Finding a way

Touring is dead, long live touring.

This seems to be the attitude of Woodhawk, Calgary stoner rockers who have toured Western Canada an estimated 15 times, and crossed Canada five times, in the past decade or so.

And, for all the dire post-pandemic reports about the costs and state of music touring, hopes are high for Woodhawk this time round, hitting the road for the first time in a few years.

They’re promoting their third album, Love Finds A Way, a more optimistic title after Beyond the Sun (2017) and Violent Nature (2019).

Once again, they worked with veteran Canadian producer Jesse Gander, celebrated for his work with big names in the heavy music scene, including Anciients, Three Inches of Blood and Bison.

Woodhawk has a long history of packing Canadian venues and walloping audiences with electric vocals and tasty riffs, a heavy sound that sits somewhere between 1970s classic rock and modern hard rock.

“So, this might sound kind of like corny, but actually, one of the best shows we ever played was in Winnipeg,” says the band’s lead singer and guitarist, Turner Midzain.

“In 2018, we drove through a winter storm. It’s our first time headlining Winnipeg. And we got there, and then (Sherbrook Street venue) the Handsome Daughter was sold out, and we were kind of like, ‘Well, this can’t be for us.’ Like, this doesn’t make sense.”

There’s nothing quite like arriving to a toasty Winnipeg venue filled with cheering fans for musicians bravely soldiering wintry highways and van life across long distances.

A little Valhalla, let’s say, for a band like Woodhawk, whose esthetics often jive with stoner rock’s heroic and fantastical themes.

Midzain, who plays with Woodhawk at Sidestage in South Osborne for the first time on Saturday, has played the city several times in the past. He recalls an era when Osborne Village was more of a music hub, and reels off names of defunct venues in the village such as the Cavern and Ozzy’s.

A decade worth of touring and recording is enough to become an armchair historian of Western Canada’s music scene, and changes have certainly come fast and hard in the past five years.

While the pandemic dealt a death blow to live performances for a couple years, recovery for the Canadian performing arts has generally been considered been slow since then.

“Can Canadian Musicians Afford to Tour Anymore?” asked Canadian indie music media mainstays Exclaim! in 2022.

Other articles and social media posts from that around that time and since have discussed rising gas prices, those darn gen-Zers who don’t seem to drink or go out, dwindling live audiences and touring grants — and more recently, the challenges and discomforts of touring the U.S. in the era of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, heightened border security and sharp political tensions.

Midzain, a moody lyricist but a buoyant presence on the phone, laughs about the occasional hardships they’ve endured on the road.

“We were playing in Edmonton — and that was the first time that no one ever came!” he says.

“Our van had broken down and the bar kind of got mad at us for almost not even be able to make it. And so we were really in low spirits, but we still showed up and put on our brave face and played. They paid us something like $13.01.”

They glued the penny to the inside of their van as a memento, a reminder of their all-time worst show in a touring history with many highs.

“We’re still such a DIY-style band, like the old-school way, and it’s still somehow working for us,” Midzain says.

It helps when, on the whole, audiences across the country have greeted your live show so eagerly (eat your heart out, Edmonton), as they have Woodhawk, which includes singer-bassist Mike Badmington and drummer Kevin Nelson.

It also helps when you can not only stand — but positively enjoy — long stretches on the road in vans, motel rooms and close quarters with your bandmates.

“My favourite thing in the world is being in the same room as Mike and Kevin, whether we’re jamming or just travelling in the van. We’re three best friends,” Midzain says.

With Badmington expecting his second child in November, and the band fresh off releasing its latest record, Woodhawk is looking to take a little break this fall. In the meantime, the trio is happy to be on the road – and back, smack dab, in the middle of the Prairies.

“Winnipeg has been the city that supported us almost the longest, and it’s kind of been one of our favourite places in the country to play,” says Midzain.

“And I can’t say how ecstatic we are to get back there.”

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca