Whitehorse is a Canadian folk roots band, composed of husband-and-wife duo Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland.Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland Find Their Sound as Whitehorse. Exclaim!, August 29, 2011. Based in Hamilton, Ontario,"Hamilton in the midst of a grassroots cultural revival". Toronto Star, December 7, 2012. Doucet and McClelland were both established singer-songwriters before opting to put their solo careers on hold to work together as Whitehorse.
Bio
Doucet and McClelland toured in each other's bands for years before forming Whitehorse in 2010. They have since released three albums and two EPs on Six Shooter Records."Whitehorse: Numbering two, with a bullet". The Globe and Mail, February 22, 2012.
In July 2013, their second album The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss was shortlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize."Polaris Prize shortlists Tegan and Sara, A Tribe Called Red". CBC News, July 16, 2013. That year, they also played their first show at Massey Hall, one of Canada's most storied music venues; to mark the occasion leading up to it, they released The Road to Massey Hall, an EP comprising cover versions of songs written and performed by other artists who had previously performed there.
In 2014, they released Éphémère sans repère, an EP of French language versions of several of their songs."Whitehorse, 'Éphémère sans repère'" . Exclaim!, March 25, 2014. Lyric translations for the EP were provided by Pierre Marchand.
Their third full-length album, Leave No Bridge Unburned, was released on February 17, 2015"Whitehorse Announce Sophomore Set 'Leave No Bridge Unburned,' Premiere New Video". Exclaim!, November 6, 2014. and won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016."Junos 2016: complete list of winners (so far)". CBC Music, April 2, 2016.
Panther in the Dollhouse is their fourth studio album. The album was released via Six Shooter Records on July 7, 2017.
Their album All I Want Is All of It was released on May 8, 2026, via Six Shooter Records.
Live performance Whitehorse performs live as a duo. While both Doucet and McClelland play guitar as their primary instruments as singer-songwriters, as Whitehorse, each performs on a number of instruments.
The band makes extensive use of live looping; most commonly by opening many songs by creating layered drum and percussion loops to serve as a rhythm track. They also loop instrumental portions and vocal phrases in some songs. Doucet generally plays the drum kit parts with McClelland adding other percussion elements. McClelland plays bass guitar and keyboards along with acoustic (and occasionally electric) guitar. Other than drums, Doucet generally plays electric (or acoustic outfitted to sound as an electric) guitar, with occasional keyboards. The duo also often uses several different vocal mics to achieve different sounds.
Discography Studio albums Whitehorse (2011) The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss (2012) Leave No Bridge Unburned (2015) Panther in the Dollhouse (2017) A Whitehorse Winter Classic (2018) Modern Love (2021) Strike Me Down (2021) I'm Not Crying, You're Crying (2023) All I Want Is All of It (2026)
EPs The Road to Massey Hall (2013)Six Shooter Records released The Road To Massey Hall January, 2013. Six Shooter Records Éphémère sans repère (2014) The Northern South, Vol. 1 (2016) The Northern South, Vol. 2 (2019)
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards Vocal Group of the Year Whitehorse Ensemble of the Year Contemporary Album of the Year Hamilton Music Awards Female Vocalist of the Year Melissa McClelland Songwriter of the Year The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss Record of the Year Adult Alternative Recording of the Year 2013 Polaris Music Prize Polaris Music Prize Shortlist 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards Ensemble of the Year Leave No Bridge Unburned Pushing the Boundaries Polaris Music Prize Polaris Music Prize Longlist 2016 Juno Awards Adult Alternative Album of the Year Canadian Folk Music Awards Ensemble of the Year The Northern South, Vol. 1 Pushing the Boundaries 2017 Juno Awards Blues Album of the Year 2023 Canadian Country Music Awards Alternative Country Album of the Year I'm Not Crying, You're Crying
References
External links
Six Shooter Records