The Wailin’ Jennys Celebrate Tom Petty

Tom Petty’s death left a musical and spiritual hole in the lives of many artists. Chris Hillman, whose latest album, Bidin’ My Time, Petty produced, dedicated his recent show at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago to Petty. Hillman closes his album with his own version of Petty’s “Wildflowers,” and many other artists have included this song in their sets since Petty’s death.

The Wailiin’ Jennys (Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody, Heather Masse) have been playing the song in their sets for a few years, and they include their haunting, ethereally beautiful version of it on their new album Fifteen (out October 27 on Red House Records). Musically spare, the song features the group’s gorgeously layered harmonies, and the Jennys’ version cascades over us like a purifying rain.

Ruth Moody talks about Tom Petty and their decision to record the song: “We are all big Tom Petty fans. His songs have provided soundtracks to phases of all of our lives. I think a lot of people feel that way. His death is a huge loss to music and like so many others we will miss him greatly. This song has always been a favourite – we jammed it in a hotel room a few years ago and the arrangement came together really naturally. Our fans have been asking us to record it ever since, so we finally did.”