Old ape arms turns 43… with a back drop of sky that’s both bright and gloom… just like me. It’s been a little while since I’ve felt the energy of purpose… but I’ve found it again. Work and clarity are back in blossom. 2 records written, and the music feels special and true. When you’re a kid, work’s a dirty word… now it’s a blessing. Montreal has been a most welcome, spirit enlivening move. I’ve caught a wind there, and have met the warmest and loveliest talented kooks, who, in turn have opened their hearts to me. The complications of old versions of happiness slowly being replaced by deceptively new, simple ones. A swim. A bike ride. A clever verse/chorus change. A run. Nephews. Cats. My love. It’s now, mostly always enough. Here’s to marching forth on this March 4th… with the pride and excitement of a couple pockets full of great, new songs, a new city to fall in love with spring over, some already planned visits to far flung places, wireless headphone walks to the studio and the sharpest images of gratitude for all the folks who’ve continued to listen and support me through these last, nearly 20 years… your dedication seems all the more rarified and wild given the times… Many thanks. and with a bit of a wizend heart and eyes worn by what time allows you to see, I’m more thankful for everything you’re supposed to be more thankful for, but sometimes just forget. I plan to try and remember more. Wishing you peaceful hearts and quiet illuminated minds… h.

there was snow up the mountain the other day.  elevation and wind.  it’s funny what the trees beckon for, but they do.  some leaves, still green holding on.  holding out.  others, graciously yellow and brown.  grateful for the rest, they lay glopped in prickly frost.  the biting torment blowing north south, i rounded east on saint-viateur to find a forgiving calm.  always being reminded of our smallness.  always being reminded of its bigness.  it’s a constant remembering and forgetting and remembering.  lost in my own thoughts of importance and then rattled into remembering.  i felt my heart pounding.  the cold is something the kid remembers.  wonderous.  the dreams that snow allow.  the fantasy of the nearly eternal sleep.  yes you rest.  and heal.  but you also secretly plot.  to come out the other end better.  more ready to love.  more ready to heed.  to recognize when to gently relax into the fury.  the cold packs a misery so perfect as to be uncaring of the skin to which it clings.  the mind is charitable.  having politely allowed me to forget what this darkness really means to bring.  but i’m beginning to feel ready.  i’m also going to try some sneaky defiance.  i’m going to hunker in studios and make music this winter.  so when the buds starts to sprout, i’ll have some greening peas to share.  i’m feeling excited.  i like this city’s undulations.  i’m a newbie.  and i’m being warned of a less than friendly winter ahead.  and cities have a way of testing your love.  or at least your affections.  am i the willing suitor or is it?  i guess that’s what makes it interesting.  double steeples and a mountain for climbing.  and all the age a building can stand to bare.  new songs.  new thoughts.  new reasons to celebrate.  new reminders to love and care.  to maybe even extend a little warmth to my own inner voices that i so often allow to speak to my softness with such unkindness.  as these days grow short let’s let our love grow long.  blessings from saint-urbain.  a southbound throughway…  that quiets by midnight and rages again at 6.  to the airplanes landing mostly east to west and to the street artists continuing the conversation in bold colour and lines.  thank you and see you out there.  i look forward to the sharing of our voices and hearts.  h.

We are excited to announce that Hawksley Workman will be taking Almost a Full Moon back on the road this December, performing shows in Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa.

Hawksley’s classic Christmas album, Almost a Full Moon was released 16 years ago, and is a musical celebration of Christmas, community, family and singing.  It has become a holiday season staple for many, original songs to be sung on the first snow of the year, while making soup, or when 3 generations find themselves doing dishes, all at once.

Tickets are on sale now!

December 7th, Calgary at Theatre Junction Grand (tickets) – 2nd show added
December 8th, Calgary at Theatre Junction Grand (sold out)
December 9th, Regina at The Exchange (tickets)
December 10th, Saskatoon at Emmanuel Anglican Church (tickets)
December 11th, Saskatoon at Emmanuel Anglican Church (tickets) – 2nd show added
December 13th, Ottawa at First Baptist Church (tickets)

 Almost a Full Moon Tour Poster 2017

Hawksley is excited to announce that he will be joining newchoir, Toronto’s first rock choir, at Koerner Hall on Saturday June 3rd.  More than 100 voices harmonizing some well loved Hawksley Workman songs, as well as hits from the United Kingdom, accompanied by a rock band and a strings section.

Tickets for this very special event are on sale now.

Click here for more information about newchoir.

Tickets have now gone on sale for The Writes of Spring tour, with musical friends Tim Baker (of Hey Rosetta!), Amelia Curran, Donovan Woods and Hawksley Workman.

April 25, 2017 – London, ON @ Aeolian Hall (sold out)

April 26, 2017 – Picton, ON @ The Regent Theatre (tickets)

April 27, 2017 – Peterborough, ON @ Market Hall (tickets)

April 28, 2017 – Ottawa, ON @ National Arts Centre (tickets)

April 29, 2017 – Creemore, ON @ Avening Hall (sold out)

April 30, 2017 – Ridgeway, ON @ The Sanctuary (tickets)

May 1, 2017 – Creemore, ON @ Avening Hall (sold out)

May 2, 2017 – Bayfield, ON @ Old Town Hall (sold out)

May 3, 2017 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Public Library (tickets)

WOS_poster_Feb 2017
Tim Baker is the writer and frontman of acclaimed Newfoundland group, Hey Rosetta!. The Juno nominated singer is best known for his intimate, poetic lyrics and powerful live vocal delivery, garnering Hey Rosetta! multiple awards along with their numerous sold-out Canadian tours.

Amelia Curran is a Juno Award winning singer-songwriter from St. John’s, Newfoundland.  Her knife-sharp lyrics possess an unrivaled eloquence garnering her acclaim as Canada’s master contemporary songstress.  Amelia’s latest album Watershed will be released in April 2017 by Six Shooter Records.

Donovan Woods was raised in the small city of Sarnia, Ontario, to the sounds of country music, with a healthy dose of folk and pop, a combination that instilled in him a strong belief in the power of a memorable melody, the importance of everyday language and the impact of a well-crafted song. His acclaimed fourth album Hard Settle, Ain’t Trouble received a 2016 Polaris Music Prize nomination, landed him on the CBC Music “Best 25 Canadian Albums of the Year” list and won him the Canadian Folk Music Awards “Songwriter of the Year.”

Hawksley Workman is singer and songwriter. Performer, producer, poet, and playwright. Multi-instrumentalist and an ambitious, ever-busy global ambassador of Canadian culture and creativity. A staple of the Canadian arts scene for over 17 years, Workman boasts a catalogue of 16 solo releases. The accolades amassed include JUNO nods and wins and widespread critical acclaim. He has most recently published a children’s book for Penguin Random House, based on the lyrics of his beloved Christmas song “Almost a Full Moon”.

We are excited to announce that Hawksley will be heading to Australia in 2017 for some shows!  Follow links for show and ticket information.

Thursday March 30th @ Northcote Social Club in Northcote, VIC (tickets)

Friday March 31st @ Brass Monkey in Cronulla, NSW (tickets)

Saturday April 1st @ Leadbelly in Newtown, NSW (tickets)

Hawksley Workman has announced that a limited edition vinyl pressing of his classic Christmas LP Almost a Full Moon will be available in Canada for Record Store Day Black Friday, November 25, 2016 and online at Maple Music.

The vinyl includes a special 11×11” Lyrics And Chords Songbook of the original album tracks, as well as a free download card for the LP which includes two bonus tracks: “Watching the Fires” and “Silent Night”.

Copies of the vinyl will also be available for purchase on the Christmas Tour (dates below).

Almost a Full Moon Track list

  1. Claire Fontaine
  2. Learn How To Knit
  3. First Snow Of The year
  4. Merry Christmas (I Love You)
  5. Common Cold
  6. 3 Generations
  7. A House Or Maybe A Boat
  8. Almost A Full Moon
  9. Watching The Fires (CD And Digital Only)
  10. Silent Night (CD and Digital Only)

Almost a Full Moon Tour

12.05 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre SOLD OUT
12.07 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James Hall SOLD OUT
12.08 – Edmonton, AB @ Citadel Club Theatre SOLD OUT
12.09 – Edmonton, AB @ Citadel Club Theatre SOLD OUT
12.10 – Edmonton, AB @ Citadel Club Theatre SOLD OUT
12.11 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre SOLD OUT
12.13 – Fredericton, NB @ Wilmot United Church (Tickets)
12.14 – Halifax, NS @ St. Matthew’s Church SOLD OUT
12.16 – Hamilton, ON @ Library In The Round Series (Tickets)
12.17 – Huntsville, ON @ Trinity United Church SOLD OUT

“Let’s make some soup ’cause the weather is turning cold.”

Almost a Full Moon Launch TORONTO

Join singer/songwriter Hawksley Workman and music educators Rainbow Songs for the launch of Hawksley’s first book for children. Almost A Full Moon adapts one of Hawksley’s songs into a heartwarming tale of a warm welcome on a cold night, with evocative illustrations by Jensine Eckwall.

Brunch will be available for purchase starting at 11. Rainbow Songs will lead a singalong at 12:30, and Hawksley will play at 1:30. This will be followed by a book signing.

Co-presented by Pages Unbound and Another Story Bookshop. (PWYC proceeds go to Pages Unbound, a charitable non-profit Canadian organization. Pages Unbound’s mission is to explore how Canadian and international literary voices are developing and evolving and by bringing audiences and authors together in entertaining and illuminating ways.)

 

Note from HW

15 years ago i hired a piano for my apartment in paris.  i was fasting and I needed a distraction.  the piano came up 2 flights of stairs and was awkwardly rolled into an open corner.  desperate not to catch lusty whiffs of baguette, wine and cheese, i stayed in and wrote.  this was in the strange and heady time of late september 2001 and in those days life and reality pulsed uneasily with an almost druggy undulation.  i was raw and wanting to connect to things that were real and comforting.  i thought of my grandma.  she was still alive then, and i wanted her to understand the influence she had on me while i still had a chance.  her joy.  her fascination with life and her love of christmas.  i had 8 days till the band was landing at CDG airport to begin another european tour, which were never ending back in those days.  i wrote all day, every day.  after 5 days i had an album’s worth of music celebrating my grandma, christmas, food, family, fire and singing.  it’s still one of my favourites.  i’m blessed that some of those songs have gone on to find an energy of their own, and have found listening ears and willing voices to sing, three generations, first snow of the year, almost a full moon and the libidinous claire fontaine, among others.  these songs, like diary entries take me back to a time and place, but they also reflect a glow into the future. a willingness to define and redefine the simple loves and pleasures it sought to celebrate some 15 years earlier…  i still get teary eyed singing “3 generations”.  i still feel the petulant grind in my gut when sing “merry christmas (i love you)” and the yearning and subtle humour in reciting the list of ingredients for a winter soup in “almost a full moon”.  this december, my faithful musical brother mr. lonely and i set out to play and sing and enjoy and share this music again.  to celebrate community and connection.  to give voice to the benign bits of joy that straggle behind the big glowing events.  the days will be getting shorter, and in turn the nights longer.  let us gather with nostrils full of fresh pine, browning onions and burning fires.  i look forward to singing with you, joining voices to brighten back winter’s hunkering gloom.  see you in december.

h.

 

TOUR DATES / On Sale Now:

12.05 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre SOLD OUT
12.07 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James Hall (tickets)
12.08 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre SOLD OUT
12.09 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre SOLD OUT
12.10 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre SOLD OUT
12.11 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre SOLD OUT
12.13 – Fredericton, NB @ Wilmot United Church (tickets)
12.14 – Halifax, NS @ St. Matthew’s Church SOLD OUT
12.16 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Public Library In The Round Series (tickets)
12.17 – Huntsville, ON @ Trinity United Church SOLD OUT

 

 

Christmas Tour

We are very excited to announce Hawksley’s Almost a Full Moon Tour on the 15th anniversary of the release of his Christmas LP “Almost a Full Moon”.  Tour dates are below, tickets go on sale this Friday August 19th.

VINYL RELEASE:

In celebration of this anniversary, we will also be releasing a limited edition vinyl pressing of Almost a Full Moon, which will include a special Lyrics and Chords “Songbook” of the original album tracks, as well as a free download card for the album, including the two bonus tracks “Watching The Firesand “Silent Night”.

TOUR DATES / On Sale Now:

12.05 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre (tickets)
12.07 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James Hall (tickets)
12.08 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre (tickets)*
12.09 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre (tickets)*
12.10 – Edmonton, AB @ The Club at the Citadel Theatre (tickets)*
12.13 – Fredericton, NB @ Wilmot United Church (tickets)
12.14 – Halifax, NS @ St. Matthew’s Church (tickets)
12.16 – Hamilton, ON @ Hamilton Public Library In The Round Series (tickets)
12.17 – Huntsville, ON @ Trinity United Church (tickets)

BOOK RELEASE:

Hawksley is also officially announcing the release of a very special illustrated children’s book titled, Almost a Full Moon. Based on the lyrics of a song from the album of the same name, Almost a Full Moon is a warm-hearted tale of family, community, food and home and is illustrated by Jensine Eckwall, who helps bring beauty and a hint of magic to Workman’s evocative lyrics. The book will be published September 6, 2016 by Tundra Books (a division of Random House Canada). Pre-order is available here here.

 

*Edmonton: Beyond The Stage series passes available now, individual show tickets available Sept. 15, 2016.