Harvest Jazz and Blues
Published Saturday August 30th, 2008
Annual festival set to rock its way through Fredericton
With musical styles to suit a variety of tastes and a host of local, national and international acts, Fredericton's Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival is set to send a wave of excitement through the province in what has become a yearly staple of New Brunswick music.
"We now draw visitors from across Canada and parts of Europe and parts of the United States, particularly in New England," says David Seabrook, manager of Fredericton Tourism of the event which runs from Sept 9-14. "I think the big thing is that we're seeing the festival transition from a high quality regional festival into a national destination level festival."
Starting from meager beginnings in 1991, Harvest is now a spectacle that in 2008 will include 23 different stages, more than 70 performers, more than 125 performances and 18 international acts to complement the roster of Canadian talent.
Amongst the biggest names on the international roster is Buddy Guy, a rock and roll Hall of Famer and five-time Grammy Award Winner who is sure to excite the crowds -- his performances were quickly sold out.
Another international headliner is The Derek Trucks Band, whose frontman Derek Trucks has gained much acclaim as a member of the Allman Brothers as well as having toured as part of Eric Clapton' s band last summer.
Other big name international acts include Charlie Hunter, Bloc Party and Ana Popovic.
Although there are a number of high quality acts from out of town, event organizers are also quick to point out that the festival is still a chance for homegrown talent to shine, with 35 per cent of performers being from New Brunswick.
"We've always maintained a strong commitment to local performers. We believe by showcasing local groups and putting them side-by-side with international we help with the development of our local acts," Seabrook says. "And quite frankly, by comparison it shows that they're very skilled and worthy of celebration and recognition in their own right."
While some New Brunswick acts will be making their first appearance at Harvest, it's old hat for some established local acts like Grand Theft Bus and Hot Toddy Trio.
"I've seen it grow from its humble beginnings to the machine that it is now. It's the same people that have been involved in it all these years and it's been a real labour of love for them and they all do a great job," says Thom Swift, a member of Hot Toddy Trio of Fredericton.
Swift, who will also perform solo at this year's Harvest, says the festival played an important role in his career choice.
"The Jazz and Blues festival for me was probably one of the big reasons why I decided to play music full time for a living. It gave me the ability to see other acts that were doing it and it just kind of put a bug in my ear in regards to -- 'jeez, these people are doing this, I can do this too'," Swift says. "It's not only me who has benefited from that -- a lot of other acts from the region have benefited from this festival, just to have your eyes open so you're looking at a little bigger picture."
Paul MacNabb is part of Fredericton's The George Street Blues Project, who has been playing the festival for a number of years. He says the event is like "Christmas day" for his band and he believes it's amongst the top music events in the Maritimes.
"The quality of the experience that you get at Harvest, it's a little bit different from most festivals," he says. "With the multiple venues it really is just so unique that it really covers the entire downtown area -- and most people just go from venue to venue. They'll catch a half hour of music here, then go down the street to listen to someone else. It's really unique in that way."
While some groups are veterans of performing on Harvest stages, for others it is a first opportunity. Based out of Halifax but with all members from New Brunswick, funk-pop band Telfer won the right to play the festival by being chosen as victors in the Harvest Galaxie Rising Stars Showcase.
"We're really blown away by it. First of all we're really honoured to be picked as a lot of our really big musical heroes have played Harvest and are playing Harvest this year. It means a lot just to be associated with that," says Telfer bassist Jon Goud. "It's probably our biggest audience we've played to so far, so we just have to try to connect with them, communicate with them and just sort of make it an honest show and avoid the temptation to do the big stage rockstar thing."
Telfer singer and rhythm guitarist Tommy Green Jr. says the festival is a second-to-none festival and he's hoping for a second-to-none experience in his first time on a Harvest stage.
"I like this festival a lot because for the most part I feel it's really about the music and they're willing to bring in major acts from all over the place," he says. "For me, if there was any festival that we'd be playing in Canada, this would be the one I'd want to play first. These are the groups of people I'd like to be included in for sure."
Whatever your taste or whatever your style, Seabrook says he thinks there's something for everyone at this year's Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival and he looks forward to improving on last year's event.
"I think the goal at this point isn't to grow the festival in terms of number of spectators as much as it is to enhance the quality of the performers and programming and continue to work on this unique aspect of the festival which is intimate venues with Maritime hospitality," he says. "We're not out to be the biggest festival, but we are out perhaps to be the best."
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