It’s Wednesday, and it’s the day before Valentine’s Day. And it’s slush-ridden outside—icky. Many of us are shaking in our boots with a vexing cycle of exes drifting through our minds and a loathe for this dismal winter running cold in our veins. What better way to channel this indignation than through a chilled beer and some live tunes this evening?
Stomp your feet and sing your off-pitch voice along to the musical snacks from Whitehorse, a husband-and-wife duo from Hamilton, Ontario. The Canadian pair effortlessly blends blues, folk and Canadiana—Americana from across the border—for a captivating listen. The candied vocals from wife Melissa McClelland fused with husband Luke Doucet’s mesmerizing guitar work and smooth vocal delivery unite for a lovely sound and two full-length albums: self titled “Whitehorse” and “The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss.”
Though the latter’s title stirs up the same soft disdain and eye gazing, bangs-and-braided distaste linked to any Taylor Swift gift, the twangy guitar licks and vocal howls and growls off the album will make you think differently.
The real meat to pick off of these bones, though, is the band’s use of thrifted objects as instruments to create a full sound on stage. Whitehorse uses telephone receivers as secondary microphones, thrift store kitchenware as a percussion set, a plywood box for a snare drum and part of a La-Z-Boy Chair to create a muted percussion sound; bricolage baby.
Whitehorse plays at 7th St. Entry tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.
Check out the duo’s crafty live stage performance here.