Award-winning singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman will perform at the Dekker Centre Nov. 28. (Facebook) 

By Angela Brown

Arts scene

JUNO winner Hawksley Workman brings his song ‘Battlefords’ to show at Dekker Centre

Nov 28, 2019 | 4:17 PM

Two-time JUNO-award winning singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman said he wanted a name that sounded musical and at the same time evocative when he decided to call his song Battlefords, for a piece he penned about feeling nostalgic about growing up in rural Canada.

Workman will perform with his band The Wolves at the Dekker Centre tonight at 7:30 p.m.

“The whole record is about growing up in rural Canada in the 1980s,” he said of his latest CD Median Age Wasteland. “I must admit I’ve been through North Battleford several times; it’s sort of a famous gas-stop for bands traveling between Edmonton and Saskatoon, and I’ve always thought it was the loveliest name for a town.”

He said he had the name tucked away in his collection of would-be lyrics for years.

“When I was sitting down to write this piece of music, more or less about my childhood in rural Ontario, there were no names for any towns where I grew up that sounded anywhere near as beautiful or musical as Battlefords,” Workman said. “That song I think is maybe one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”

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The multi-instrumentalist who grew up north of Huntsville, Ont., said he recalls the period as a time of innocence before the emergence of the internet.

“In rural Ontario there was a sense that we were witnessing the dawning of the future in a way,” he said.

Critics have compared Workman’s sound and vocal talents to that of Rufus Wainwright, and Royal Wood as well as David Bowie.

After more than 20 years on the road with The Wolves, Workman said the band has never sounded better.

“There is kind of a renewed interest in what we’re doing in a way because we have gone through thick and thin together,” he said. “The band is on fire at the moment and we’re playing a variety of songs from my 17 records now.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow