Main Blues

Now in 2010, the music director of one of Canada's finest festivals is celebrating 20 years of the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. But despite its widespread success, he can still remember Harvest's humble beginnings.

"In the 70's and early 80's, [Fredericton] had been a real stop on the live music touring route, but there came a time in the late 80's when that started to dry up and there wasn't a lot of places for people to play," Staeben says.

"Our founder, Richard Hutchins, took it upon himself to create something to promote local music, and the industry we have today and the amount of live music in Fredericton today, we can trace it back in some small measure to the love of live music in Harvest."

In its inaugural year back in 1991, Harvest consisted of 25 locally sourced bands spread across city clubs and bars. The next two years were similar, sticking to a tight budget with limited acts and venues, adding their first outdoor tent in 1992, and using the Farmer's Market in 1993. But in 1994, Staeben and fellow Harvest organizers pulled out the big guns, bringing in traditional jazz and blues acts from as far as Louisiana, and adding more outdoor stages into the mix.

"We needed more of an international vision, so we put our tail in the water with Waylon Thibodeaux and Big Sugar in 1994," he says. "There was this Acadian connection, with fun Louisiana dance music, old school electric blues and good old Canadian blues and rock, and it allowed us to tap into completely new markets."

He admits it hasn't always been a smooth ride over the past 20 years. In 2001, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre left them with only one American performer and the impossible decision of whether to call the festival off. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 wiped out a huge chunk of their major acts, but Staeben says the festival was almost stronger for it.

"The impact [Katrina] had on the festival, with some of our musicians arriving with only the clothes on their back - that was a highlight, just to have such an incredible event still go on despite everything that was happening," he says.

Today, the annual autumn festival brings in crowds by the thousands, with over 100 acts performing across a dozen venues. Among the most highly anticipated performers are newly reunited Big Sugar, The Trews and Derek Trucks.

"We've invested heavily in this year's programming to celebrate the 20th anniversary," he says. "I think that it'll be an assault on the ears for everybody involved, in a wonderful way."

@Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, September 14-19. For complete schedule and info, visit www.harvestjazzandblues.com.