Matt Mays added to Harvest 2021, Bettye LaVette withdraws

Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter Matt Mays of Dartmouth has been added to the Friday Blues Tent performances as part of this year’s Harvest Music Festival. Mays and his band take the 6pm slot opened up due to the withdrawal of American soul legend, Bettye LaVette, from the festival this week.

“Matt Mays has been one of this country’s most popular contemporary artists over the past decade” said Brent Staeben, Harvest Music Programmer. “He’s been an absolute fan favourite of Harvest audiences and that’s because he puts on a helluva show every time he steps on stage. We’re very pleased to add another iconic Atlantic Canada artist with an impressive national profile to this year’s line up.”

Mays fills in a slot in the Friday schedule vacated by LaVette who had to withdraw due to challenges meeting the Federal Government’s COVID requirements for entering Canada.

“Bettye and her team were challenged to meet all of the requirements imposed by the Government of Canada for Americans to enter Canada given their very busy schedule before the festival and decided it was best to postpone to next year,” said Staeben. “We immediately accepted Bettye’s offer to re-book her and her band for 2022. We completely understand her situation and wish her and her bandmates continued safe and good health.”

Mays and his full band will take to the Blues tent stage Friday September 17th at 6pm. Tickets are $39.50 plus fees and HST and will be available on Thursday August 26th at 11AM on the Ticketpro Website. Like the LaVette show, the Ultimate Pass gains the holder access to the Matt Mays show.

For those holding Bettye LaVette tickets, refunds are available upon request up until Friday September 10th or they can be redeemed for the Matt Mays show which is now in the same time slot as the original scheduled LaVette show.

“I am sorry to report that we have chosen to drop out of this year’s Harvest Festival in Canada. We were very much looking forward to the show. However, due to the entry regulations that were set in place by the Canadian Government, we have decided it would be best to reschedule our appearance until next year. We hope to see you then. Stay safe everybody!” – Bettye LaVette

For more information, please contact:
Jeff Richardson
General Manager, Harvest Music Festival
jeff@harvestjazzandblues.com
506-454-2583