Media and Bio

 

“The ability to hush a riot with a whisper. You feel
this immediate enchantment come over you and everyone
who is present. A masterful songwriter, she left me
in a comfortable state of awe; lost within the
beautiful and honest world I was swept into.”- Kim Churchill, songwriter

“Sometimes you just can’t believe your ears. This was one of them. As soon as she started singing, I knew this was a confident young woman with talent. And I knew she could sing, I’d never heard a voice quite like hers.”- Bob Mersereau, Author of Top 100 Canadian Albums

 “You Might Be Somebody” shows she is a confident, eloquent and clever songwriter. With a voice reminiscent of a young Natalie Merchant, Hayward shows she is musically versatile, yet there is a running simplicity through her songs that draws more from folk music than pop.’- Ken Kelly, The Music Nerd Chronicles

 

Notable Achievements

  • 2011 Winner of Music NB Pop Recording of the year
  • 2011 Winner of Music NB Female Songwriter of the year
  • 2011 NewSong Mountain Contest International Finalist
  • 2012 ECMA Rising Star Nominee
  • 2012 Saint John Originals Awards Emerging Artist Nominee

 

Meet Babette Hayward: Watching the promise come true

You really ought to get to know Babette Hayward. Attractive young songwriter from Saint John, New Brunswick. She’s 22, wise beyond her years, a writer with startling images and a singer with a voice that overflows with heart, nervousness, passion and compassion.

At 22, most pop music artists don’t have the 10-page ”official” biographies that list their accomplishments, triumphs, records made and sold, their favourite colours and their boyfriends’ names.

Simply, they haven’t acquired all that baggage, yet. What they do have to talk about is getting started, maybe their first recording, their musical influences and their heroes and heroines. And, of course, their hopes and plans for the future.

The forecasts and the conclusions, however, are made by managers, fellow musicians, publicists, club owners and concert promoters — and, most of all, by the people who listen, truly listen, to the music. And their verdict, simply, is that Babette Hayward is an artist ready to break through nationally. Listen to the songs, they say; watch her likeable demeanour on stage, note the way audiences respond.

So, here’s Babette. Loved music from the beginning, starting to play violin when she was six, but began the guitar when she was 13. Soon she was playing for – and with — high school friends, and occasionally at local coffee houses. Working part-time at a record store, spending her summers on Belle Isle, she stumbled into university, taking a studies in philosophy, drama and literature, but walked away a year later to focus on developing her craft and becoming a full-time songwriter.

There was always music going through her head — late at night in quiet times, or at the record store when business was brisk.

And here comes the first break. She’s just 19, her first time playing original songs in front of an audience. In comes a man with connections in the music business; a real life manager, with lots of experience, links with record labels and agents. He senses a spark, a feeling, and his intuition hasn’t let him down yet. So, says Jeff Liberty — one of the best-known music people in Atlantic Canada — let’s talk.

What do you want to do? Play music, sing. And write songs? Yes, that too. So the process began.

“(Writing songs) seems different every time,” she says. “I sit with the guitar, write a part, a phrase and keep playing it over and over and then a melody seems to come, and then the lyrics — I write thoughts down all the time, lines I find interesting, ideas…“

Last February, she recorded her first album. With the support of a group of seasoned musicians and with friends Michael Dalton and Tim Davidson as co-producers, she began to record the songs she had been writing. The result was You Might be Somebody, a collection of 10 songs that mix folk and pop idioms with gentle strokes of acoustic guitar, restrained accompaniment, and dream-like backup vocals. Sometimes, gentle sounds link the songs — a lonely train whistle, soft rain, the rattle of a streetcar.

With the record finished and released independently with the assistance of Liberty, she began the next part of the process. Out there, on the road, in neighbouring Atlantic provinces, then into Quebec and Ontario. Sharing a van and opening shows for Australian guitar hero Kim Churchill, touring with fellow-newcomer Jadea Kelly, sharing bills with friends and other artists, bringing her songs to audiences in cafes, small clubs, at house concerts, and occasionally in concert halls and at festivals. It’s not easy, it’s often lonely, it’s frequently exhausting, and the financially the rewards are hardly handsome.

But the songs take on lives of their own. The songs find friends; listeners in audiences who share the moods and the messages, understand the lyrics, and believe in the young woman who is singing them.

And there are many moments when it seems that the stars have aligned and all is well with her world. She was on the road when her album won Female Recording and Pop Recording honours at the Music New Brunswick Awards; Jeff Liberty, obviously thrilled, accepted for her. She was signed to Indica Records the same week who will be releasing and promoting her next album later in 2012.

So, now, the promise makes itself clear. Babette Hayward is writing songs for the next CD; she’s an outdoor girl who swims every day, and she runs when she gets the chance — she wants to complete a marathon someday. Sometimes ideas come as she pounds the pavement, but she knows, now, that you just have to sit down and work at it.

She’s cut the first demos for the new record in a Montreal studio. There’s a confidence now that wasn’t there before. The songs are coming a little easier. She’ll be touring more when the CD’s finished, and she’ll be playing further afield. Life is good — and there’s a brand new year to get started on.

Chances are this’ll be HER year. And the next “official bio” will, she hopes, be fleshed out to include more experiences, new accomplishments, stories from the road.

And, more importantly than anything else, the laughter and gentle pride that comes with success and growth.