Everything about The Waifs totally explained
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 incudes 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. 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 that he asked them to join him in his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the
Newport Folk Festival
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.
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. 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.
1996-2000: First album releases
In 1996, the band recorded their first self-titled 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 traveling
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...".
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.
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:
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 autumn 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'd be collaborating with the
John Butler Trio in the "Union of Soul Tour" of January, 2008. 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.
Discography
Awards and nominations
Awards
Nominations
2008 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Single/EP for "Sun Dirt Water"
2005 ARIA Awards, Best Blues and Roots Album for A Brief History...
2005 ARIA Awards, Best Independent Release for A Brief History...
2004 ARIA Awards, Best Independent Release for Bridal Train
2003 ARIA Awards, Album Of The Year for Up All Night
2003 ARIA Awards, Single Of The Year for Lighthouse
2003 ARIA Awards, Best Group for Up All Night
2003 ARIA Awards, Breakthrough Artist - Album for Up All Night
2002 ARIA Awards, Breakthrough Artist - Single for London Still
2002 ARIA Awards, Best Independent Release for London StillFurther Information
Get more info on 'The Waifs'.
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