On Saturday, Oct. 12, Cricket Blue, the folk duo composed of Middlebury alumni Taylor Smith ’12 and Laura Heaberlin ’12.5, will return to Middlebury for a show with the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra at the Town Hall Theater. The duo will perform orchestral renditions of their debut album, “Serotinalia.” They will also perform a second show with the Champlain Philharmonic in Rutland, Vt. on Oct. 13.
Released in 2019, “Serotinalia” includes 11 original songs, one of which is an almost 12-minute ballad titled “Corn King.” The album’s music follows unique characters set in a fictional world imagined by Smith and Heaberlin. Cricket Blue has gained recognition for its “fiction-folk” style, with The All Scene Eye blog praising the duo for “setting a new standard” in the genre and NPR Music calling them “master storytellers.” Heaberlin’s songwriting has also been featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. In 2020, the duo also created a YouTube series in which they covered songs from the “Over the Garden Wall” soundtrack.
The collaboration with the Champlain Philharmonic will be Cricket Blue’s first time working with a full symphony orchestra. Matt LaRocca ’02, the musical director of the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, proposed the collaboration after becoming familiar with the duo through the Burlington music scene. Once the collaboration was confirmed, LaRocca rearranged the folk songs into full orchestral arrangements.
“It's hard to do these types of collaborations regularly just because paying that many musicians can get pretty expensive. So we never dreamed that we would hire a whole symphony. And so this opportunity is really cool that they approached us and wanted to work with us,” Heaberlin said.
Smith and Heaberlin first met at Middlebury as part of the Middlebury Mamajamas, an a capella group on campus. Their experience arranging and performing for the group, along with their leadership roles within it, laid the groundwork for their musical partnership.
“We both did a lot of arranging for the group and I feel, yes, singing together for so long, but also just managing the group, because we both were in leadership roles for Mamajamas,” Heaberlin said. “I feel like that was all kind of a precursor for being in a band together.”
Smith used the open music studio and learned how to formally record his music. Their musical knowledge from a cappella and other events at the college inspired Smith and Heaberlin to consider pursuing music as their career.
The two musicians follow a unique songwriting process, navigating their music collaboratively. When one person has an idea for a song, they send the first draft version to the other, who returns it with color-coded notes.
“It is rare that we have a really substantial, unresolvable creative difference. We've been revising together for so long that even when I'm writing a first draft, I have Taylor's voice in my head saying, ‘This is too repetitive,’” Heaberlin said. “I feel like we both have kind of come together into a style that we're already both excited about.”
Cricket Blue is currently working on their newest album, which will be almost double the length of “Serotinalia,” featuring approximately 20 tracks. The duo also hopes to create a more cohesive narrative throughout the album.
“[We are] exploring these different world views about how we think death and life work. And so it's kind of like an arc. It's more connective than our last album. So it feels more intentional than our last album in terms of world building,” Heaberlin said.
Smith and Heaberlin explained that the musical variety is broader on this album as well, including new instruments such as drums or electric guitar on some of the tracks. While there is not a set release date for their second album, fans can expect to hear it in the near future.
“I was in a pit for things in the town hall theater while I was at Middlebury, and it'll be fun to be back there again. It's been a long time,” Smith said.
Tickets for the performance are available to purchase on the Middlebury Town Hall’s website, with a discounted price available for students.
