New Waifs music
Trio's long music road leads to Somerville

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

By the time The Waifs hit the stage at the Somerville Theater on Saturday, they'll have done 20 concerts in 24 days.

It's the only part of the music business that makes singer-guitarist Josh Cunningham gripe.

"One thing that's harder now is we're traveling overseas, so we've gotta deal with jet lag as well as everything else," says Cunningham, who has spent the last 10 years touring with the singer-guitarist Simpson sisters, Donna and Vikki. "But the worst thing about it is the schedule. You get to the airport, pick up a rental car, and drive straight to soundcheck. A lot of the time a day goes by and you realize you haven't had one full meal. You've just been picking on the run. So it can get a bit grueling sometimes."

But there's nothing harried about "Up All Night" (Jarrah Records), the newest album from the Australian folk-pop band. The CD is filled with beautifully constructed songs, each one delivered with passion or humor or both. Half were written by Cunningham, the rest were split by each sister; none were co-written by any group members.

"Songwriting is such a personal thing," he says. "It's usually a good opportunity for us to get some space away from each other, because we spend so much time in each other's company on the road. You get off the road and go your own way, and that's usually when the songs come out."

The chance to go your own way is a rarity for this constantly working band. Asked where home is, Cunningham jokes, "Home? Let me see, which hotel are we staying at tonight?"

In fact, when they do get back home - he's from Moruya, on Australia's east coast, and his bandmates from Albany on the west coast - they usually hang out at their parents' homes.

"We don't get to see our families that much," he says. "But I recently bought a property right next door to my folks."

Their practice of writing songs separately leads, eventually, to introducing their latest compositions to one another.

"Quite often it happens at soundcheck," says Cunningham. "Those can be tedious, with a lot of sitting around, so that's sometimes when new songs are aired. And maybe a couple of sound checks later, we'll introduce them into the set list for that night. We don't often rehearse. In fact, I would say we never rehearse because we're playing all the time."

Cunningham loves to tell stories of the band's rise from obscurity.

"We were fresh out of school and seeing our own country and having a great time," he says. "A lot of other people in the same situation were picking fruit or working behind a bar. But we were lucky enough to be able to play music to support that lifestyle."

Fans suggested they write songs and make a record. It worked.

" The shows got bigger and the fan base got bigger," he says. "Things just really evolved."

As did the shape of the band, which is now a five-piece unit - bass and drums were added in recent years.

Cunningham says there is truth to the rumor that Donna asked him to join without first talking to Vikki about it.

"I was playing electric guitar in a rock 'n' roll band, and the girls were playing as a duo," he recalls. "We were in the same venue on the same night. They had really fancy hotel rooms with hot showers, and we were out in the staff quarters in back. So Donna offered the use of her shower for us to get ready for the show. I got out of the shower, picked up a guitar, and started playing. We had a jam on the Pink Floyd song 'Wish You Were Here.' And I could play the solo note for note. Donna was so impressed she said, 'Hey, do you want to join up, come travelling and have a lot of fun?' I had seen them playing the night before, and was instantly smitten with their personalities and their sound. So I said yes."

The Waifs play at the Somerville Theater on April 12 at 8 p.m. Jess Klein opens. Tickets are $19.50 and $24.50. Call 617-625-4088.

Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@cnc.com.

 

 

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