By Glenn Rifkin

Penning some of the most beautiful and harmonious tunes for the Wailin’ Jennys over the group’s two decades, Ruth Moody always envisioned a solo career to complement her Jennys output.

For Ruth Moody, the angel-voiced singer/songwriter and founding member of The Wailin’ Jennys, there always seems to be endless inspiration but not enough time. Penning some of the most beautiful and harmonious tunes for the Jennys over the group’s two decades, Moody always envisioned a solo career to complement her Jennys output. She recorded and released two solo albums: The Garden in 2010 and These Wilder Things in 2013. She jumped at the chance to contribute to two Mark Knopfler albums and a 2015 European tour with the former Dire Straits frontman.

When she took a long sabbatical in 2016 to start a family, opportunities to get back in the studio became elusive. “Parenthood was all consuming, as it turned out,” Moody recalled. The best laid plans were cast aside.

By 2022, Moody had written an album’s worth of new songs. “I felt an urgency to get these songs out of my system and out into the world,” she said. Getting into the Sound Emporium studio in Nashville in 2023, she recorded ten new tunes, all of which chronicle her journey since her last solo effort. She worked with producer Dan Knobler and gathered some of her favorite musicians to join her.

Wanderer (Blue Muse Records, distributed by True North Records), which debuts this month, is Moody’s new effort, even as she tours with the Wailin’ Jennys and carves out her own limited tour at the same time. The album’s first single, “Seventeen,” is out now. PopMatters calls the tune “a sweeping, swirling mix of nostalgia surrounding young love gone awry and what could have been, with striking vocals that conjure wistful images of 1960s-era Joni Mitchell.”

Moody talked with AF about her new solo record and life as a troubadour mother. She performs at The Cabot Theater in Beverly with the Jennys on May 8.

Arts Fuse: This album seemed to be on the verge of happening for a long time before you walked into the studio to record it.

Ruth Moody: I had my son in 2016 and I remember thinking I would record while I was pregnant. But the days didn’t line up. I put it off and I was gearing up to do it again — I had the songs — but then the pandemic happened.

AF: How would you describe the new album?

Moody: The songs are very personal, about love and heartbreak and motherhood. About grief and resilience.  It’s personal, but I think it will resonate with most people….at least I hope it does. It’s very much about the human experience, being alive and trying to figure out what we’re doing and how to be our best selves. It’s about how to navigate some of the complicated aspects of being alive.

AF: A lot of these songs were written a while ago. How does the collection feel now?

Moody: I carried these around with me for so long, they’re sort of different to me now than last year when I was recording them. It’s an interesting thing about songs. They change as you change. They are not just yours anymore. It’s a bit of a cliché, but you send them out, you let them go and set them free. I’m right in that phase right now and it’s really exciting.

Singer/songwriter Ruth Moody. Photo: Kaitlyn Raitz

AF: Is there a cut that you feel particularly strongly about?

Moody: One that sticks out in The Way Lovers Move. We only played it twice in the studio and some real magic happened. The band was so sensitive in the way they listened and understood the dynamics of the song. The delicate nature of it was remarkable. It’s one of those things you hope for in the studio, that you’ll have those magical moments. You don’t have to fix anything or second guess anything. You know the magic is there. It happened with this song.

AF: Was the experience different from your earlier albums?

Moody: In the past, I’ve had a perfectionist side. It’s taken me a while to just be at one with my performance and embrace the imperfections and flaws and be completely in the moment. I feel like I did that with this record.

AF: You have such flawless synergy with the Jennys — Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse. How do you know when you write a song for the Jennys versus one for yourself? And is it hard to juggle the two commitments?

Moody: We don’t tour as relentlessly as we did before we all became parents. That allowed us to have more time for other projects. It’s definitely possible to juggle it. We started as three individual songwriters with individual careers. It’s usually pretty obvious when someone writes a song. If it calls for harmonies or has some anthemic chorus — that makes it a song for the Jennys.

AF: You created your own label to do this album. What has that been like?

Moody: I did create a label and named it Blue Muse after my very first record. I couldn’t find the right fit for this record and I decided to put it out on my own label. It’s been a massive learning experience — definitely a lot of work. But it’s very cool to learn how it all works. I’ll be very much prepared for the next record.

Glenn Rifkin is a veteran journalist and author who has covered business for many publications including the New York Times for nearly 35 years. He has written about music, film, theater, food and books for the Arts Fuse. His book Future Forward: Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern, the Visionary Who Circled the Globe and Built a Technology Media Empire was published by McGraw-Hill.