Tintamarre | Thank God for Hay Babies

Julie Aubé, Katrine Noël and Vivianne Roy sing their Acadian pride on Tintamarrea fourth album with flavors of savory and “swompe”.

There was fricot to eat right next to the merchandise table and pennants bearing the image of the Acadian flag hanging from the ceiling. We were not in Moncton, no, but at Sala Rossa, in Montreal. This is where The Hay Babies, dressed in their glittering fringed costumes of New Brunswick superheroes, launched Thursday evening Tintamarre.

A record, perhaps their best, between swoopy rock, rural country and psychedelic folk, which unfolds like a big party given to celebrate their identity. It couldn’t be clearer than Be proudtheir very CCR ode to the smiling courage of the people back home as well as to the herb par excellence of the cuisine of their corner of the country. “ Thank God for the savory! », they exclaim in their radiant mixed voices.

It was inspired by their stays in Louisiana that they first imagined this series of hymns to family comfort (Last but not least), invitations to toast (Between the dog and the wolf) and beautiful portraits of equally beautiful elders (No way to fall).

“The girls make fun of me, because I always want to talk about old things about eating,” laughs Katrine, while having her makeup done in the anteroom of the Sala Rossa, where spectators usually leave their coats, a few hours before launch.

In the hamlet of Henry, about an hour from Lafayette, they made friends with farmers, alcoholics and workers, met in taverns where well-meaning waitresses are always happy to play matchmaker between French-speaking, young people. or old.

“Louisiana gave us the feeling of discovering a hidden village between Memramcook and Bouctouche,” illustrates Julie. They were both somewhere else and at home. “The world even physically resembles the world back home. We walked around and said to ourselves: look, he’s like the Cajun version of Jérémie Frenette, a guy we know from Moncton. »

“And then, it’s a good time to go,” adds Vivianne, “because despite the fact that there are activists for the language, a lot of people have lost it. There are young people who go to immersion classes and it’s awesome, but to hear the Cajun French that the old people speak, it’s now. »

Road warriors

Love letter to all the beauty that grows outside the well-marked paths of the music industry and fleeting relationships, Tintamarre continues for Les Hay Babies what must be described as a quest for truth. Visiting Nashville, where they hoped to taste the purity of country, they quickly became disillusioned.

“We expected to hear good music, but ultimately, everyone is forced to cover Alan Jackson because their tunes suck,” summarizes Vivianne, the funniest and least diplomatic of the group. trio, who mock these unlucky people in Some People. Katrine’s implacable observation: “Nashville is where dreams go to die. »

But in the depths of Louisiana? “We heard the best bands,” remembers Vivianne. The people who don’t try to make a career and who do it with their heart, they’re the ones who are the best. »

For more than ten years, Les Hay Babies have lived, savored and driven their dream of rock’n’roll, despite the boredom this life entails, as well as the miles and bad meals eaten.

“We are road warriors”, summarize those who proclaim themselves “rebellious” in We are The Hay Babiesa pat on the back offered to themselves as much as a warning to the cinemas which will receive them. “We are rarely on time, but we are rarely smart,” they warn in one of the verses. The opportunity for Julie to tell the story of the time when Vivianne had to give a show alone, because she and Katrine had taken the wrong highway exit, which happens occasionally when you are your own driver.

“We have never been exposed to the luxury of all that,” Vivianne continues more seriously. All that as in: showbiz. Julie continues: “But we know that we are lucky that no one tells us what to do. We have the freedom to have fun and express ourselves. We couldn’t ask for better. We play cards together at the hotel after the shows and still enjoy each other’s company. »

Forever

They enjoy their company so much that during the pandemic, Vivianne packed up her little ones to leave Montreal and return to live with her friends. Julie: “She called us and it was clear that things were not going well, to the point where we had to tell her: are you waiting for a formal invitation to come back? »

It is tragic and also sometimes magnificent: Acadian identity and exile remain intimately linked. “When you move, you always have the feeling that you are going to come back one day, that you are going to come back and die at home,” confides Vivianne, who is not there yet, because Les Hay Babies, no doubt, are alive and well.

“Even when it’s difficult, these girls are my best friends,” says Julie in a vibrant profession of affection which will eventually get the better of her makeup and that of Vivianne. “It’s like a marriage, like a promise we made to each other that we’re going to love each other forever. »

Country rock

Tintamarre

The Hay Babies

Simone Records