Hawksley and Mr. Lonely are excited to be playing Rifflandia Music Festival in Victoria BC on September 14th! Also announced, MOUNTIES (Hawksley Workman, Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat, Ryan Dahle of Limblifter) will be playing on September 13th!  Details on the festival and full lineup can be found at www.rifflandia.com – stay tuned for schedule information!

UPDATED: The God That Comes won for Outstanding Production of a Musical & Outstanding Sound Design or Composition.  Congratulations!

The 2013 Betty Michelle Award Nominations have just been announced in Calgary, and The God That Comes has been nominated for four awards!

Outstanding Sound Design or Composition

Outstanding Performance by and Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Outstanding New Play

Outstanding Production of a Musical

The God That Comes was also nominated by the Calgary Theatre Critics for the 2013 Critters Award in the category of Best Touring Production.

Congratulations to 2b Theatre Company, Christian Barry, Mr. Lonely, Louisa Adamson, Leigh Ann Vardy, Jesse Ash, and Hawksley!

We are pleased to announce that The God That Comes will be performed at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa.  The show will be running June 8 to 11, 2013 at the National Arts Centre Studio.  Show and ticket information can be found here!

Hawksley will be taking The God That Comes to Halifax, 5 performances at The Marquee Ballroom, running Wednesday April 17 to Sunday April 21, 2013.  Information about the show can be found here!  Ticket information here!

Isadora Records has just announced a new record by Canadian singer/songwriter Hawksley Workman.  SONGS FROM THE GOD THAT COMES is a studio recording that re-imagines the music from the live theatrical show of the same name, and will be released on Tuesday March 19, 2013 at www.hawksleyworkman.com and digitally on iTunes. Records will also be available at live shows, including Calgary (at Alberta Theatre Projects, March 19-April 7) and Halifax (2b theatre company, Marquee Ballroom, April 17-21).

Hawksley speaks about the new record, and its roots:

the god that comes was a long time in the making.  christian barry of 2b theatre company in halifax initially approached me about a collaboration almost 10 years ago.  as these things go sometimes, the right timing and the right idea weren’t to find each other until the summer of 2011.  christian brought the idea for the play to me, realizing that the story had a lot of prescient ideas, and seemed to resonate with a lot of social and political themes we both had been thinking about.  we began marinating in various versions of the bacchae (a greek play by euripides).  the play and music were written during sessions in toronto, burk’s falls, calgary and banff over the span of a year.  the writing sessions were really more “jams” than what one might think of proper sit down ‘writing’.  reading, thinking, conversation and digression were all as much a part of the process as sitting at the piano, or with pen in hand.  the show itself is a one man cabaret, but i felt the songs were so ripe to live in a more cinematic setting, fulfilling a creative wish i’d had for a while about creating an audio movie.  the reimagining of the music from the god that comes is an out and out ‘production’ comprised of many instrumental layers…  mostly recorded to magnetic tape.  the record was purposely built to have constant movement and an undulating of textures.  sometimes the musical elements can be changing, shifting and almost imperceptibly in the course of one piece of music.

Christian Barry on the impulse behind the project:

The whole idea of Bacchanalia as an important part of a healthy human existence is something that has always made sense to me. We all need to let a little release, a little abandon, a little recklessness into our lives every now and then. And for me wine and music are a big, big part of that. There was a very natural marriage between Hawksley and this concept from the beginning. There’s always been a lot of theatricality in what Hawksley does, and he’s a real heart & loins kind of a performer. I’ve always felt his shows are Bacchanalian in their own right. So it wasn’t that big of a leap. We got in a room, started writing some songs, and this record is the result.

www.thegodthatcomes.com

Hawksley’s theatre production, The God That Comes, will be premiering this month in Calgary at the Alberta Theatre Projects playRites Festival.  Shows will run from March 19 to April 7.  Details on the playRites festival can be found here!  Show times and ticket information here!

ABOUT THE GOD THAT COMES

The God That Comes is an original one-man-band cabaret / rock & roll hybrid show featuring Juno-winner Hawksley Workman. This concept album for the stage tells the story of the Greco-Roman god of wine Bacchus (or Dionysus) and uses Euripides’ The Bacchae as a primary source. In a world ruled by greed and an oppressive king obsessed with rules and order, the lesser classes have taken to the countryside in a hedonistic spiritual revolution fuelled by wine, ritual madness, and ecstasy. Women, slaves, outlaws, and foreigners have all gone to the mountain to worship the god of wine, and to commune with their animal needs to dance, to lose control, to get drunk, and have sex. The king rails against the protesters, leading to a bloody conclusion. This solo performance fuses the chaotic revelry of a rock concert with the intimacy of theatrical storytelling.

“Oozing mischievous charisma, [Workman] fused the raw and unpredictable feel of live rock music with the thematic daring of dramatic theatre…Pretty close to perfection.” – The Victoria Times-Colonist

“Slashing Sardonic wit…The next big thing” – Toronto Star

The God that Comes is a tonic for a society that has lost its sense of balance, and for a people that have lost touch with their animal instincts. It is an invitation to raise a glass together, hear a story, and get lost in the music for a few hours.

Created by Hawksley Workman & Christian Barry
Conceived and directed by Christian Barry
Live music and performance by Hawksley Workman

Hawksley will be performing three work-in-progress showings of ‘The God That Comes’ at Performance Works on Granville Island, part of the PuSH International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver.

Wednesday January 16th (8:00pm) SOLD OUT

Thursday January 17th (8:00pm) SOLD OUT

Friday January 18th (8:00pm) SOLD OUT

Details about this show and the PuSH Festival can be found here!

Hawksley Workman and Mr. Lonely are going to Australia… Woodford Folk Festival and other dates below!

note from hw

where i’m from it’ll be snowing.  the bears will be at rest.  the chickadees will sing their winter song. cars will be stuck in driveways, and neighbours will help push them out.  chimney smoke will breathe into crisp blue skies.  the fox will forge and deer will nibble the last of the buds.  the huts will cover the lakes. where i’m from it’ll be snowing and cold…  but i’ll be down where the summer is alive and the waves are licking the shore.  see you soon.

Hawksley Workman Australia Tour Dates.

Thursday December 27th to Tuesday January 1st
Woodford Folk Festival Details Here!

Friday January 4th 2013
Melbourne VIC at Northcote Social Club
(Tickets)

Saturday January 5th 2013
Sydney NSW at The Basement
(Tickets)

Sunday January 6th 2013
Cronulla NSW at Brass Monkey
(Tickets)

Hawksley and Mr. Lonely are going on tour this fall!

Saturday October 27th Creemore, ON at Avening Hall – Sold Out

Monday October 29th Winnipeg, MB at West End Cultural Centre – Sold Out

Tuesday October 30th Saskatoon, SK at Broadway Theatre (Tickets)

Thursday November 1st Swift Current, SK at The Lyric Theatre – Sold Out

Friday November 2nd Lethbridge, AB at Southminster United Church – new venue! (Tickets)

Saturday November 3rd Sundre, AB at Sundre Arts Centre – Sold Out

Sunday November 4th Canmore, AB at Communitea CafeSold Out

Monday November 5th Canmore, AB at Communitea Cafe – Sold Out

Wednesday November 7th Vancouver, BC at The Rio Theater – Sold Out

Thursday November 8th Duncan, BC at Cowichan Theatre (Tickets)

Friday November 9th Nanaimo, BC at The Port Theatre (Tickets)

Saturday November 10th Campbell River, BC at Tidemark Theater (Tickets)

Thursday November 29th Hamilton, ON at The Molson Canadian Studio Theatre at Hamilton Place (Tickets)

Friday November 30th Peterborough, ON at Showplace Performance Centre (Tickets)

Saturday December 1st Burnstown, ON at Neat Coffee ShopSold Out

Sunday December 2nd Burnstown, ON at Neat Coffee Shop – Sold Out

Wednesday December 12th Toronto, ON at Trinity St. Paul’s Centre – Sold Out

Friday December 14th Meaford, ON at Meaford Hall (Tickets)

Hawksley had the pleasure of playing with Symphony Nova Scotia at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax last fall. Here is No More Named Johnny performed by Hawksley, Mr. Lonely and the symphony.

Video is provided courtesy of Symphony Nova Scotia.