Further Tales From The Great White North: Les Hay Babies (New Brunswick)

Queens of the Maritimes music scene

Since moving to Maine, I've discovered a new world of Acadian and Quebecois music. Les Hay Babies blew me away the first time I discovered their debut EP, Folio. It became my road trip album of the summer as I drove back and forth between Old Town and Portland for meetings.

Their music is stripped down and raw. It is both evergreen and deciduous. Banjo, guitar, mandolin and three part harmonies. They sing in French, English and a hybrid Acadian dialect, Chiac. One of these days I'll catch them as they swing down through the Northeast U.S. on a tour. Or maybe I'll take a road trip to Moncton and see them play to a hometown crowd.

In this clip, from some French Canadian TV show, they've got special musical accompaniment. The dude on the snare and the movie star, shaking the shakers, are NOT in the band. The band is the three ladies who look like Annie Oakley in the middle of the stage. C'est avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme et de passion que je vous présente... Les Hay Babies!



Here they are in a stripped down, elevator performance. Horse On Fire is my second favorite tune on the album.