Folk Thief

After playing 70 shows in the last six months touring across Canada, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Dave Hadgkiss will playing his tour finale in a concert at the Whitehorse United Church.
Hadgkiss, who goes by the stage name Folk Thief, will also attend the Western Canada Music Awards (WCMA) in Whitehorse as a nominee for Best Album Design for his debut album Love, Heartache and Oblivion, which was released in March of 2011 and rose to the top of the college radio charts.
Hadgkiss was last in Yukon in 2007 doing research for a screenplay about the disappearance of his late uncle Edward Hadgkiss, a famed Yukon bush pilot.
It was researching the life of a true adventurer that inspired Hadgkiss to change direction and pursue a career as a musician.
“In the process of researching Edward Hadgkiss’ life, I realized that the essence of what he was about was finding your own dreams – your own adventures.”
The experience convinced Hadgkiss to focus on what he says is his dream: music.
The songs on Love, Heartache and Oblivion are stripped down folk and pop with finger-picked guitar and vocals with an edge in the lyrics that brings to mind Bob Dylan’s best albums from the mid-’60s, particularly Bringing It All Back Home.
While Hadgkiss has a WCMA album design nomination, it’s surprising he’s not also up for a songwriting award.
His lyrics are angry, original and cryptic commentaries about the state of the human spirit. In the song A Light for Liberty from the album Love, Heartache and Oblivion, he takes aim, but at what?
The spiritual bankruptcy of contemporary North America, perhaps?
“I see ’em wandering in the cold
Forgotten, lost, and lonely souls
Broken by the weight of their delusions
---
A nip and tuck to be the best
A chin, a nose, a bigger chest
’cause they haven’t invented
an implant for the soul yet.”
Another lyric in the song appears to allude to the inevitable outcomes of militarism and jingoism:
“Killin’ isn’t killin’ with a flag held high, it’s destiny.”
Some of the songs on Folk Thief’s first album lean more toward pop and less to folk: more Cohen and less Guthrie, one might put it.
Broken Record, with real purty back-up vocals by Vancouver musician, photographer, hair salon owner and dead animal collector (no joke) Kelly Haigh, is a beautifully crafted 3:16-long folk-pop anthem for the love-sick:
“How long do we drag this out?
If this is love I’ll go without.”
Folk Thief is working on a new album, Then the West was Lost, due for release some time in spring of 2012. ?One song that will be included, called The Lonesome Traveller, features a “high lonesome” style vocal by Hadgkiss. In his do-it yourself brand of musicianship, he also learned how to play harmonica for the song.
“I had to go to the music store, buy a harmonica, and figure out how to make it produce the sound I wanted,” he said by phone from his hotel room during a one-night tour stop in Sussex, New Brunswick.
Hadgkiss has spent the last six months touring Canada, trading solo sets and playing the occasional duo with recent musical collaborator Colby Ramsay (stage name My Boy Rascal), all the while honing his songs and his performing skills.
His recent experience has convinced him the key to success for Canadian musicians is to get out on the road and tour.
“You can’t just wait … for the record agent to come up and tap you on the shoulder,” he says of the current Canadian music scene. “It just doesn’t work that way anymore.”
Hadgkiss had never played a live show before June of 2010. Now he’s driving hours at a time between tour stops; the week after our interview, for example, he was scheduled to play five nights in a row from Montreal to Thunder Bay.
“We’ve come a long way in a short time,” he says of his tour with My Boy Rascal.
“One evening of playing live is like three months of practicing in your bedroom,” he jokes.?Hadgkiss will be joined at his Whitehorse show by musician Jerry Woolridge, and Whitehorse band, the august arrival. - What's Up Yukon

Folk music has been the only thing consuming my brain in the last couple of weeks. It might be an unhealthy obsession, but I’m still in denial. It’s just a phase, right? Right?
I got an email from the lovely PR folk (pun intended) representing Folk Thief, an indie folk artist from Vancouver who released a refreshing album this past December.

Folk Thief is David Hadgkiss. Although I’m not really sure how to pronounce his last name, I am definitely sure that I loved his latest album “Love, Heartache & Oblivion.” The first song on the album immediately got my attention, and I loved the slide guitar breakdown around 2:05. The second song didn’t disappoint either, with rhythmic, Bob Dylan-esque verses. The only song I was iffy about was “Brand New Love,” the one they chose for a music video. Not sure why, I just wasn’t feeling it. The album recovered nicely afterwards, though!

The song “Heart Beat” is currently available for free download on Folk Thief’s Bandcamp page. You can purchase the entire album there too for $10 CAD (Canadian dollars). - Tight Mix

For a musician who got his start "screaming his head off and stomping on distortion pedals" in a geek/punk band, Dave Hadgkiss has done a musical one-eighty on his debut album as Folk Thief. There is not a punk sneer in sight on this intensely personal collection of ten tracks of strumming guitar and heartfelt words.

But while Love, Heartache & Oblivion is earnest and forthright, unafraid to wear its heart on its sleeve, there is a complexity to the human emotions that are stripped bare in these songs.Often dark, always haunting, this album digs deeply into what drives the human psyche. Sometimes joyous but often tortured, Love, Heartache & Oblivion is a folk-pop exploration of love and loss, dreams and fears, hope and regret.

Instrumentally, these songs are a lesson in restraint, lyrically they are visually evocative dream-poems. Particularly strong are the tracks Broken Record and Breathe, which feature some truly lovely background harmony by Kelly Haigh. Her voice works well with Dave Hadgkiss' yearning vocals, and the two meld into a nicely layered sonic counterpart to the stripped-down acoustics.

Love, Heartache & Oblivion is a strong debut album from Folk Thief. It will be interesting to see what he does next. - No Depression

Kamloops folk singer Dave Hadgkiss has made a successful and true bridge from punk rock geek to indie folkie with Love, Heartache and Oblivion.

Hadgkiss, who works under the pseudonym Folk Thief, possesses the sound of a world-weary rustic, released from the pine woods into the chill of the city.

Folk Thief (FT) is best taken in the element of the sparse atmospheric strumming of western mountain music. He’s part of a movement of Canadian artists looking back into the land’s past to find an honest identity that resonates from the country’s landscape and rural roots.

FT’s songs are simple movements of wide acoustic strumming in a big reverberant room. What can sound better for such material? A voice to fit the space within and without – and FT’s voice has the ache people can feel but not identify.

Broken Record, Brand New Love and After the Accident aren’t the jingle-jangle proclamations of a pseudo-troubadour but close-to-the-bone expressions of a singer with something on his mind. - Vernon Morning Star

From Kamloops, BC, now settled in Vancouver, Dave Hadgkiss comes bearing the moniker the Folk Thief. Who is that masked man?
Judging by his short history, he’s been honing his craft around B.C. for the past little while and is just starting to spread the word, venturing out to other parts of Canada this summer. Well, he’s ready and the rest of Canada needs to hear him.
Love Heartache and Oblivion sticks to the basics—a boy and his guitar with a very talented friend, Kelly Haigh, lending some lovely backup vocals. Mike Cashin taps out some tasty, understated percussion as well. The result is an eminently listenable piece of work, mellow and reflective with some lovely guitar picking. Dave is a dab hand with his guitar and obviously paid attention in English class. He can string words into interesting sentences.
“Everybody wanna be the first in line / You gotta get it while the getting’s good and I got mine / Livin’ isn’t livin’ if you’re killin’ time, it’s dyin’ / Smoke ’em if you got ’em goes the battle cry / You gotta show ’em what you’re made of baby don’t be shy / Killing isn’t killing with a flag held high—it’s destiny.”
Love Heartache and Oblivion is a definite example of less is more. The Folk Thief stole my heart with this lovely debut. - Penguin Eggs

This is an attractive package of basic folk songs by David Hadgkiss. Mostly, it's just Hadgkiss and his acoustic guitar and is undeniably intimate and likable without being remarkable, or is like a young Leonard Cohen, not quite putting the listener at ease as the singer sings a haunting tale. Oblivion comes first with "The Death Of Tomorrow," which is hardly a cheery world view, that gives way to the no less skeptical "A Light For Liberty" and the heartache of " Broken Record." There is love ("Heart Beat") but Hadgkiss's love isn't obvious. Guarded and wary. - The Province

Something borrowed something blue, something old something new. Folk Thief is David Hadgkiss and his acoustic guitar. Born and raised in Kamloops, a cowboy’s honesty drives his storytelling. He’s a less angry but no less earnest early Bob Dylan. Kelly Haigh’s accompanying vocals elevate Broken Record and Breathe. - BC Musician Magazine

For a musician who got his start "screaming his head off and stomping on distortion pedals" in a geek/punk band, Dave Hadgkiss has done a musical one-eighty on his debut album as Folk Thief. There is not a punk sneer in sight on this intensely personal collection of ten tracks of strumming guitar and heartfelt words.

But while Love, Heartache & Oblivion is earnest and forthright, unafraid to wear its heart on its sleeve, there is a complexity to the human emotions that are stripped bare in these songs.Often dark, always haunting, this album digs deeply into what drives the human psyche. Sometimes joyous but often tortured, Love, Heartache & Oblivion is a folk-pop exploration of love and loss, dreams and fears, hope and regret.

Instrumentally, these songs are a lesson in restraint, lyrically they are visually evocative dream-poems. Particularly strong are the tracks Broken Record and Breathe, which feature some truly lovely background harmony by Kelly Haigh. Her voice works well with Dave Hadgkiss' yearning vocals, and the two meld into a nicely layered sonic counterpart to the stripped-down acoustics.

Love, Heartache & Oblivion is a strong debut album from Folk Thief. It will be interesting to see what he does next. - No Depression

Setting aside his punk leanings to relate acoustic stories, Dave Hadgkiss debuts Love, Heartache & Oblivion under the Folk Thief moniker. Yet the mature nature of his compositions — careful craftsmanship and Hadgkiss's world-weary poetic philosophizing — would have you convinced it's the work of an old hand, with one caveat. Don't judge the album by its bookends: the first and last minutes are its weakest. The former is uninspired, while the latter sees Hadgkiss sneaking some gritty vocal shouting into the last track (a slip? A relic? Who knows?). Undeniably, some may appreciate it, but given the new audience he's likely to attract with his lyrically driven, mid-tempo balladry, it may come across as more of an irritant than a charming musical tic. Beyond that, everything else is such an absolute delight that Love, Heartache & Oblivion is worth a spot in anyone's new fave playlist. Co-produced by Mike Cashin (Woodland Telegraph, Michael Buble), the record is mellow and reflective, and Hadgkiss's folkie finger picking is compelling. Should you require any more convincing, Kelly Haigh is reason enough. Folk Thief finds a perfect singing partner in this fellow Vancouverite. Following his lead in perfect time, Haigh's resonant timber exudes innocent warmth thats almost consoling given the sometimes fatalistic bent of Hadgkiss's lyrics. - Exclaim.ca

“In pools of blood the children play. The dead will line the streets today.” So opens Love, Heartache & Oblivion, the debut release from Vancouver’s Dave Hadgkiss. Something tells me we’re in for an interesting half-hour.

Performed by a straightforward, seemingly uncomplicated trio, the music contained on this word weighty album is light, springy, and even poppy. As in power-poppy. The depth of the lyrics doesn’t weigh-down the songs; rather, the instrumentation buoys the literate offerings.

Hadgkiss’ delivery is often rapid-fire, lyrics brimming with flavour springing forth like froth from an Orange Julius. Elsewhere, things are a bit more measured, even introspective- not uncomfortable, diary broody, but revealing and thoughtful.

“How long do we drag this out?” Hadgkiss and Clare Groganesque duet partner Kelly Haigh ask on “Broken Record,” concluding that “If this is love, I’ll go without.”

Hadgkiss has an unconventional voice, neither sweet nor gruff but genuinely stimulating; it contains some furtive, appealing element that makes one lean in and really listen to what is being conveyed. Always good, that.

As well, he doesn’t stick to a single vocal approach. At the conclusion of “The Death of Tomorrow,” opens Love, Heartache & Oblivion ‘s opening salvo, Hadgkiss wails Peter Gabriel –like , sharp contrast to his more natural voice. A falsetto is briefly explored within “After the Accident.” The mature troubadour takes voice in “From Beautiful to Damned,” while Hadgkiss’s melodic scream is presented on “The Devil Behind Me.” These explorations add texture to the recording, and are selective enough to be appreciated rather than questioned.

Beautifully recorded, the album has a clean, organic atmosphere and sound. In places, one can see the strings bending on the guitar as delicate sounding notes are picked and strummed.

This lovely little recording comes housed in a beautiful and even indulgent package. The trifold packaging opens to reveal detail of a lovely, finely grained guitar. The libretto continues the theme, presenting additional illustration alongside lyrics that, when read, provide their own revelations and mysteries.

When a singer takes on a ‘name,’ I’m sometimes hesitant to wander close. To me, there seems to be something a little dishonest, a bit deceitful about the practice. Then again, Fervor Coulee.

Don’t judge Folk Thief by a moniker some may consider pretentious. Love, Heartache & Oblivion is a darn fine album, well worth purchasing. - Fervor Coulee

Dave Hadgkiss calls Vancouver home, and is the man behind Folk Thief. He's set to release his debut album, Love Heartache & Oblivion. It's listed as "Folk and Country", and if you gave me this album 5 years ago, I wouldn't have given it a chance. But we live in the now, and the now says this is well worth anyone's time. 10 tracks later and I'm ready for more.

It's a pretty twangy listen at times, and Hadgkiss really has a country feel to his vocals. Other times I can hear the folk side of things much easier. He seems to play between the two effortlessly, giving the album a diverse feel, and a quick flow. He also has some beautiful back up singers, which really shine on a few of the tracks.

"A Light for Liberty" is the second track on the record, and one of my favourites. It's one of those songs that makes you want to play guitar, or learn to play guitar. Hadgkiss also sings along in a pretty cool way. "The Devil Behind Me" would be my other favourite on the album. I guess growing up in Kamloops, Dave was in a geek/punk band, and did a lot of screaming. He's got a tiny bit of that left in him, and he lets 'er go in this one. It's a good one to vent along with. It's got a slow build, and you feel great when you hit "the moment".

Dave's got shows lined up in support of the album in both Vancouver and Victoria. I can't say he's not going to go through Love or Heartache, but this album should steer him well clear of oblivion. - Island Soapbox