The Waifs
are a folk rock band from Western Australia. The original members of The Waifs are Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocals), and sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals). Their current tour band also includes Ben Franz (bass) and David Ross MacDonald (drums).
Their 2003 album Up All Night
reached double platinum in Australia and reached the top 5 of the Australian album charts, and the band won four ARIA Awards in October 2003. [1] The Waifs have enjoyed two top fifty singles in Australia, the London Still EP
in 2002 and Bridal Train EP
in 2004. The band so impressed Bob Dylan when they supported him on his 2003 Australian tour [2] that he asked them to join him in his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival [3]
The Waifs own Jarrah Records, an independent label with John Butler of The John Butler Trio, and their records are released in Australia under that label. [4]
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THE WAIFS TICKETS
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History
1992-1996: Fisherman's Daughters (The Early Years)
The Waifs formed in 1992. Donna Simpson and Vikki Simpson (now Vikki Thorn), sisters from
Albany, were touring as a duo called Colours.
[5] They met up with Josh Cunningham while playing in
Broome. The band changed its name to the Waifs a year later and commenced touring extensively in Australia.
[6]
1996-2000: First album releases
In 1996, the band recorded their first, eponymous, album
The Waifs
with Jen Anderson and
Mick Thomas of folk rock band
Weddings Parties Anything and commenced a year long tour. The second album
Shelter Me
was recorded in
Adelaide and was supported by another tour.
The band released its third album
Sink or Swim
in 2000 and started to play at folk festivals in Canada and the US. In 2001, the band made its first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival; the
Newport Daily News acclaiming them as "the darlings of [that] year's festival". The growing international reputation of the band led to the release of
Sink or Swim
in the United States in 2002.
2000-2007: Chart success and Up All Night
The success of the
London Still
EP sparked the success of the fourth Waifs album
Up All Night
in Australia. Released in January 2003, it debuted in the Australian charts at number 3. The album was certified gold 4 weeks after release, went platinum in October 2003 and double platinum in February 2004. The
Lighthouse EP
was released in April 2003 as a second single.
Vikki Simpson told the
Sydney Morning Herald
on
October 1,
2003 that the success of the album had taken the band by surprise. "We were nonchalant about releasing albums. We'd released three already and had learned not to put too much hope behind an album because you're usually disappointed. So it was a surprise, but we took it in our stride. It was all very exciting but it didn't seem real to us because it was such a new experience."
The band supported Bob Dylan on his Australian tour in March 2003. Dylan was so impressed by the band that he offered them the support slot on his tour of North America in 2003. This was a great thrill for the group as the band started off playing Bob Dylan tunes before they started writing their own songs. In 2003, the band also participated in
Big Day Out, an Australian travelling
music festival.
The Waifs won ARIA Awards for Best Roots and Blues Album and Best Independent Album in the 2003 awards. In addition, they won the awards for Best Produced Album and Best Engineered Album. Chris Thompson was the Producer and Engineer for "Up All Night", as well as singles "London Still", "Bridal Train" and the live double album "A Brief History...".
[7] Lighthouse also reached number 12 in the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2003.
The
Bridal Train EP
was released in March 2004 and made the Australian Top 50 singles charts in April 2004. The title track tells the story of Vikki and Donna Simpson's grandmother, a
war-bride of a sailor in the US Navy. She boarded the so-called "Bridal Train" between
Perth,
Western Australia, and Sydney to travel to San Francisco to meet up again with her husband. The Waifs finally released a highly awaited double live album in November 2004 which debuted in the top 30 of the Australia album charts. Vikki Simpson gave birth to a baby boy, Noah, on Saturday
June 19,
2004.
After the Asian
Boxing Day Tsunami, The Waifs joined a cast of Australian artists to perform at the
WaveAid concert in
Sydney to help raise funds for the relief effort.
[8]
2007: Sun, Dirt, Water
In 2005 The Waifs continued with their well earned rest and commenting on a new album said "We won't be going into the studio any time soon. Our collective focus is too outside of music and career right now to put out an album."
The Waifs also announced via their
MySpace that "there are some things in the
pipeline. First of all a new record to be recorded sometime in the new year." On
February 8,
2007, the Waifs issued a press release on their website with information about the new album:
In May 2007, Donna Simpson announced that the title of the band's newest album would be
Sun Dirt Water
. The album was released on
September 1,
2007 in Australia. The album debuted and peaked at #2 on the
ARIA Album Chart in September 2007.
The Waifs performed across Australia in the spring of 2007 on the
SunDirtWater
tour to many sold out venues. The tour started on
September 19 in
Broome, and ended on
October 26 at Legs 11, a concert for breast cancer research. In November, 2007, The Waifs announced that they would be collaborating with the
John Butler Trio in the "Union of Soul Tour" of January, 2009. The short tour had five concerts, with shows taking place in various cities across
Western Australia including
Denmark,
Margaret River,
Swan Valley, and two gigs at the
Fremantle Arts Centre.
Members
- Joshua Cunningham — guitars, vocals, mandolin, ukulele, dobro (1992-present)
- Donna Simpson — vocals, acoustic guitar (1992-present)
- Vikki Thorn (nee Simpson) — vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar (1992-present)
- Ben Franz — electric bass, double bass, dobro (2002-present)
- David Ross MacDonald — drums, percussion (2002-present)
- Mikel Azpiroz - keyboards (2009)
- Jen Anderson - violin (1996, 1998)
Discography
Awards and nominations
ARIA Awards
The Waifs have won four
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
Awards from thirteen nominations.
[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
Year
| Nominated work
| Award
| Result
|
2002
| London Still
| Best Independent Release
| Nominated
|
Breakthrough Artist - Single
| Nominated
|
2003
| Up All Night
| Album of the Year
| Nominated
|
Best Blues and Roots Album
| Won
|
Best Group
| Nominated
|
Best Independent Release
| Won
|
Breakthrough Artist - Album
| Nominated
|
Chris Thompson for Up All Night
| Engineer of the Year
| Won
|
Producer of the Year
| Won
|
Lighthouse
| Single of the Year
| Nominated
|
2004
| Bridal Train
| Best Independent Release
| Nominated
|
2005
| A Brief History...
| Best Independent Release
| Nominated
|
2008
| Sun Dirt Water
| Best Blues and Roots Album
| Nominated
|
Other awards
Year
| Nominated work
| Award
| Result
|
2003
| "Lighthouse"
| APRA Music Awards, Song of the Year
| Nominated
|
2005
| Rob Bygott (Bard Films) for "Bridal Train"
| West Australian Screen Awards, Best Music Video
| Won
|
2006
| Vikki Thorn for "Bridal Train" [16]
| USA Songwriting Competition, Folk Category First Prize
| Won
|
USA Songwriting Competition, Overall First Prize
| Won
|
Ben Franz
| WAMi Awards Best Bassist
| Nominated
|
2007
| Ben Franz
| WAMi Awards Best Bassist
| Nominated
|
Vikki Thorn for "Sun Dirt Water"
| WAM Song of the Year, Professional
| Won
|
2008
| Sun Dirt Water
| WAMi Awards Most Popular Single/EP
| Nominated
|
2009
| "Sun Dirt Water"
| APRA Music Awards, Blues & Roots 'Work of the Year'
| Nominated
|
"Stay"
| Nominated
|
References
- The Waifs Discography - Up All Night
- The Herald Sun: Waifs savour the Dylan moment
- BobDylan.com: The Roving Gambler at Scenic Newport
- Jarrah Records Webpage
- The Wifs
- Country Music Television - Waifs Biography
- Sydney Morning Herald - The Waifs
- Waveaid - The Tsunami relief concert
- http://thewaifs.com/Media.htm
- Winners by Artist: Waifs, The
- ARIA Awards - History: Winners by Year 2002: 16th Annual ARIA Awards
- ARIA Awards - History: Winners by Year 2003: 17th Annual ARIA Awards
- ARIA Awards - History: Winners by Year 2004: 18th Annual ARIA Awards
- ARIA Awards - History: Winners by Year 2005: 19th Annual ARIA Awards
- ARIA Awards - History: Winners by Year 2008: 22nd Annual ARIA Awards
- USA Songwriting Competition, 2006 Results.