The Waifs
2001–2007: Chart success and ''Up All Night''
### 2001–2007: Chart success and *Up All Night*

In 2001, the Waifs hired Phil Stevens as band manager – he also manages fellow West Australian musician [John Butler](/wiki/John_Butler_%28musician%29 "John Butler (musician)") and the [John Butler Trio](/wiki/John_Butler_Trio "John Butler Trio"). The band started to play folk festivals in Canada and the United States. In August, the group made its first appearance at the [Newport Folk Festival](/wiki/Newport_Folk_Festival "Newport Folk Festival"). The *[Newport Daily News](/wiki/Newport_Daily_News "Newport Daily News")* acclaimed them as "the darlings of \[that] year's festival".

In June 2002, the Waifs, Butler and Stevens founded the independent label [Jarrah Records](/wiki/Jarrah_Records "Jarrah Records"). The label was initially set up to issue both artists' material in North America, later it handled all their Australian releases. The growing international reputation of the Waifs led to the release of *Sink or Swim* in the US in 2002 by Jarrah Records. The Waifs first new work for Jarrah was a five\-track single "[London Still](/wiki/London_Still "London Still")", which reached the top 50 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In October, "London Still" received two nominations at the [ARIA Music Awards of 2002](/wiki/ARIA_Music_Awards_of_2002 "ARIA Music Awards of 2002") for 'Best Independent Release' and 'Breakthrough Artist – Single'.

The Waifs fourth album, *Up All Night*, was released in January 2003 and debuted at No. 3\. It was produced by The Waifs, Chris Thompson, Steven Schram. For the album and subsequent touring, Ben Franz played bass guitar and double bass, and dobro on the title track. The album was certified gold four weeks after release, went platinum in October 2003 and double platinum in February 2004\. "Lighthouse" was released in April 2003, which was their second Top 100 single.

Vikki Simpson told *[The Sydney Morning Herald](/wiki/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald "The Sydney Morning Herald")* in October that the album's success 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. Dylan offered the group a support slot on his subsequent tour of North America, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival. During the tour Donna met [Ben Weaver](/wiki/Ben_Weaver "Ben Weaver"), a United States singer\-songwriter. They later married and have a son. In 2003, the band also participated in [Big Day Out](/wiki/Big_Day_Out "Big Day Out"), an Australian travelling [music festival](/wiki/Music_festival "Music festival").

At the [ARIA Music Awards of 2003](/wiki/ARIA_Music_Awards_of_2003 "ARIA Music Awards of 2003"), the Waifs won in four categories, Best Roots and Blues Album, Best Independent Album, Producer of the Year and [Engineer of the Year](/wiki/ARIA_Award_for_Engineer_of_the_Year "ARIA Award for Engineer of the Year") from eight nominations. "Lighthouse" also reached No.12 in the [Triple J Hottest 100, 2003](/wiki/Triple_J_Hottest_100%2C_2003 "Triple J Hottest 100, 2003").

"[Bridal Train](/wiki/Bridal_Train_EP "Bridal Train EP")" was released in March 2004 and made the Australian Top 50 singles charts in April. The track tells the story of the Simpsons' grandmother, a [war\-bride](/wiki/War-bride "War-bride") of a [United States Navy](/wiki/United_States_Navy "United States Navy") sailor, Bob Cain. She boarded the "Bridal Train" from Perth to Sydney and then travelled to San Francisco to be with her husband. Thorn won the USA Songwriting Competition for "Bridal Train". The Waifs released a double live album, *[A Brief History...](/wiki/A_Brief_History... "A Brief History...")*, in November which debuted in the top thirty of the Australian album charts.

A month after the Asian [2004 Boxing Day tsunami](/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami "2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami"), the Waifs joined a cast of Australian artists to perform at the [WaveAid](/wiki/WaveAid "WaveAid") concert in January 2005 in Sydney to raise funds for the relief effort. Later in 2005, they indicated that they had no immediate plans for another album, "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."


What was the name of the single released by the Waifs in April 2003?