Whitehorse

Making Sweet Music Together

Decorating the world with their guitars and melodic voices are husband and wife duo Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, who together make up the band Whitehorse. Doucet and McClelland elevate spirits across the land for those fortunate enough to hear their music. Here in Thunder Bay, the Sleeping Giant Folk Music Society is once again offering the community a great opportunity to see incredible live music with Whitehorse on May 7 at the Port Arthur Polish Hall.

“Forming a group together didn’t really occur to us for almost the first decade of playing together,” McClelland says. “I always strongly identified as a solo artist, so I never considered being part of a group, but it happened in such a natural way because Luke and I were always involved in each other’s work from the very beginning.” The pair first met when Doucet produced McClelland’s first record. After years of playing in each other’s bands and being well-established solo singersongwriters, the pair decided to put their solo careers on hold and form Whitehorse in 2010.

Though they identify as a Canadian folk-rock band, the duo explore a multitude of genres and sounds when composing their music. “We always have a really hard time trying to pin down a genre for Whitehorse,” McClelland says. “We do genre hop quite a bit, but the things that really tie everything together are our voices, our harmonies, our songwriting, and Luke’s guitar playing. We have flavours of everything from folk, to pop, to rock and roll. Just a number of different genres really.”

Having performed in Thunder Bay several times as a solo artist, McClelland is looking forward to returning to our city for the first time as Whitehorse. “We are so excited to come back to that part of Canada,” she says. “I miss it. I feel like so often, we have started our tour in Winnipeg and then either go west or east and leave that chunk of Ontario and Manitoba out. So, I am longing to go back to that part of the country, because it is so stunning.”

When attending a Whitehorse concert, audience members can expect a delightful evening of original songs and live music performed primarily with Doucet on the guitar, McClelland on bass, and Johnny Obercian on drums. “We do part of the set just stripped down with the two of us on the guitar, and part of the set as a trio with our drummer. Our concert is a lot of dynamics, with some loud rock and roll as well as some intimate folk too,” McClelland says.

For more information, visit sleepinggiant.ca/whitehorse.

“We do genre hop quite a bit, but the things that really tie everything together are our voices, our harmonies, our songwriting, and Luke’s guitar playing.“