He’s one of the most name-checked modern songwriter working within the Canadian music industry and should garner great consideration as a potential inductee in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame down the road. In the meantime Hawksley Workman is thrilled to be participating in the 2017 induction ceremony, which takes place Sept. 23 at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Inductees include Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Beau Dommage and Stephane Venne. Besides Workman, the list of presenters and performers for the fete is equally as impressive, featuring the likes of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Eh440, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Randy Bachman, k.d. Lang and incoming Governor General Julie Payette.
Workman was asked to sing a song by one of this year’s nominees, Bruce Cockburn, allowing him to go into full-on fanboy mode when talking about the influential, timelessly relevant and continually provocative veteran composer.
“I’ve been very open about my being a big fan of his. So it’s my honour to honour him in any way I can. When it comes to Bruce Cockburn, there’s no other artist whose music I know better than his – and I love every era of his work. I don’t know Neil’s catalogue as well as I know Bruce’s, beyond all the Neil classics. I loved the Landing on Water Record,” he said, as he talked about he appreciated most about Cockburn and Young.
“I’d say both artists have stayed steadfast on their own paths, following their dreams and whims, without concern for fashion or the mainstream.”
That last statement could equally be applied to Workman’s career. A darling of the critics and those who love music with both musical and lyrical depth, Workman has often defied clear genre delineation, preferring to add dabblings of various musical inspirations to what is essentially a form of singer/songwriter-infused eclectic form of pop-rock.
“I write about God and women and fear and death. There’s an ‘ism’ lurking around every corner that’ll spark me. I definitely haven’t figured out how to make background or dinner party music,” he said.
Incredibly prolific, Workman has written, recorded and released nearly two dozen of his own albums and EPs, as well as collaborating as either a songwriter or producer on hundreds of other recordings by the likes of Tegan and Sara, Serena Ryder, Great Big Sea, Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard. He has also had the chance open for some of his other musical heroes, including Morrissey, David Bowie and The Cure.
His last album was Old Cheetah, which came out in 2015 on Six Shooter Records. He said that over the years, like most artists, he hasn’t been afraid to change some aspects of how he approaches his songwriting craft.
“We’re all slaves to the thrill of a new creation, and it gets harder to feel interested in your own thoughts as you get older. I change up things all the time. I’m in no way reverent to any method or approach, only that songwriting is work and the non-negotiable element is showing up and doing the work,” Workman said
“Ideas are fairly constant, but unless you commit them to paper or tape, they’re just in the wind, without shape.”
Workman’s creativity has taken him in a number of different artistic directions besides solely writing, recording and producing songs. In 2013, he created and performed a one-person cabaret-style show, The God That Comes, which he continues to do periodically around the world, having successful runs at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and festivals in New Zealand and Denmark. He has also collaborated on a children’s book called Almost a Full Moon, which came out in 2016.
“I’m working on music for a new work at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. I wrote a cool song with Ria Mae the other day. I’ve just moved to Montreal and the painters finish the apartment today – so there’ll be lots of art to hang tonight,” he said, of the things on his plate at the moment.
For more information on Workman’s varied and exciting artistic endeavours, visit http://hawksleyworkman.com.
For details on the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame 2017 Induction, visit http://www.cshf.ca.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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