She began studying classical piano at four; unlike her siblings, she did not immediately gravitate toward a stringed instrument. During the mid-'90s, she studied English and French literature; she wanted to be a teacher. Three years later, she radically changed course and decided on a career in folk music.Her first real gig was in 1997, after she won an audition to become lead vocalist of progressive roots ensemble Scruj MacDuhk. Between 1997 and 1999, they issued two Juno-nominated albums in Live at the West End Cultural Centre and The Road to Canso. They split in 2001. Afterwards, Moody focused on songwriting and added the guitar to her instrumental arsenal. She self-released the Blue Muse EP in 2002.She and singer/songwriters mezzo soprano Nicky Mehta and alto Cara Luft, formed the cooperative progressive vocal folk trio the Wailin' Jennys, and issued their eponymously titled, self-released debut EP that year. They followed with the breakthrough 40 Days in 2004; it took home the 2005 Juno award for "Roots & Traditional Album of the Year by a Group" and was Luft's last recording with the trio; she left to resurrect her solo career. Toronto-based singer, songwriter, and producer Anna Chvostek assisted on their second long-player, 2006's Firecracker, which topped the bluegrass charts. The following year, Heather Masse, a formally educated alto jazz vocalist (New England Conservatory of Music) and upright bassist, became their third permanent member. The trio appeared occasionally on the radio program Prairie Home Companion (Masse became a regular) and the trio released its third album, and first on Red House, Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, appeared in 2009 (the same year Masse issued her first solo set, Bird Song). In 2010, Moody recorded her first solo album, The Garden, on Red House to positive reviews internationally. The Wailin' Jennys released Bright Morning Stars in 2011. Following tours of North America and Europe, the trio's members all pursued solo and session work.Moody began her tenure with guitarist/songwriter Mark Knopfler after he appeared on her 2011 album These Wilder Things. The album, like its predecessor, received glowing reviews from fans and critics alike. She also collaborated with the guitarist on his Privateering (2012) and Tracker (2015) albums. Their support tours brought Moody to the attention of music lovers across the globe as she both opened for Knopfler and appeared as a guest in his band. Following the tour, Moody decided to take some time off, but continued to write.In 2017, the Wailin Jennys issued the covers album Fifteen. Recorded in only five days, it hit the top spot on both the Bluegrass and Heatseekers charts, and peaked at number ten on the folk albums chart. That year she also contributed the song "One Voice" to Golden Days, by Brian May and Kerry Ellis. Following North American and European tours, the Wailin' Jennys, whose members now resided in three North American locations, went on hiatus so its members could pursue solo work. Moody spent time with her family, moving between her homes in Vancouver Island and Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next several years she guested on albums by Rose Cousins, Anthony Da Costa, Crowell, and Russell.Moody returned to the spotlight in 2024 with the release of Wanderer on her own Blue Muse Records label. It comprised songs written over the previous decade. Co-produced with Dan Knobler, the set included an all-star cast of singers and players (including National Steel resonator guitarist Joey Landreth) and was mixed by Tucker Martine.
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