Two nights and one day of soul-satisfying Blues at Maximum International Blues Festival
Utmost, great, highest or most - pick an adjective, any adjective or all of them and you've just described Maximum International Blues Festival held from August 7 to 11, 2002 in Carleton, a small seaside community in Quebec's Gaspé region. This year marked the festival's 10th anniversary.
Despite how tired my driving companion, friend and musician, Donald Landry and I felt when we rolled into Carleton just before sunset on the evening of Friday, August 9th (hey - it's a long drive and one campout from Montreal!) we could feel the energy and excitement in the air. People were everywhere - walking along the side of the road, mingling in front of the snack bars, dipping their feet in the sea water of Baie des Chaleurs, polishing their motorcycles in motel parking lots, chatting inside the festival grounds, eating and drinking in the restaurants and bars. The entire town was occupied and overflowing with Blues lovers from near and far.
Friday evening - August 9th, 2002 A quick break to freshen up, and then it was off to the Big Top (Le Chapiteau) for the evening show - Johnny V (Alberta) and Little Bobby & The Jumpstarts (Toronto) who replaced Sherman Robertson (Texas).
En route to the stage, as luck would have it, I ran into Eric Paul-Hus. I consider him to be one of Quebec's most dedicated and informed Blues fans. If you don't know him by name, I'm sure you know him by face. A member of the Montreal Blues Society, he can be spotted just about every Wednesday night at Cafe Campus. Eric, a Drummondville resident, spends just about all his leisure time involved with Blues music as a fan, friend, or supporter of musicians, bands and bars.
For the third year in a row, Eric has taken one week of his holidays to volunteer for Maximum Blues. "This is really a people festival - organized by and for people," he said. "I get here a few days before and help out with setting up and then I stay on a few days to help with taking it down." Both this year and last, he also did the English translation for the festival web site.
Decked out in a volunteer t-shirt and blue-painted fingernails (the explanation he vowed was so secret that it could only be divulged if I too agreed to become a volunteer), he quickly drew me into the people part of the festival introducing me to Pierre Ménard, event organizer and to Bertrand Johnson, president of administration. Within minutes, I was talking to Blues fan, Didier Ross, who was enjoying his 6th Maximum Blues festival. Didier and his two friends travelled over 500km to Carleton from the Baie Comeau region. "I come for the music, the salmon fishing and to have fun with mes copains. Tous les musiciens sont très bons!" said Ross.
Little Bobby & The Jumpstarts (Toronto) worked the crowd into a good Blues groove before Johnny V (Alberta) took over with some solid screamin' guitar and boogie Blues including an outstanding tribute to John Lee Hooker and his "secret chord" that lasted well past midnight. Under the Big Top, I chatted with Bernie Simard, a Quebec City resident enjoying his first visit to Maximum Blues. He had enjoyed the music of Dan Livingstone who had performed on Wednesday night.
The night wrapped up with a late-night visit to a jam session at Motel L'Abri hosted every night of the festival by Lise Hanick (Quebec). Even as I drifted off to sleep in my tent pitched in an open field (an experience they call wild camping - camping sauvage), I could hear the music from the bars echoeing across the bay. Pat the White Band (Carleton) was playing at Bar Le Héron; Guy Cardinal (Lévis) was at Bar Le St-Barnabé; Roxanne Genest (Victoriaville) at Club Nautique La Marina; and Bottleneck (New Richmond) at Restaurant La Rochelle.
Morning - Saturday, August 10, 2002
After only a few hours of sleep, I was up and out with my camera for a walk through the "camping
sauvage" area. I had been told the night before that at least 1500 campers were housed in a parking lot behind the municipal building. I talked with several early risers or late night partyers. They included: Gilles Turcotte, Steven Dion, Jonathan Levesques, Leo Bowles and Remi Vaillancourt of Baie-des-Sables; Karl of Matane;
I stopped to chat with veteran volunteer, Maurice Gough, a Carleton resident who was overseeing the camping area. "This is my 6th year with the festival. I'm very pleased to have so many people here," he said.
Afternoon - Saturday, August 10, 2002
In the afternoon, luck was on my side once again. I bumped into another true-Blue dedicated fan, André Tessier, President of the Montreal Blues Society. He very kindly introduced me to Mojo's bass player, Jean-Guy Leblanc, who then introduced me to Mojo. She led me into the shade of the Big Top where we talked.
Mojo, 29, was born and raised in Carleton. Off-stage she is Marie-Josée Cyr and a primary school teacher. She finds it hard to believe that only six years ago she was volunteer working backstage to bring food to musicians and now she is one of the contingent travelling to Clarksdale, Mississippi in September with Nanette Workman. "I want to learn about the real bluesmen and hear the vocalists in the churches. I want to see real Gospel," she said. "It is a wonderful feeling to be part of the community of singing with Nanette."
She warmly acknowledged the influence of Pierre Ménard. "He is a dreamer, but also a realisateur. His energy and committment to this project (the Mississippi exchange) has been there since the start. He helped us believe in ouselves."
When asked why she sings, Mojo noted, "I need it. I believe it exorcises the poisons of life. It is good for the health." Later, she gave the crowd a good healthy dose of her singing as back-up vocals with Norman Parent during the 10th anniversary show, Hommage aux pionniers du Blues.
With the help of Mojo, I talked with Dan Livingstone (Manitoba) who had performed Wednesday night. Dan, 27, explained he has been on the road since April leaving Winnipeg, spending time in Vancouver and then headed East finding himself in Quebec. An acoustic guitarist and songwriter for the past 10 years, he has finger-picked his way across country twice hiring local musicians for gigs along the road. "I enjoy working with different musicians. It's a learning exchange. From each one, I learn something new and hopefully so do they," said Dan. For his festival gig, he worked with André Lachance who played slide guitar, washboard and harmonica and Nicholas Fauteuil on washtub bass.
Dedicated to the storytelling style of the Delta Blues, he added "It's my passion. I can't imagine doing anything else." Among those who influenced him the most, including long-time friend and mentor, Ken Hamm, he mentioned Lester Kwitsa, Mississipi Fred McDowell, Sun House and Robert Johnson. Dan studied jazz at Malaspina University College in Nanaimo, BC. He kindly offered Le Net Blues his demo CD featuring such tuns as Preachin' Blues, C.C.Rider and Done Left Here. Dan was planning to travel to Montreal for a gig at Else's Cafe later in the month.
Then along came festival organizer, Pierre Ménard, who agreed to a brief chat with me. Pierre, 52, a professional social psychologist and Carleton native, helped launch the event in 1992 and took over as "the boss" and mentor in 1996. He gave me some statistics - Carleton hosts about 10,000 people during the festival; the count at the gates numbers 22,000 to 25,000; over 400 volunteers from the local area and outside are involved; it takes 3 days to set up and 2 days to take it down. Each year he prodds and pushes the event to grow a little bigger. "But the philosophy behind it all, is all about Gaspe. It is who we are. It's the spirit of the people," Pierre said.
He added, "Anything goes here, along as there is respect for one another." He pointed out that everyone is welcome and that they try to meet everyone's needs - activiites for Blues kids and for youth.
The outdoor Blues Scène stage was firing up some music, so I headed over the listen to Bout D'Ligne Blues Band (Carleton) - Mario Babin (bass), Carol Boudreau (vocals), Daniel Dion (guitar) and Marc Savoie (drums).
Stage sound man, Pierre Duberger introduced me to band leader, Carol after a great performance including their dynamic cover of Crossroads as an encore. The band gets its name from a historical reference to the end of the line. Apparently for political reasons at the time, the train ended in Maria, a small town a few kilometres down the road from Carleton. It took extensive political pressure by the communities of Gaspe over 20 years to finally get the railroad to finish laying the track all the way to the town of Gaspe as promised.
Carol explained, "The band was formed in 1996 and played at this festival. Mostly we play for fun. Music is our hobby. We come from a variety of musical backgrounds - country and folk. Daniel brought us the Blues when he joined." They perform locally, but they will be doing the Fredericton Harvest Festival in September. Daniel posed for me to get a shot of his tattoo, a few bars of Eric Clapton's Blues Power.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Christian Leblanc, stage manager and guitarist with Pat the White Band.
While enjoying a snack of "patates frisées", I met Josette Boudreau, a Blues fan and Carleton resident. Susan Basdue, Listugij resident and Réné Ducotte of Campbellton, NB kindly posed for a photo.
Back to the outdoor stage for Kenny Dupree & The Sound Brigade (Montreal). Always a popular crowd-pleasing band, their performance that night was outstanding. We could blame it on the sea air, the wonderful Gaspesian hospitality and the very enthusiastic crowd, but Kenny Dupree (vocals and harmonica), Steve Washko (guitarist), George 'Groove' Boulerice (bass), Francis Dumouchel (drums) with Daniel Aubin (saxophone) left everyone jumpin' and jivin' and ready for more groovin' and movin' by the time they left the stage.
Backstage Kenny introduced me to fellow journalist, Zoe Chilco of the Toronto Blues Society. We compared notes and both agreed, how lucky we felt to be such a unique and historic Blues festival.
Evening - Friday, August 9, 2002
Just before the evening performance, I had time to grab that classic Quebec snack, a hot dog at one of the many snack bars inside the festival grounds. This turned out to be a first-hand lesson in Gaspe hospitality. The line-up was long. The young man ahead of me who was ordering hot dogs for himself and his three friends saw my $1.25 in my hand and placed an order for five dogs. As I stepped up to order, he handed me my dog, saying, "I ordered for you so you didn't have to wait so long." A people festival - you better believe it! Unforgettable.
Fans streamed into the crowded Big Top for the feature event of the festival, a Tribute to the Blues Pioneers. Several months earlier, under the driving force of Pierre Menard, a sistering program was developed between Maximum Blues and the Clarksdale Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Best in the Mississippi Delta. Nanette Workman, originally from Mississippi, agreed to act as spokeswoman for the initiative and became honourary president of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Maximum Blues.
It was agreed several musicians from the US would come to perform in Careleton, Big T & Family (Mississippi) and John Ruskey Duo (Mississippi),and then on September 16th, some of our young musicians, namely, Mojo (Carleton), Bottleneck (New Richmond) and Pat the White Band (Carleton), winners of last year's festival new talent releve, along with Nanette Workman, would then perform at a series of concerts in Mississippi.
The Tribute performance included the musicians involved in the exchange visit, some of Quebec's Blues pioneers - Roxanne Genest (Victoriaville), Billy Craig (Chicago), Norman Parent (Nouvelle) and Bob Walsh (Quebec) and even some surprise guests - Jimmy James (Montreal) and, Thomas Chapland (France). The evening unfolded magically. In the smoke-filled tent, just about every Blues classic was covered - Every day I get the Blues; Flip Flop and Fly; Love me or leave me. Every musician gave an outstanding and unforgettable performance. Blues heaven.
Part of the sistering program includes a video that will capture the historic happenings both in Carleton and in Mississippi. Backstage I met and chatted with Eli Laliberte and Paul Cadieux, the two videographers working with producer, Patrick Guite of Production Bord de Mer responsible for the making of the video. "On the trip which is a full 7 days, we hope to capture some of the spontaneity that happens when musicians travel together and meet with others along the way," Eli said. "The video will provide inspiration for young musicians." They hope to have the video out by November.
In a brief interview following the show, Nanette spoke to me about what she hoped the exchange would achieve. "I would like for them to discover all the talent we have here. I don't think people realize how much passion there is here (in Quebec) for the Blues and how much we respect where it came from. As you know, much of the Blues music originated in Mississippi. It was the music that came from the poor. Singing was one of the only ways they could get over their horrible life. And our musicians also know that playing music is not something to get rich quick from. If you do it, you do it because you are passionate about it. It's a music from the heart. It's a feeling. "
She also shared a beautiful analogy about the Blues that I know Blues fans and musicians will appreciate. "You know when we make a real soup, we've got to have a soup bone. Blues is the soup bone of all music. With the exception of classical music, the Blues are the roots of all music. The Blues is the soup bone of music." Although she has been called, the Queen of Rock in Quebec, I believe she has earned herself a new title, the Mother of the Blues in Quebec for her efforts to help young musicians.
Finally, following the big show, it was impossible to resist goint to two of the local bars for some more music. I visited Bar Le Heron to hear Joe Hell (Montreal) and Pat the White Band (Carleton), and then, Bar Le St-Barnabe to hear and talk with Guy Cardinal (Levis). Once again, as I drifted off to sleep in the tent, I could hear the sounds of more Blues echoeing across the bay. It could have been - John Ruskey Duo (Mississippi) in Deli-Pub La Moustache A Papa; Pat the White Band (Carleton) in Bar Le Heron; or Roxanne Genest (Victoriaville) in Club Nautique La Marina that rocked me to sleep that night.
If you need to think about whether the long trip to Gaspe is worth to you as a Blues fan, I think the best advice you could find is in the lyrics - Don't think twice, it's allright, and make tracks to enjoy next year's Maximum Blues Festival.
Copyright © Barbara Lavoie, 2002