Hayley Reardon is a favorite around these parts. The gal has been at this music thing from a very young age and has just become better and better as she has grown into her style and voice. She will be back in the area (after a recent move to Music City) on October 10th at Club Passim (tickets for that show HERE), and it is very special matinee event. I encourage you all to get to that.
I caught up with the songwriter to talk about that show, Fall in Harvard Square, and what she has been up to. Check it out!
RLR: So you have a show coming up at Passim on October 10th…sell us on it!
HR: I do! I’m so excited for this show…I’m coming all the way home from Nashville for it and couldn’t be happier to spend a Fall weekend back in New England AND get share my songs and stories at the wonderful Club Passim. Passim is my favorite. Fall is my favorite. Harvard Square is my favorite. And oddly enough, matinee shows are my favorite. So combined it’s kind of my perfect day…my perfect show!
RLR: A big part of what Red Line Roots stands for is collaboration, community, and bringing folks together and fostering an environment where artist help each other. How do you feel about that preservation of unity and a ‘family sentiment’ in the folk music community around your own town or city? How does it play into your own music and where you come from? (Passim is obviously a big part of that!)
HR: I was only thirteen or fourteen when a few folkies decided to take me under their wing and show me around the “folk scene.” I learned so much and fell in love with all kinds of music I didn’t even know existed. The folk community provided such a free and nurturing place for me to uncover my voice and develop my craft. Of course, that’s a process I continue every day, but I feel so blessed that my journey began in the warm and welcoming community that it did. As you said, Passim is a big part of that. It is a special place not only to me but to so many of the artists and fans I know in this community. I think that’s because community is what Passim is all about. Nurturing and growing a community of people who care about music…and who care about each other.
RLR: If you could collaborate with anyone (dead or alive) musically, who would it be?
HR: Hmm, Joni Mitchell maybe? Or Ben Howard…I love him.
RLR: What is 1 record that shaped you when you first started playing and also, who is 1 “lesser known” or independent artist or an album, that you are listening to now and think folks really need to hear about?
HR: There isn’t really ONE record (or artist even) that’s shaped me thus far…it’s really been a combination of a whole bunch of art, artists,records, and experiences. And it’s an ongoing process. With that being said, Lori McKenna’s “_Lorraine_,” maybe? Especially around the time I started playing.
Before that, I grew up listening to Van Morrison…Astral Weeks, Moondance, and some others. He has so many records but those ones really do feel like home to me. I couldn’t tell you specifically how or if they’ve even contributed to my sound at all, but they are close to my heart and have been for as long as I can remember.
As for the second part of that question, Jill Andrews! Her new record “_The War Inside_” just came out this past week and I am wholeheartedly obsessed with it. Take a listen if you haven’t already.
RLR: Aside from music being a major focus in your life, do you make time for any pastimes? What would you want people to know about you aside from your musical endeavors?
HR: I’m in college now, so that takes up a lot of the time that isn’t being spent on music. When I’m not busy with those things I’m hopefully reading, or as of late, working as a reading tutor for some Elementary school students here in Nashville. I’ve only just started but I love every minute of it.
RLR: Anything else you want to plug?
HR: How about this new live video of a song I wrote about moving to Nashville from New England…It’s called “When I Get To Tennessee” and we recorded the video on a dock by my house just a few days before I headed down here.