Hawksley Workman Plays Trooper Songs In Whitehorse

Hawksley Workman certainly went out of his way to make Whitehorse, far to the north of anything, a stop on his latest tour. The crowd made their appreciation of this no secret by wildly clapping and shouting between every song when the troubadour played before an enthralled, packed house at the Yukon Arts Centre on Tuesday evening.

This wasn't the Huntsville, Ont. native's first appearance in the Yukon, however. He came for a show and was met with the same reception towards the end of 2006. At that time, close to the winter solstice, the territory was shrouded in darkness. With it light all the time now, he remarked on Tuesday that really wasn't sure what he liked better.

The almost two-hour set featured more than 20 songs, including a number of Trooper covers. The first time Workman came north, he had heard beforehand that a local charity group was holding an '80s dance fundraiser the same night as his show. Accordingly, he inserted a half-dozen '80s covers into the performance. Not to be outdone this time, hearing that Trooper would be here the following week, he opted to include some of their work in the set.

Much of the material was from his third latest album, Between The Beautifuls, which was released in January. That's not a misprint; Workman has released three records so far this year. He put out an independent EP titled Between The B-Sides in January and the full-length Los Manliscious on Universal in May.

All of Workman's hits made it into the set list, including "We Will Still Need A Song," "I'm Jealous Of Your Cigarette" and "Goodbye To Radio." A little Roy Orbison snuck into as well at one point.

To close the show, Workman sang "Ice Age" from 2006's Treeful Of Starling, amid the occasional "Raise a little hell, raise a little hell" whispered between the lines and pauses with the harmonica.

It was a simple show: Workman with a guitar and one bandmate, Mr. Lonely, on piano. Looks can be deceiving, though, because two people can rarely accomplish as much as this pair did. Mostly everything Workman writes turns out to be a love song in some way. Sometimes the love is a bit twisted and not so beautiful, but it's love all the same. And playing them on this stage, his emotions and feelings rang out with a true and heartfelt tone.

Sure, he joked a lot, and told stories about how his grandma would make him wear lipstick as a small child, or about his father being a handyman and/or his passion for cheap pianos, but it was all real and emotionally beautiful.

Perhaps it was just the effect of living in the Yukon, where not so many shows come through, that we appreciate those who come all the more. But when Workman spoke of how he felt like he was playing in his hometown, it seemed so believable. And with that, we welcomed him home.