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Whitehorse
Summer Serenades

Whitehorse

from Hamilton, ON

In 2011, Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet a conscious decision to focus on Whitehorse rather than their solo work, lest anyone think it was merely a side project. Now Canadian music scene darlings, the husband and wife duo are emerging from the pandemic armed with a raft of new material with two full 2021 albums (Modern Love and Strike Me Down). Their initial blues and folk-steeped sound has gone through a kaleidoscopic evolution, bending and melding genres around McClelland’s sultry voice, Doucet’s signature guitar playing and the duo’s lush pop harmonies. The new material pushes further into the pop realm with the first single off Strike Me Down veering into sugar sweet psychedelia. Their recordings are polished and pretty, full of sly grooves and earworm vocals. Live, the songs take flight. They began touring as a five-piece band in 2017, eschewing their previous duo multi-instrumentalism, giving them an ability to improvise and add the unexpected. But one thing that hasn’t changed. Doucet can be counted on to rip into his trademark Gretsch White Falcon plugged into his classic 1959 Gibson amp to remind everyone they are at a rock show. 

Biography by Sean Myers

Concerts

Saturday July 24, 2021

1:25 PM – 2:30 PM · ATB @ Mainstage

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