Hot Shows You Don’t Want To Miss…
By: Adam Bowie
Well, friends, I’m happy to be back writing about Fredericton’s Harvest Music Festival.
As some of you may know, I covered the best festival on the East Coast of Canada for 14 years on behalf of the Daily Gleaner. It was a wonderful gig, and I was proud to write so many stories about the Harvest each September in Fredericton.
Even though I’ve moved on to a new career opportunity, I’m excited that I’ve been asked to give it another shot – this time for the festival itself.
With so many incredible acts in the lineup for the 2022 Harvest Music Festival, we thought it might be fun to pick a few hot shows you won’t want to miss. As most of you know, with Harvest, it’s pretty hard to go wrong, no matter which tent you enter. But here’s a few suggestions – some can’t-miss, sure-fire showcases that could become your next treasured Harvest memory.
Here we go, and, just to be clear, these picks are in no particular order:
Larkin Poe
Wednesday September 14 @ The Coors Light Blues Tent
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY PASSES
Who wouldn’t want to see two swaggering rock-star sisters with incredible musical chops tear up a stage?
After a couple of previous appearances at the Harvest Music Festival, Rebecca and Megan Lovell, otherwise known as Larkin Poe, are becoming local fan-favourites, thanks in large part to their incendiary fret-work and soaring, soulful vocals.
Think blues-rock riffs, like The Black Keys, paired with a Susan Tedeschi or young Bonnie Raitt-style voice behind the mic.
Just recently, these ladies released “Bad Spell,” the first track from Larkin Poe’s forthcoming LP Blood Harmony, which is due out in November. Hopefully, Harvest fans will get a little preview of the group’s new music at this year’s showcase.
Lately, they’ve been hitting the road hard, trying to make up for lost time during the pandemic. They’ve shared stages with everyone from Peter Frampton to Jack White recently, and by the time they roll into Fredericton they’ll be sharing a bill with The War On Drugs.
Trouble No More Band
Saturday September 17 @ The Coors Light Blues Tent
TICKETS & SATURDAY PASSES
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Allman Brothers Band’s seminal Eat A Peach album, a group of crack musicians was assembled to help this collection of blues and Southern rock songs take flight once again.
First things first, the lineup, which is led by guitarists Brandon “Taz” Niederauer and Daniel Donato and bassist Dylan Niederauer, and also features keyboardist Peter Levin, vocalist Lamar Williams Jr., pedal steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier and drummers Nikki Glaspie and Jack Ryan.
Harvest fans were stunned the first time they laid eyes on Taz back in 2017 – this young kid, this teenager who played like a monster, who seemed so poised for his young age, who could dazzle audiences with his musical abilities and his charisma.
Now, they get to see him pay homage to some of his heroes, the Allmans, at a festival that has always embraced that group’s lasting musical legacy, thanks to memorable showings by founding member John Lee “Jaimoe” Johnson and Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes.
This afterburner showcase should be special.
Hot Toddy
Saturday September 17 @ The Ginger Agency Barracks Tent
TICKETS & SATURDAY PASSES
Nothing like stepping back in time with an old friend, amirite?
One of the most popular bands in the history of Fredericton is Hot Toddy, a trio of super-skilled, super-nice guys named Joel LeBlanc, Thom Swift, and Tom Easley.
Each one is an absolute ace musician – from LeBlanc’s virtuosity and love of improvisational music to Swift’s deeply soulful guitar-playing and songwriting talents to Easley’s impeccable musicianship and leadership abilities.
When they came together in 1997, the music scene in New Brunswick’s capital had been a bit quiet. Aside from the popular folk group Modabo, music fans were often looking elsewhere for homegrown talent.
It was a musical partnership that established a deep connection between the band and Maritime music fans, and which extended beyond the region to earn them fans all over Canada and across the globe. Their music has obviously meant so much to so many that they’ve been forced to reunite a few times to quench that ongoing thirst for another Hot Toddy evening.
Better get your tickets for this one, as these guys don’t do this very often.
Kathleen Edwards
Thursday September 15 @ The Coors Light Blues Tent
TICKETS & WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY PASSES
If you’ve been keeping your options open for this year’s Harvest Music Festival, it may be time to pick up a couple of Kathleen Edwards tickets.
The talented Ottawa singer-songwriter has been nominated multiple times for awards from the Junos, the Canadian Country Music Association and the Polaris Music Prize, and she placed multiple singles on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States with her latest recording, 2020’s Total Freedom.
Edwards is always an entertaining performer, both with her stunning musical gifts and also her sharp-as-a-tack wit.
A favourite with Harvest crowds, it’ll be great to have her back in Fredericton.
When she’s not writing with Nashville star Maren Morris (like the catchy “Good Woman,” from 2019), she’s been touring sporadically the past few years.
After taking a multi-year break from the music biz to open a coffee shop (called Quitters) back home, she’s now re-embracing her musical career, adding new tour dates to her itinerary all the time. How lucky for us that she’s made time for a return trip to Harvest!