Of the many aspects that make up the man named Hawksley Workman, "prolific" is definitely high on the list.
Throughout his lengthy career, the singer/songwriter has not only put out a number of his own albums, but found the time to produce, by his own count, "about 30, maybe 35" additional artists' records over the last 11 years.
Yet his own works are never far off the radar. After a busy 2008 that saw him release two albums — Between The Beautifuls and Los Manlicious — Workman is again doing a double-record year, with albums Meat and Milk both being released in 2010.
So with album titles such as those, are we to assume he found time in his busy schedule to go kosher as well?
"Fuck, I didn't even take into consideration that there'd be any sort of religious connotations to it at all," Workman admits over the phone with a laugh. "It's kinda dirty, I know! But it's more of a sexual ownership than anything, you know what I mean?"
Sorta. But that's appropriate coming from a balladeer who's made his mark on Canadian music for being either abashedly romantic ("We Will Still Need A Song") or brazenly sexual ("Jealous Of Your Cigarette"). Workman has always managed to balance out his strong lyrical themes with equally powerful musicianship, and both Meat and Milk sound like they'll be no exceptions.
Upon further discussion of his two upcoming releases, Workman says, "Milk is a lot more of an electronic pop record. For the real electro-vibes, Milk would be the one that features that sort of thing.
"Meat, on the other hand, is a lot of dirtiness. The drums sound dirty, the guitars sound dirty. For the most part, Meat is a record of real musicianship, playing actual music."
While Workman says Milk was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden — no doubt accounting for the electronica influences — Meat was done at his northern Ontario home.
"I'd come home from Australia and my life had been turned upside-down, and instead of going into a dramatic tailspin, I had a friend come up and we made this record," he explains.
This remains typical of Workman's DIY approach to the business; he maintains his own label (Isadora Records) and releases all of his albums himself, including making the unorthodox decision to release Milk track-by-track digitally over a five-month period. (Meat will be released in traditional album format on Jan. 19.)
When asked why Workman chose to go this route, he pauses first to think, then finally says, "I guess we're all sort of floundering a bit at the moment. Nobody really knows how musicians are going to make a living in the very near future.
"And so I think a lot of us are trying things to see if there's anything that might stick — something that might herald the arrival of a new system, by which folks can make a living writing and recording and selling their music.
"I think for me, not being with a major label anymore, I feel so liberated and utterly inspired that it seemed like a good idea. Because I make a lot of music and I make it very quickly, this idea that I can make something and release it almost instantly is so exciting. So it appeals to me on a real fundamental level, this idea that I can just fire things off into the universe as they come."
Workman will play these shows:
March 5 Courtenay, BC @ Sid Williams Theatre
March 6 Victoria, BC @ Alix Goolden Hall
March 7 Kelowna, BC @ Kelowna Community Theatre
March 8 Trail, BC @ Charles Bailey Theatre
March 10 Red Deer, AB @ Memorial Centre Theatre
March 12 Banff, AB @ Eric Harvie Theatre
March 14 Edmonton, AB @ Winspear Centre
March 17 Calgary, AB @ Jack Singer Concert Hall
March 18 Saskatoon, SK @ Odeon Events Centre
March 19 Regina, SK @ Darke Hall
March 20 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
April 7 Saint John, NB @ The Blue Olive
April 8 Fredericton, NB @ Playhouse
April 9 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium at Dalhousie University
April 10 St. John's, NL @ Holy Heart Auditorium
April 12-13 Charlottetown, PEI @ The Guild Charlottetown
April 15 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle
April 16 Montreal, QC @ Cabaret La Tulipe
April 17 Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre
April 20 St. Catharines, ON @ Sean O'Sullivan Theatre
April 21 London, ON @ London Music Hall
April 24 Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
