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This year’s Harvest KidsFest programming details to come August 2024! Stay tuned for our best KidsFest yet!

Harvest Profile: Diunna Greenleaf
By Adam Bowie

She may not enjoy the same level of fame as Aretha Franklin, Etta James or Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

But Diunna Greenleaf has always been able to wow audiences. The 65-year-old Texan has travelled the globe to share her unique blend of blues, soul and gospel music with adoring audiences.

Greenleaf’s powerful vocal range is considered by many to be among the best in the business.

She’s always cared more about music than fame, focusing on making the kinds of albums that speak to, and preserve, the bluesy, spiritual sounds that she experienced as the child of Ben and Mary Ella Greenleaf – devout Christians who played and taught others gospel music. Back then, many artists, including Sam Cooke and B.B. King, came around the family home seeking guidance from her parents. Those encounters helped shape her artistic focus.

With her band, Blue Mercy, Greenleaf has been entertaining audiences since the late 1990s, sharing stages with some of the greatest bluesmen and blueswomen in history – a list that includes Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton, Odetta, Keb Mo, Koko Taylor and many more.

When I spoke with the winner of the 2005 International Blues Challenge by phone recently, she was incredibly gracious with her time, chatting for more than an hour. In order to keep this profile focused, the interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with her before she makes the trip to Fredericton for a special Harvest Music Festival performance on Sept. 16.

AB: What song are you currently obsessed with?
DG: [Editor’s note: Diunna had recently lost a loved one at the time of the interview] I think, with a lot of things going on, I’ve got a couple. One of them is, ‘If It Wasn’t 4 The Blues,’ by my friend, Big James Montgomery. He wanted me to record it. And I’m glad I got a chance to do that before he died earlier this year.

AB: What three things are always in your fridge?
DG: In my fridge you’ll always find an onion, cheese, and eggs. One more thing in mine would be hot sauce. I have a big variety of hot sauces because I always try hot sauces from other places. You’d find a red Louisiana hot sauce. Because I’m Texan I’d also have some jalapeno sauces, some habanero sauces. I have button pepper sauces – a really, really small little pepper that looks like a button. I make a pepper sauce with that and I pour it on greens and things like that. I have lots of different hot sauces and pepper sauces. You’d also find some pepper jelly.

AB: Name a book, or any other piece of writing, that’s important in your life.
DG: You mean besides the Bible? That is one of them. But there are other writings that are also very important to me that are not a book. My nieces, nephews have been telling me that these writings and things like that, that I remember, things that my mother and father and grandparents used to say to me [are important]. Some that are funny, some that are very solemn. When I think about them, I write them down. They’re telling me I should take all these and put ‘em in a book. That book is not written. I guess they’re loose writings of memories that they’ve bestowed upon me.

AB: When you think about the music you heard as a child, who was choosing the song or selecting the radio station, and what kinds of stuff were they picking?
DG: In our home, we were allowed to listen to anything, any kind of music. But, of course, we listened to a lot of gospel and church songs. My daddy was in a quartet. The name of his quartet was The Spiritual Gospel Singers of Houston, Texas. My daddy was a vocal coach for young men going into gospel music. So he had some pretty famous students who came to him for tutelage. A lot of people didn’t know these folks were gospel because they only knew them for their other types of music, their other works. For instance, Johnnie Taylor. They knew him for his R’n’B and pop. Most people didn’t know Johnnie Taylor for his gospel. Sam Cooke. There are actually many people who don’t know nothing about his gospel, but they knew about his secular music. Let me see, Joe Tex. People didn’t know about Joe Tex’s gospel music. Also, B.B. King. B.B. told me that daddy told him that he would probably do better singing some of the other types of music because he could not continue singing gospel if he was going to cry when he was going to sing every gospel song. He thought he’d ruin his voice. B.B. also told me that daddy knew that he didn’t have the money to pay for lessons, but he let him hang around anyway and listen as he talked to the other guys, and teach them things. And my mama always kept him fed. He did not go hungry when he lived with us. I was so grateful when he told me about it, and there were other people there who could hear it. They told this story more than I have because we were always taught not to be what my dad called ‘braggadocious.’

AB: What’s the most interesting or memorable place you’ve visited in your travels?
DG: Wow. I’ve been a lot of places, and I find something interesting about them all. We look it up and try to do different things. Even if we’re tired, I try to go out and see something. Like, when I’m in Paris, all the various museums. I’ll tell you one place that I went that was for me, heartbreaking, was when I went to the concentration camp in Belgium … Different places are memorable for different reasons. Now, when I go to Paris, I always go by to see the progress they’re making on Notre-Dame [cathedral]. Like I’m an engineer or something. (Laughs)

AB: What’s more important – talent or work ethic? Why?
DG: Work ethic is always important. I see a lot of people who don’t have the talent that someone else has, but they have such a work ethic. They may be mediocre in their talent, but their work ethic is such that it takes them further than their talent alone ever could. If they have a good work ethic, a reasonable amount of talent, and if they are kind – they know how to treat other people, in other words – that will really take them further.

AB: If you had to cook for someone, what are you making and will they be complimenting you afterwards?
DG: Well, yeah. (Laughs) I am a good cook. I was a female vocalist with the Muddy Waters Legends [Tribute Band, a collective that featured some of Muddy’s former bandmates] for 13 years. Sometimes, we’d go someplace. If we were in a [multi-date gig], we’d go out and play the show, and then we’d come back and stay in the same place every night. Well, we loved that. Sometimes Pinetop [Perkins] would say, ‘I sure wish I had some grits.’ If I could find it, I’d fix it for him. They loved that. He never complained about anything I fixed. He liked my spaghetti. My greens and cornbread. My black-eyed peas. Fried porkchops. Usually, I would smother him a porkchop or two, because that made it tender and soft. He liked if it was easy to bite. And Hubert [Sumlin] would like anything I cooked. They both had a little bit of a sweet tooth. They loved my peach cobbler. Pound cake and cookies.

AB: What’s a TV show or movie that you’ve watched a dozen times?
DG: I have not watched anything a dozen times. I have listened to ‘Baby Shark,’ probably a million times because I have been forced to. I babysit my little cousin and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ And what’s that other song, ‘Let It Go.’ I’m like, ‘Baby, please let it go.’ (Laughs) Let it go, turn it loose, get rid of it. There’s another one about a train. ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ … Maybe the first 20 times, it’s not so bad. But something happens on the 21st time. (Laughs)

AB: Is there an artist that you think deserves more recognition for the inspiring work that they do?
DG: Certainly, there are. There are several. I’ll say that many of them are women. There are songs, too, by some writers, including myself, that you hope would get more recognition – not for popularity’s sake. Me, I’m still an old teacher and I’m trying to teach a lesson – bring some awareness. I think I’ll leave it at that.

AB: If you could thank someone for a helping hand they offered or a piece of advice they delivered when you needed it, who would it be, and how did they help?
DG: There are several people. Of course, my own parents, first of all, come to mind. Sometimes, I just say ‘thank you’ out loud anyway. I still have hope that, in this universe, they know it. Even my brother-in-law, who we just laid to rest, he would always say it out loud too, ‘I’m so glad for whatever it is in life, and in the universe, that decided to bring me to your parents.’ He always felt that it was a higher spirit that actually led him to my parents. He used to say, ‘Getting to know your parents sealed the deal.’ (Laughs)

AB: Is there an example of what you’d consider a perfect song? For example, I might suggest George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care,” or Lauryn Hill’s “X-Factor” are perfect songs.
DG: No. But I think there are many songs that are perfect for a moment, perfect for a situation that you’re in right then. There’s no one song that’s perfect for every situation. But I do believe there are songs that are perfect for the moment that you’re in.

AB: What’s a goal that you have for yourself in this business? Maybe you want to make an album at a certain studio, or with a certain producer. Maybe you have a venue in mind that you’d like to sell out, or a festival you want to play. Maybe there’s an artist you want to work with. Anything like that?
DG: There are things that I would love to have happened. There are some people that I really want to play with. I have a list of people that I really, really want to play with. But that wouldn’t be possible – not in this lifetime, ‘cause I had to mark off several of them from my calendar because they’re deceased. I think if we had a few more months, one that had come to me at the very end [might have happened]. For me, it was unbelievable that I had contact with this person. And the whole time that he was talking to me, I felt like I was in some sort of dream. We met here in a restaurant in a very, very nice hotel in Houston. And then in the next few months, I wake up to hear he’s dead. That was Prince. He said he had a project that was coming up and a person who was in his rhythm section had played some of my music for him, and it was just what he was looking for. The rawness, the intent, the honesty, the sweetness. Every time he said something, I was trying to chill. But every time he said something, my smile got so big that I was going to burst. I really did have a case of the nerves. He was talking very mellow and soft. He was almost starting to laugh because I think he could see I was trying to hold it in, and I couldn’t do it. He was almost putting his head back and laughing. He could see my face. And the guy who was accompanying him was laughing too. He said, ‘Do you know when you smile that big, you can’t even see your eyes?’ (Laughs) … When I think about it, I think he was trying to take care of business. With people that he cared something about. Just in case. He was sporting a cane when I saw him. He had on some sharp tennis shoes. That’s one person I wish I could have worked with. When I heard [about his death], I just started crying.

Tickets for Diunna Greenleaf’s performance on Sept. 16 in the TD Mojo Tent are available here.

You can pick-up your tickets and passes now at our store, located at 440 King St. in Kings Place Mall. While you’re there, grab some merch and drink tokens!

August 21 – Sept. 9
Monday – Friday: 10am-6pm
Saturday: 10am-3pm
Sunday: closed

Sept. 10 – Sept. 16 (HARVEST WEEK)
Sunday: 12pm-4pm
Monday-Tuesday: 10am-8pm
Wednesday – Saturday: 10am-10pm

Harvest Profile: Joel Plaskett

By Adam Bowie

Joel Plaskett has been many things over the years – a songwriter, a rock and roller, a folk troubadour, a producer, a record shop and studio owner, a community leader, and above all else, an artist of many talents.

At this stage in the game, the Dartmouth, N.S. native is one of the legends of the East Coast music scene, someone who has helped shape the cultural landscape in our corner of the country, and who has found a place within the soundtrack of our lives.

Over the course of roughly a dozen releases, including the expansive 44, 2020’s four-disc tour de force, Plaskett has become a fan favourite – including with Harvest Music Festival audiences.

You may know lots about this guy. But maybe you don’t know what he stocks his fridge with. We asked him a few get-to-know-you type questions to help gear you up for another Plaskett blowout at Harvest.

*****

AB: What song are you currently obsessed with?

JP: Fool Me by Joe South

AB: What three things are always in your fridge?

JP: Cream cheese, ketchup and carrots.

AB: Name a book, or any other piece of writing, that’s important in your life.

JP: House of Sugar by Rebecca Kraatz.

AB: When you think about the music you heard as a child, who was choosing the song or selecting the radio station, and what kinds of stuff were they picking?

JP: I’d listen to Casey Kasem host American Top 40 on CKBW in Bridgewater, N.S. It was Top of the Pops stuff – Mr. Mister, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Culture Club.

AB: What’s the most interesting or memorable place you’ve visited in your travels?

JP: Igloolik, Nunavut.

AB: What’s more important – talent or work ethic? Why?

JP: Play ethic.

AB: If you had to cook for someone, what are you making and will they be complimenting you afterwards?

JP: Rainbow trout, asparagus and potatoes (in bacon fat) on the Big Green Egg. I deserve no compliments for my culinary skills, but that meal is a nice, simple one in the summer.

AB: What’s a TV show or movie that you’ve watched a dozen times?

JP: Better Off Dead, starring John Cusack.

AB: Is there an artist that you think deserves more recognition for the inspiring work that they do?

JP: Rebecca Kraatz.

AB: If you could thank someone for a helping hand they offered or a piece of advice they delivered when you needed it, who would it be, and how did they help?

JP: That one I’ll keep to myself.

AB: Is there an example of what you’d consider a perfect song? For example, I might suggest George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care,” or Lauryn Hill’s “X Factor,” are perfect songs.

JP: Tom Petty’s “The Waiting,” hits all the marks.

AB: What’s a goal that you have for yourself in this business? Maybe you want to make an album at a certain studio, or with a certain producer. Maybe you have a venue in mind that you’d like to sell out, or a festival you’d like to play. Maybe there’s an artist you want to work with. Anything like that?

JP: I’d love to have Nick Lowe produce a record for me in England. And I’d like to produce a record for Burton Cummings in Dartmouth. Doubt either will happen, so I’ll settle for Keith Urban covering “Nowhere With You,” at the Super Bowl.
The Joel Plaskett Emergency performs at 10 p.m. in the TD Mojo Tent on Friday, Sept. 12, 2023. You can buy tickets here.

Harvest Music Festival is proud to unveil its commemorative poster for 2023. The poster was created through a collaboration between The Ginger Agency and Wolastoqey Artist Samaqani Cocahq-Natalie Sappier. Harvest is thrilled by the artwork, and is delighted to share it. 

Harvest believes it is important to celebrate our community in this year’s poster. The commemorative poster contains elements like salmon, violets, fiddleheads, canoes, the Cathedral, Fredericton City Hall, a bridge, lighthouse and, most especially, the Wolastoq, the beautiful and bountiful river.

Fredericton is the city where our festival began, where it flourished, and where incredible Harvest memories are made. Every September hundreds of musicians come to Fredericton and perform on numerous stages throughout the historic downtown, attracting festival goers from near and far. Harvest is forever indebted to the people in this community and wants to pay homage to the place where folks gather each year to celebrate and enjoy live music with family and friends. It has and always will be an enormous part of Harvest’s identity.

Harvest Music Festival acknowledges that the land on which we gather and celebrate every September is the traditional, unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) Peoples.

The commemorative poster will be available for purchase at our Harvest store and featured on one of this year’s shirts. All proceeds from the poster will go to Kehkimin Wolastoqey language immersion school.

We’d like to thank Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick for their guidance and input throughout the development of our commemorative poster.

Media accreditation applications for Harvest 2023 are now open. If you work for an established newspaper, radio station, television network, magazine, or if you are a photographer or journalist for an organization interested in covering the festival, please head to the link in our bio and fill out the application! Applications close July 21, 2023.

Apply here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdDqNsoTjTE9BY_3OrSI-T4xwRyOa_HXUNQP7wdFRDinojlpg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Tickets & Passes for the 2023 Harvest Music Festival will go on sale Thursday April 20th at 11am (AST) and can be purchased online via Ticketpro, or by calling 1-888 311-9090.

Tickets and Passes are currently not available for purchase in person at the Harvest office.

Here are some important best practices for online ticket buying:

1. The ticket buying link is: https://harvestmusicfest.ticketpro.ca/en/pages/HARVEST2023 (note: do NOT put www. before the web address).

2. Create your Ticketpro account and/or retrieve your account password before April 20th in order to purchase. Signing up before the on-sale will save you time when purchasing passes, and all you will have to do is sign in with your username and password. You can create your account, or reset your password on an existing account if needed, here: https://profile.ticketpro.ca/en/client/signup

3. Transactions must be completed within 12 minutes. Please note: putting tickets in your purchase basket does not “reserve” tickets indefinitely; it only reserves your tickets for 12 minutes, so you have time to complete the transaction.

4. There is a maximum purchase limit of 8 items per pass/ticket (i.e., max 8 Ultimates per transaction).

5. Please note: ticket prices do not include taxes or fees.

6. Refrain from using “back” and “forward” buttons in the browser. Those buttons only display screens that have been displayed previously, but do not necessarily reflect the present ticket/pass availability.

7. Confirmation emails are sent after your purchase. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 15 minutes of your purchase, check your junk mail. If your confirmation is not there then you may have provided an incorrect email address. You can verify the information you’ve provided by accessing your account with this link: https://profile.ticketpro.ca/en/client/login

8. Virtual Waiting Room – If you arrive on the website before tickets are on sale, or if there is high demand for tickets or passes, Ticketpro will welcome you into a Virtual Waiting Room. When the sale begins, you will be assigned a place in the ticket-buying queue, and will have the opportunity to buy when it is your turn.

Check out this video to learn more about Ticketpro’s Virtual Waiting Room.

Harvest Music Festival is thrilled to announce a glorious and jam-packed lineup for the 2023 festival, taking place from September 12-17 in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The festival has attracted some of the biggest touring acts in North America this year, including  Phish frontman and founder Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB, southern rock legends Gov’t Mule, New Orleans jazz, blues and funk phenom Trombone Shorty, along with Canadian singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy nominee Allison Russell and Icelandic blues rockers Kaleo. 

Stellar Canadian talent will be front and centre on Harvest stages, including producer, songwriter and hitmaker Daniel Lanois, indie rock collective Broken Social Scene, hometown heroes Matt Andersen & the Big Bottle of Joy, platinum selling, blues-rock reggae band Big Sugar, Juno-award winning blues powerhouse Crystal Shawanda, and emerging multi-instrumentalist and singer songwriter Aysanabee.

“We are delighted to bring the festival back to pre-pandemic strength this year, offering Harvest fans a full slate of don’t miss artists and festival faves on multiple stages, which includes the rebirth of the Mojo Tent,” said Harvest Music Director Brent Staeben. “This year’s exciting lineup reinvigorates Harvest’s reputation as Atlantic Canada’s biggest and best music event by offering something for everyone, with electrifying blues roots, New Orleans sizzle, rock, folk, hip-hop and jazz.”

More artists in this year’s festival include: Bette Smith, Laila Biali, Cory Wong, Stars, David Myles, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Wide Mouth Mason, White Denim, Neal Francis, and many, many more.

The 2023 event takes place on the shores of the Wolastoq River in downtown Fredericton, featuring a Blues Tent behind City Hall, a Barracks Stage in the historic Garrison District, a newly designed Mojo Tent in Officer’s Square, shows at the soft-seat Fredericton Playhouse theatre, a pubs and clubs series, performances on the Tony George Jazz Stage at the Hilton Garden Inn Fredericton Downtown, along with free programming, the return of Kids Fest, food vendors and buskers on Queen Street and the Carleton Street Extension. All venues are accessible and within easy walking distance of one another. 

Later this summer, Harvest will launch a new app for smartphone users to view schedules, artist bios, get up-to-the-minute festival information and plan their own Harvest experience.

Harvest is made possible by the incredible hard work of more than 700 community volunteers, the support of our presenting sponsors, TD, Molson Coors, and the Ginger Agency, and in partnership with more than 60 local businesses who sponsor the event. 

Harvest tickets and passes will go on sale April 20 at 11 am A.S.T. Both tickets and passes can be purchased online through Ticketpro.ca or by calling 1-888-311-9090. Please note that tickets and passes are only available for purchase through Ticketpro.