Woodpigeon are a Canadian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

collective founded in Calgary and presently based in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. It is led by and performs the songs of Mark Andrew Hamilton. Woodpigeon have released six studio albums, and a number of EPs to critical acclaim, and Hamilton has worked with over 75 collaborators both on record and in live performance. Live, Woodpigeon is often a solo project incorporating loops and layered vocals. When asked about the band's name, Hamilton explains: "I've always been in love with the word Woodpigeon for as long as I can remember. When you write it in cursive, it looks like a rollercoaster." The band's sound has been compared to Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear,

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

, Simon & Garfunkel, and Belle & Sebastian, amongst others. Band leader Mark Hamilton's main lyrical influence is

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

Career

Woodpigeon's origins are found with primary songwriter Mark Andrew Hamilton writing songs in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, Scotland. At this time, the band was named Woodpigeon Divided By Antelope Equals Squirrel and consisted of Hamilton alongside Steve Kaye and Malcolm Benzie (who went on to form Edinburgh slowcore band eagleowl and performs with

Withered Hand Dan Willson (born 23 July 1974), also known by his stage name Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based indie rock musician. He lived in Bishops Stortford during the 1990s and played guitar for local band Tin Foil Circus. His first studio album, ' ...

). Hamilton states that he "was far too scared to ever sing, so all we ever played was a couple of stupid instrumentals and our only "performance" was in the streets of Edinburgh."Interview: Mark Hamilton (Woodpigeon)
stereokill.net. Retrieved on 2012-11-10. Eventually, Hamilton returned to Canada, and started afresh, with the shortened band name, Woodpigeon. Other band members fell in place, with Hamilton noting that: "the way it came together was simplistic: friends started hearing my songs and offering their services." The band's first full-length album, entitled ''

Songbook A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manuf ...

'', was released in late 2006. Following its release, the band opened for

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...

Iron and Wine Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a li ...

, Grizzly Bear, and

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

. In 2007, Hamilton co-founded the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary, serving as the festival's first artist curator. With their popularity growing, Woodpigeon toured the UK, Ireland, and Germany in 2008. That October they performed a pair of "Homecoming" shows in Calgary and Edmonton as an opener for Iron and Wine. The band self-released an album, '' Treasury Library Canada'', in early August 2008, selling nearly all 1,000 hand-folded copies within a fortnight. The band also re-released their debut album ''Songbook'' in the UK on September 29, 2008. ''Treasury Library Canada'' was officially re-released in February 2009 as a double album with the ukulele-based ''Houndstooth Europa'' collection as ''Treasury Library Canada c/w Houndstooth Europa'', and was long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Prize. Woodpigeon played with acts as varied as

The Constantines Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. History Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Sho ...

, Plants & Animals,

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of The Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

and Grizzly Bear, and Hamilton served as the curator of the first annual

Sled Island The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is an annual independent music and arts festival formed in 2007 and held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Each June, the five-day festival showcases over 200 bands, visual artists, filmmakers and comedians as ...

Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The band's third album, '' Die Stadt Muzikanten'', was released on January 12, 2010, with Hamilton stating that it is "simultaneously a lot bigger, and a lot smaller. There's definitely some big surprises on it". A limited Record Store Day release of the album was accompanied with a bonus LP titled ''BALLADEER/to all the guys i've loved before'', featuring songs recorded with producers

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

Howard Bilerman Howard Bilerman (born September 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer based in Montreal, Quebec.

, and S. Husky Höskulds, and a duet with

Beth Jeans Houghton Beth Jeans Houghton (a.k.a. Du Blonde) (born 3 January 1990) is an English multi-disciplinary musician, composer, artist, animator and video director. Their influences range from psychedelic rock, punk, blues, 1960s garage rock and soul. They ...

. The record was re-released as a stand-alone album on limited edition vinyl. Woodpigeon has since toured extensively as a headliner, and as opener for

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing music ...

Horse Feathers ''Horse Feathers'' is a 1932 pre-Code comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. It stars the Four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo), Thelma Todd and David Landau. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, an ...

, José González and

Junip Junip is a Swedish folk rock band. The band is made up of the duo of José González (vocals, guitars) and Tobias Winterkorn ( organ, Moog synthesizer) with various accompanying musicians in recordings and in live gigs. Their songs "Far Away" an ...

, and also appeared at the 2011 Meltdown Festival curated by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

on the Bandstand Busking stage. The same year they played as part of the Canadian Blast showcase for Canadian bands at London's prestigious Barbican, garnering positive reviews. In an interview with ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former ...

'' in early 2010, Hamilton spoke in part about how his identity as a gay man influences his songwriting. In 2011, Hamilton participated in the

National Parks Project The National Parks Project is a Canadian music and film project. Released in 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Parks of Canada system,Laura Barrett and

Cadence Weapon Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, '' Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with posit ...

and filmmaker

Peter Lynch Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more th ...

, to produce and score a short film about Alberta's

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

. The ''Fra Le Nuvole'' EP was released later in 2011, collecting together two EP-length singles released from '' Die Stadt Muzikanten''. Woodpigeon made their first national tour of Canada in 2011, alongside The Phonemes and The Mountains & the Trees. Transportation for the tour was completed by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

, including performances on the moving trains. The ''For Paolo'' EP followed in January 2012, marking Hamilton's move to

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, followed that September by ''Diamonds'', an album-length collection of outtakes available only online and at live shows, featuring a duet cover of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

duet "

Say Say Say "Say Say Say" is a song written and performed by English musician Paul McCartney and American musician Michael Jackson, released in October 1983 as the lead single to McCartney's 1983 album ''Pipes of Peace''. Produced by George Martin, the son ...

" with Louise Hull. Following a year of touring alongside

and

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

, Woodpigeon appeared at the 2012

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), n ...

Festival in Reykjavik. Woodpigeon signed to London-based

Fierce Panda Records Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass. Fierc ...

for the 2013 release of ''Thumbtacks + Glue''. The album was accompanied by two adjacent single releases: ''Edinburgh'' featuring B-side ''Little Magnet'' and a bonus 10-song download LP and ''Red Rover, Red Rover'' featuring B-side ''Sofia + Sam''. The ''Edinburgh'' video features appearances by noted

musicians eagleowl, Rob St. John and

. Hamilton began 2013 with a self-curated Reykjavik-Calgary Musicians Exchange Project as part of Calgary's

One Yellow Rabbit One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre (OYR) is based in the Big Secret Theatre in Calgary’s Arts Commons. With its Resident Performing Ensemble, OYR creates original theatrical works each year for its home audiences and also hosts The High Per ...

's High Performance Rodeo. The assembled group of six musicians, featuring Reykjavik's Benedikt H. Hermannsson (Benni Hemm Hemm) and Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson Häsler (

Prins Póló Svavar Pétur Eysteinsson (26 April 1977 – 29 September 2022), better known by his stage name Prins Póló, was an Icelandic singer-songwriter and experimental artist. He was also part of the Icelandic band Skakkamanage. Skakkamanage Svava ...

) alongside Calgarians Clinton St. John, Samantha Savage Smith and Laura Leif, wrote an album's worth of music in Iceland which was then presented at the 2013 Rodeo at Calgary's Festival Hall. The album was subsequently recorded at

The Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

by producer Graham Lessard, and released in late 2014 as EMBASSYLIGHTS. The band performed at the 2014

Festival in Reykjavik to commemorate the release. The following year, an expanded lineup of EMBASSYLIGHTS including poet Ragnar Helgi Olafsson undertook a tour of Western Canada, including performances at the Islendingadagurinn Festival in Gimli,

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. In 2015, Woodpigeon released a split 7-inch with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, and a split 10-inch with Rob St. John featuring artwork by painter Jake Bee. A lengthy solo tour alongside

throughout Europe followed, as well as soundtrack work for the Italian feature film Short Skin, which premiered at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. A limited edition 7-inch of the soundtrack was also released, featuring four songs from the sessions. Woodpigeon's sixth album, ''T R O U B L E'', was released on 1 April 2016. Largely written in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and recorded on Vancouver Island and in Toronto, the record was produced by

Sandro Perri Sandro Perri is a musician and producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His music has been called post-rock, electronic, experimental, ambient, folk among others. He has been producing, mixing and mastering records for other artists since 2003. ...

and features appearances by

David Thomas Broughton David Thomas Broughton (, born 20 March 1981) is an English folk/avant-garde singer and guitarist. Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, he creates the sound of a large ensemble by sampling himself singing, playing acoustic guitar, and making an asso ...

and

Mary Margaret O'Hara Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album ''Miss America'', released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a con ...

. The album holds a 71% rating on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' reviewed the record, calling it a "masterpiece" and noted, "This is the work of an artist who, seemingly despite himself, has turned into a major contender." In November 2017 the ''Devastating'' EP was released, featuring B-sides and remixes from the ''T R O U B L E'' sessions. In webposts the recording of a new Woodpigeon album was announced as well as the project Frontperson together with

Kathryn Calder Kathryn Jane Calder (born June 17, 1982) is a Canadian indie rock musician, who performs as a solo artist, and is a member of the bands The New Pornographers and Frontperson. She is a former member of Immaculate Machine. Calder started with The ...

from the band

The New Pornographers The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...

. Frontperson's first album ''Frontrunner'' was released in 2018, garnering strong reviews from ''

Bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

'', '' Stereogum'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', who named the pair, "two of Canada's finest" indie songwriters. ''Parade'', the duo's second album as Frontperson, was released in April 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2006) * '' Treasury Library Canada'' (2008) (later re-released combined with ''Houndstooth Europa'') * '' Die Stadt Muzikanten'' (2010) * ''BALLADEER/to all the guys i've loved before'' (2010) (Limited Edition) * ''Diamonds'' (2012) (Limited Edition available only online and at shows) * ''Thumbtacks + Glue'' (2013) * ''T R O U B L E'' (2016)

EPs

* ''Sketchbook'' (2005) * ''Pigeonbooth: Volume the First'' w/ Aaron Booth (2005) * ''Snowshovel'' (2005) * ''Knighty Knight'' w/ Aaron Booth & Jane Vain (2006) * ''...A Given'' (2006) * ''Houndstooth'' (2007) * ''Chorus of Wolves'' (2008) * ''La Commission Scolaire'' (2009) * ''Fra Le Nuvole'' (2011) * ''For Paolo'' (2012) * ''Edinburgh'' (2013) * ''Red Rover, Red Rover'' (2013) * ''Lost Cat Vol. 03'' w/ Eagleowl (2014) * ''Young Sun / Trouble Comes'' w/ Rob St. John (2015) * ''Faithful'' (2016) * ''Whole Body Shakes'' (2016) * ''Short Skin'' (2017) * ''Devastating'' (2017) * ''XOXMAS // Winter Song'' (2020) * ''Emotorik // Yakub'' (2021)

Other

* ''Pixie Children Crying'' (2008) (Digital-only Remix Collection) * ''Live in Turin'' (2011) (Live album recorded at Circolo Esperia in Torino, Italy) * ''Thumbtacks + Glue , The Queen City Versions'' (2013) (Digital-only Demo Collection) * ''Houses Built in Rows'' (2015) (Digital-only Best-of Collection) * Split 12-inch w/ LT Leif and Dana Gavanski (2019) Song, by Toad Records

7-inch singles

* "Death by Ninja (a Love Song)" (2006) * "That Was Good But You Can Do Better" (2008) * "Edinburgh" (2013) * "Brutish British Birds / Tokyo Hotel Room" (with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub) (2015) * "Short Skin" Soundtrack (2016)

References

External links

WoodpigeonBandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodpigeon (Band) Canadian indie pop groups Musical groups from Calgary Musical groups established in 2005 2005 establishments in Alberta Canadian indie folk groups Canadian folk rock groups