Whitehorse is a Canadian

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band, composed of husband-and-wife duo

Luke Doucet Luke Doucet (born June 9, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has written and performed as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal and the folk rock band Whitehorse. In 2006 and 2011, Doucet was nominated f ...

and

Melissa McClelland Melissa McClelland (born 18 May 1979) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter who lived in Hamilton, Ontario, in her youth and now bases her career from Toronto, Ontario. McClelland's music is influenced by blues and Americana. A writer ...

.Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland Find Their Sound as Whitehorse
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', August 29, 2011. Based in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Doucet and McClelland were both established singer-songwriters before opting to put their solo careers on hold to work together as Whitehorse.

Bio

Doucet and McClelland toured in each other's bands for years before forming Whitehorse in 2010. They have since released three albums and two EPs on

Six Shooter Records Six Shooter Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that uses an artist-centric business model, focusing on art before commerce combined with extensive touring. Six Shooter Records was founded in 2000 by Shauna d ...

. In July 2013, their second album '' The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss'' was shortlisted for the

2013 Polaris Music Prize The 2013 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 23, 2013

. That year, they also played their first show at

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...

, one of Canada's most storied music venues; to mark the occasion, they released '' The Road to Massey Hall'', an EP comprising cover versions of songs written and performed by other artists who had previously performed there. In 2014, they released ''Éphémère sans repère'', an EP of

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

versions of several of their songs."Whitehorse, 'Éphémère sans repère'"
. ''

'', March 25, 2014. Lyric translations for the EP were provided by

Pierre Marchand Pierre Marchand (born 1958) is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer. Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since '' Solace'' in 1991. He also co-wrote several of M ...

. Their third full-length album, ''

Leave No Bridge Unburned '' Leave No Bridge Unburned ''is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Whitehorse. Funded by Kickstarter, the album was released via Six Shooter Records on February 17, 2015. The album was a long-listed nominee for the 2015 Polaris M ...

'', was released on February 17, 2015 and won the

Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year The Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, administered by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), has been awarded since 2005 to recognize the best album in the adult alternative genre by a Canadian artist. Winners an ...

at the

Juno Awards of 2016 The Juno Awards of 2016, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Calgary the weekend of 2–3 April 2016. The ceremonies were held at the Scotiabank Saddledome and televised on CTV. It was the first televised awards show to be ...

. '' Panther in the Dollhouse'' is their fourth studio album. The album was released via Six Shooter Records on July 7, 2017.

Live performance

Whitehorse performs live as a duo. While both Doucet and McClelland play guitar as their primary instruments as singer-songwriters, as Whitehorse each performs on a number of instruments. The band makes extensive use of

live looping Live looping is the recording and playback of a piece of music in real-time using either dedicated hardware devices, called loopers or phrase samplers, or software running on a computer with an audio interface. Musicians can loop with either loop ...

; most commonly by opening many songs by creating layered drum and percussion loops to serve as a drum track. They also loop instrumental portions and vocal phrases in some songs. Doucet generally plays the drum kit parts with McClelland adding other percussion elements. McClelland plays bass guitar and keyboards along with acoustic (and occasionally electric) guitar. Other than drums, Doucet generally plays electric (or acoustic outfitted to sound as an electric) guitar, with occasional keyboards. The duo also often uses several different vocal mics to achieve different sounds.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

'' (2011) *'' The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss'' (2012) *''

'' (2015) *'' Panther in the Dollhouse'' (2017) *''A Whitehorse Winter Classic'' (2018) *''Modern Love'' (2021) *''Strike Me Down'' (2021) *''I'm Not Crying, You're Crying'' (2023)

EPs

*'' The Road to Massey Hall'' (2013)Six Shooter Records released The Road To Massey Hall January, 2013
''

'' *'' Éphémère sans repère'' (2014) *''The Northern South, Vol. 1'' (2016) *''The Northern South, Vol. 2'' (2019)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Six Shooter Records
{{Authority control Canadian folk rock groups Musical groups from Hamilton, Ontario Six Shooter Records artists Married couples Canadian musical duos Musical groups established in 2011 2011 establishments in Ontario Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year winners Folk rock duos Male–female musical duos