If Perth-Andover seems an unlikely mecca of music to you, on most days of the year you would probably be right. Nearly two hours north of Fredericton, and with a population of roughly 1600 people, there’s not much about the small New Brunswick town that implicitly screams, “Here be Music!” For one week each year, however, there is one very large exception.
Video: Tyler Warren Ellis
Heidi Baird is the director and founder of Larlee Creek Hullabaloo, one of western New Brunswick’s very few music festivals. It emphatically fills that void by luring in some of Atlantic Canada’s best musicians to their community with charm and hospitality and the curious reputation their unique musical oasis has earned for itself.
At the heart of every grassroots music festival, without exception, is a community that can make or break the whole operation. More than a matter of logistics (though it is that too), the community manifests this festival in a very real and tangible way, giving it its own je ne sais quoi, and the quoi of Larlee Creek Hullabaloo is legendary.
“I talk a lot about community when it comes to the Hullabaloo, and the sense of community this year was palpable,” says Baird. “I know that sounds cliche… and everyone says they’re a ‘family’ at these things, but it’s a genuine reaction at Hullabaloo.”
For the last twelve years, Baird has led her community in bringing the festival to life. It was founded in 2008 through inspiration, determination, and a clear recognition of something that has been sorely lacking in the region. Even now, there are only two music venues in all of Perth-Andover — and part-time music venues at that. When Hullabaloo was getting underway, there were none, and Baird saw the potential for a change that could have a lasting impact well beyond its music scene.
“Creating roots and establishing new opportunities in our rural communities is a very valuable thing and shouldn’t be discounted. I love that we’ve been able to do a few things for the community, give back where we can, bring people here to make memories at the festival, and beyond that, enjoy what our Village has to offer.”
The idea to develop a music festival within Perth-Andover came to Baird after attending the 2008 East Coast Music Awards. Held in nearby Fredericton, New Brunswick, that year, the ECMAs provided a model and an inspiration for what they might accomplish in their rural Village: a social hub of activity and creativity. It was a prime example of what could be achieved without a mass exodus for the big smoke.
“I’d been watching and following many local and regional artists in those days,” explains Baird. “I felt really motivated to do something that created a stage in my community, and really the region, where folks could hear, see and experience music that was happening on the East Coast instead of only what was happening on American Top 40 radio. We held the first Hullabaloo that August.
“It’s so scary looking back at it now. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, just that I wanted to do it. And thankfully, I’m blessed with really good friends who believed in the idea and supported me with getting it off the ground.”
Of course, it didn’t hurt that during the inaugural year of Larlee Creek Hullabaloo, Perth-Andover also doubled as the home of east coast’s resident blues legend, Matt Andersen. At its inception, Larlee Creek was a one-day festival featuring eight artists, including Matt Andersen, Ross Neilsen, Andrew Hunter and Jens Jeppesen, along with a few folks with local roots and a bunch of local youth who performed as Tweeners. Baird admits that Andersen played such a crucial role in their first lineup that the festival may have never even made it through its first year without his support.
In the years since, the team of festival organizers has grown to more than twenty. But for much of Larlee Creek Hullabaloo’s existence, it has been run by a core group of fewer than a dozen. Where they really found their strength was in the people of Perth-Andover, who recognized what the festival brought to the town and chose to invest in it.
“Looking back now, it strikes me just how darn blessed we were and continue to be. Apart from the artists and bands that jumped in right away, we captured remarkable support from local businesses with sponsorships. We’ve been very fortunate in that regard.”
The festival found a real turning point in 2015 when it spread out into the Village, embracing local businesses as immediate allies within the community and by turning them into pop-up stages.
“We decided to go to them,” says Baird. “Literally where they were: the grocery store, the bank. We used a bandwagon to drive bands around town on, and we sent artists into the local grocer to do a pop-up. We set up stages in the Village at the bandstand, local businesses, etc. It’s our local mom-and-pop businesses who show us the most support.”
The local businesses started getting behind the festival by buying shirts for their employees to wear throughout the summer, setting displays up in their stores and helping the festival draw plenty of feet out into the field.
Now heading into their thirteenth year, Larlee Creek Hullabaloo has hit its stride, and it’s entirely thanks to their festival family, which extends well beyond Perth-Andover. The festival has grown to a full five-day event and includes its family stage grounds and large, tented main stage as well as four additional community stages running in venues through the town. They’ve established themselves as their own musical hub, if but once a year, and it has left a lasting impression on the musicians of Atlantic Canada — seriously, just ask them about the towels sometime.
“Larlee Creek Hullabaloo is the most attentive and engaged festival crowd I’ve ever performed for; a must-play for artists and a must-see for attendees,” says Nick Earle, who performed at the 2019 Hullabaloo. “It is very community-based. Everyone is there to lend a helping hand to make sure things go smoothly. Everyone is so hospitable and friendly, and it makes for a phenomenal festival experience. Feels like a homecoming.”
According to Baird, 2019 was one of their most successful years to date with a lineup that featured east coast favourites, including Dave Gunning, Rachel Beck, Christina Martin, Dave Sampson, Nick Earle and more.
As big and as successful as Larlee Creek Hullabaloo might have become in recent years, Baird glows when she talks about the festival’s real victories, like this year’s touching tribute honouring Gary Sappier, a performance by Ian Janes and local aspiring artist Bronwyn Dickson, or just getting to see her children revel in the music.
“I got to see my son dance. Like a big ol’ smile on his face, dancing and laughing and loving the music. And feeling like, ok, maybe it was all worth it to see him that happy and having that much fun,” says Baird. “And my daughter over the top excited that Dave Gunning was coming to ‘our’ Hullabaloo.
“I chose to call this Village my home. I believe in it now and in its potential for the future. Imagine if everyone stopped thinking of ways to get out of here and started thinking of the ways they could grow here.”
Baird says there will be even more to look forward to in 2020. They’ll have more new artists, maybe some new stages, and lots of familiar faces. And in the end, the community of Larlee Creek Hullabaloo will grow a little bigger.
Festival organizers say that they’ll be releasing the first artists for this year’s festival lineup very soon, starting with the immediate announcement of the return of Nick Earle.
Larlee Creek Hullabaloo thirteenth instalment happens in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, August 5 – 9, 2020.