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Connor Hirtle has spent more than a decade in the audience at Cavendish Beach Music Festival in P.E.I.
This year, he was on stage.
It was a full-circle moment for the 32-year-old from Dublin Shore, N.S., who was paralyzed 11 years ago in a swimming accident while attending the P.E.I. festival.
“This year will be different,” Hirtle said in an interview before the festival.
“Obviously, going back and playing, it’s just a full-circle moment type of thing. It’s crazy to think about where it started, where your life takes a complete turn to now you’re singing on the stage with some of your best buddies.”
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Music has been a therapy for Connor Hirtle since an accident left him paralyzed while attending the Cavendish Beach Music Festival. He returned to the festival this year not just as a fan of the music, but on stage — with his band. The CBC’s Linus Mulherin reports.
Hirtle fronted his band, also named HIRTLE, on Friday afternoon.
Since forming in 2023, the group has played venues across Nova Scotia’s South Shore and Halifax, releasing several tracks. But playing Cavendish marked the band’s biggest gig to date.
As the lead singer and primary lyricist, Hirtle has thrown himself into songwriting in the years since his injury.
“Throughout rehab, you know, they try and give you different avenues to deal with what had happened, and writing is a big one,” Hirtle said.
“But with me loving music, I said, ‘Well, geez, why don’t I try writing some songs?'”
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The band’s debut single, Sun Will Rise, was released in January and draws directly from his recovery.
“That’s definitely personal,” he said. “It’s just going through my injury and what I’ve gone through as far as hopefulness and dark days and the good days.”
At a Halifax rehearsal space the week before the festival, Hirtle belted out originals while the rest of the six-piece band laid down an up-tempo country-rock groove.
Outside, over the echoing crash of the drums, lead guitarist and co-founder Jackson Meisner said the performance holds deep meaning for the entire lineup.
“[Connor’s] written a lot of the lyrics, so a lot of it reflects his life post-injury,” Meisner said.
“So him, playing those songs, at Cavendish, the place where it happened — yeah, there’s gonna be some emotion there. As a whole band we’re playing into that, just giving it everything we have, and feeling the music.”
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Hirtle felt confident about the show.
“The nerves are probably going to be through the roof, but I think we’re prepared enough that we can all surpass that,” he said.
Hirtle has always returned to Cavendish surrounded by a tight-knit circle of family and friends, singing along from the crowd.
“I have an amazing group of supporters,” he said. “I am just very lucky to be surrounded by some great people. So they make going back an amazing time for me.”
This time, he was looking forward to singing for them.
“It’ll be emotional. You know, when we play Sun Will Rise, I’m going to try and hold it together,” he said. “But again, I’m surrounded by the boys behind me and beside me, playing in the band, and all the people in front of me. I know they’ll be there rocking and cheering us on to hopefully keep the emotions in check.”
Whatever the show was like, Hirtle knew it was going to be meaningful.
“It’s just the full-circle moment of having your life change and then being able to play on the stage just down the road from where it happened.”
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