YAC winter lineup announced

The winter lineup for the Yukon Arts Centre (January-March) kicks off with Hawksley Workman in January followed by Samajam and First Nations comedian Ryan McMahon. The Great Lake Swimmers will be performing in February and in March we have former Yukon musician Kim Barlow returning from Nova Scotia with Rae Spoon. And, finally, we are bringing up Ashley MacIsaac the end of March.

In the main art gallery a new exhibit will open on December 5 featuring two artists. Whitehorse's Marten Berkman will have a multimedia exhibit titled Remote Sensibility Vlll: the ecology of perception. The second artist is Gukki Nuka, who grew up in Uummannaq in northern Greenland, and now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. The exhibit is titled Cracks in the Soul. The exhibits run until Feb. 29.

Purchase tickets at yukontickets.com.

Hawksley Workman January 18

Hawksley Workman is a two-time JUNO award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A staple of the Canadian music and arts scene for over 20 years, Workman boasts a catalogue of 16 releases, showcasing his now signature blend of anthemic folk and show-stopping vocals. Workman’s touring career has seen him play over a thousand shows, headlining prestigious venues like Massey Hall and The Olympia in Paris.

Following a move to Montreal, Workman wrote and recorded his 16th album, Median Age Wasteland, revealing his hooky yet innovative melodic approach, authentic songwriting, and good old-fashioned, unedited, musicianship.

Tickets: $40

SAMAJAM January 28

The SAMAJAM Kids & Family Participatory Music Show is an innovative, energizing and educative musical participatory experience for families. SAMAJAM is the world’s leading creator and producer of live musical participatory shows and events.

The SAMAJAM concept is unique in the world. Each audience member receives a SAMAJAM music bag full of percussion instruments to become the performing musician of the show. With more than 80% active participation time, they create collectively songs and games, along with the performers and with musical SAMAJAM video games.

Tickets are $10.

Great Lake Swimmers February 27

Over seven albums in the last 15 years, multiple EPs, live broadcasts, and reissues, the Toronto-based project led by singer-songwriter Tony Dekker has established itself as a beloved indie folk act in their native Canada and beyond. The CBC has called them “a national treasure” while their music has taken them around the world, sharing a sound that is at once familiar and distinct, using the tools of folk music as the starting point to delve deeper.

Great Lake Swimmers have twice been nominated for Juno Awards, have been shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Prize, and won a Canadian Indie Award for Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group. They have shared the stage as support for such musical luminaries as Robert Plant, Feist, and Calexico, and have appeared as headliners for many of Canada’s major folk music festivals. Their relentless touring schedule and countless live shows have helped them develop devoted fan bases across Canada, the US, Europe, the UK and many points beyond. Mojo dubbed them “Ambient Zen Americana” and Exclaim has described them as a “cherished blend of folk and orchestral indie pop.”

Tickets: $40

Kim Barlow with Rae Spoon March 5

Mental Health, is Rae Spoon’s tenth full-length album and is being released on their label Coax Records. The album traces their personal journey with mental health through eight indie-rock songs that explore living with depression, anxiety, CPTSD and other challenges. Giving a voice to a perspective not as often heard in the media, the songs are a rumination on pursuing health without the pressure of being cured and the duality of trying to survive trauma and accept oneself at the same time. “Rae Spoon is one of the most important musicians working in Canada today.” – Now Magazine.

World travelling, multi-award nominated Kim Barlow is relaunching her musical life in Nova Scotia after many years in the Yukon and recent parenting hiatus. Creative and intelligent writer of songs, skillful on guitar and clawhammer banjo, Barlow has recorded six albums of her own work and many collaborations. Her newest recording features some of the East Coast’s best: Mark Adam on drums, Nicholas D'Amato on bass, special guests including Old Man Luedecke, Justin Haynes and Heather Kelday, and strong, new songs about domestic minutiae, the larger picture, and a wild slant on some traditional Maritime tunes. Her How To Let Go album was nominated for Folk Recording of the Year by the Nova Scotia Music Awards.

Tickets: $25

Manual Cinema's Frankenstein March 12

Love, loss, and creation merge in unexpected ways in this thrilling classic gothic tale conceived by Manual Cinema. Stories of Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, and his
Monster expose how the forces of family, community, and education shape personhood—or destroy it by their absence.

In a special world premiere presentation, internationallyrenowned multimedia company Manual Cinema stitches together the classic story of Frankenstein with Mary Shelley’s own biography to create an unexpected story about the beauty and horror of creation. Manual Cinema combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive visual stories for stage and screen.

Tickets: $35, $25 (youth/family)

Ashley MacIsaac March 26

One of the most celebrated Canadian roots musicians of all time, having sold in excess of 500,000 albums, Ashley has garnered international acclaim by playing the fiddle in
that hard-nosed, traditional Cape-Breton style, while adding his own spin, mixing genres and updating Celtic music to appeal to a broader spectrum of fans.

Considered something of a local legend and prodigy by the time of his impressive 1992 debut, Close To The Floor, Ashley broke through to the mainstream with the
double-platinum genre-bending Hi, How Are You Today? in 1995.

Tickets: $40