Singer-Songwriter Hayley Jane Returns to Vermont 

Singer-songwriter Hayley Jane spent five years living in Burlington, fronting her group Hayley Jane and the Primates, as well as forming one half of Yes, Darling with Ryan Montbleau. In 2019, while on tour with the Primates, Hayley Jane went on a musical hiatus, eventually moving back to her native state of California to be near her family in late 2020 where she regrouped, ran a small shop by the sea and focused on self care and healing.

After reuniting with the Primates in 2020 at the Northlands Festival in Swanzey, N.H., Hayley Jane finally returns to the Green Mountains for a series of shows supporting — and playing with — New Jersey jam outfit Dogs in a Pile.

Healthy, happy and reenergized, Hayley Jane swings through Jay Peak for a two-night stand on Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19, at the Foeger Ballroom. Ahead of the shows, she spoke with Seven Days about playing new music and returning to her adopted home.

"Coming back to it feels so good," she said, adding that not playing music during the hiatus was particularly tough. Hayley Jane described her time running a small shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea as "an identity crisis," in part because she's been a performer nearly all of her life.

"I was in musical theater at age 12, doing Gilbert and Sullivan," Hayley Jane said. By the time she was 17 she was working at Disneyland, playing Snow White for eight hours a day.

"I also played Lulu the German prostitute in Cabaret," she pointed out. "So they are both in there — Snow White and Lulu. I have existed between those two women ever since."

While on her East Coast swing, she links up for a 10-day run with Dogs in a Pile. She and the Asbury Park-based band had a songwriting session back in January, yielding a fresh crop of material they will play together during their shows.

"We had a week to write together," Hayley Jane said. "It was pretty wild to write a song in the morning and hear it fully fleshed out by dinner time."

"It's kind of a Bob Dylan and the Dead situation," said Dogs in a Pile keyboardist Jeremy Kaplan by phone. "We will be the band for her opening set and then we'll play our own set."

The collaboration has Hayley Jane bullish on the idea of playing in a band again.

"They are such good musicians," she said of Dogs in a Pile. "When I feel supported it makes me fearless in my performance, and I take more risks. Different musicians bring different things out of me."

Along with the excitement of a new musical endeavor, Hayley Jane is feeling the happiness of returning to Vermont after a few years away.

"I consider Burlington a hometown for me," she asserted. "The majority of my closest friends live there and I would say it's where I find the most community. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up living there again someday."