Ruth Moody – “Far and Wide” (video) (Premiere)

In her newest music video “Far and Wide”, which you can view exclusively below, Ruth Moody lays out a beautiful, elegiac folk tune. Anyone familiar with Moody and her body of work will find this unsurprising; as a member of the Canadian trio the Wailin’ Jennys, who among other things have a Juno Award to their name, she displays sharp harmonic and melodic chops. As PopMatters‘ Dave Maine put it in his review of the Wailin’ Jennys’ 2011 LP Bright Morning Star, their music is “a stripped-down masterclass in close harmony singing.” But while Moody’s voice fares especially well in the music of the Jennys, she’s certainly no slouch on her own, either, as “Far and Wide” evinces. The tune was released on a special vinyl single release for this year’s Record Store Day.

Moody is getting ready to do a UK tour with Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler this coming May and June (dates below), including two shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. She features on Knopfler’s new album, Tracker.

Moody explains the song and video to PopMatters, “‘Far and Wide’ is a song I wrote that had old-timey gospel beginnings but turned into a peace song. In midstream, I realized that I wanted to write something that emphasized the urgency of peace in this world, peace in life, rather than peace in the afterlife. We recorded and shot it live in a studio in Portland called Type Foundry, a great, earthy space that fit the natural vibe we were going for. We had the very talented director Brian Morrow from Sharkpig come up and shoot it.”

Upcoming tour dates for Ruth Moody (# denotes dates with Mark Knopfler):

Monday, 25 May — London, England — Royal Albert Hall #

Tuesday, 26 May — London England — Royal Albert Hall #

Friday, 29 May — Nice, France — Palais Nikaia #

Tuesday, 2 June — Paris, France — Le Zénith Paris #

Wednesday, 3 June — Paris, France — Le Zénith Paris #

Saturday, 4 July to Sunday, 5 July — Orillia, Ontario, Canada — Mariposa Folk Festival