Under & Over with Plumb

Prairie songsmith finds life after leaving 90s band The Waltons

A decade ago, Jason Plumb was riding high in the saddle of Canadian music. He led prairie popsters The Waltons to near platinum success (sales of over 80,000 in Canada) on their 1992 debut, Lik My Trakter, an album that netted them a Best New Artist Juno Award.
The jinx that used to plague winners of that award may have hit the band, for The Waltons never duplicated that initial success. 1995's Cock's Crow did get an international release and allowed the group to tour in Europe and the U.S.. but sales proved disappointing. 1998's Empire Hotel sank with little trace, and Jason retreated back to Regina and away from the spotlight.
A little bitterness or cynicism over the music industry can be detected in some of his comments, but thankfully, the gifted singer/songwriter has been persuaded back into the fray. Jason has just released his solo debut, Under and Over, on Maple Music, and it is generating excellent critical response.
"I do think it is the best record I have ever done," he tells Tandem from his Regina home. "Not to take anything away from The Waltons records, as I am very proud of those. We put a lot of effort into those, and sacrificed a commercial career in doing so."
To Jason, releasing a new album now "is not really a career move. It is not about that. To me, it's a success if I can play a gig in front of 50 people and sell 40 CDs there."
Over the past five years Plumb had continued to write songs with an eye to recording them, but it took the efforts of his good friend Ed Robertson (of Barenaked Ladies fame) and the folks at Maple Music to give him the required push.
"Maple Music were really good about encouraging me to do this. I think they're the best thing to happen to Canadian music in many years. They're all about developing artists, and everyone on their roster [the likes of Kathleen Edwards, Danny Michel and Skydiggers] is great."
Plumb and Robertson had been friends from when they shared a record label (Warner Music Canada), and The Waltons had toured with Barenaked Ladies. "I was excited about the possibility of producing a CD for Jason," notes Ed. "He's one of my favourite songwriters and this is the strongest material he has ever written." Does Plumb agree with that assessment? "Well, I'm starting to, the more I hear that," he laughs. Ed also co-wrote a couple of excellent tunes, "Satellite" and "Loved Inconsistently."
As a backing band, Ed and Jason recruited the guys from Starling, another Canadian pop-rock band with a great gift for melody. Guest appearances from Sarah Harmer, Damhnait Doyle and another Barenaked Lady, Kevin Hearn, testify to the respect Plumb enjoys amongst his peers. Recording took place at Canterbury Sound in Toronto, with extra sessions at Starling singer/guitarist Ian Lefeuvre's Ottawa studio and Jason's home studio, where he worked on some of the vocal tracks.
"The recording was really enjoyable. Starling were perfect for the job, and Ian put in his buck fifty's worth of ideas too. It was about letting the songs shine through."
There is a pleasing variety of moods and tempos on Under And Over. "It's the extremes of the spectrum," Jason observes in his bio. "On one hand it's more rocking and on the other it's softer, more sensitive. There is an air of roots throughout."
Plumb's songs often possess a tinge of melancholy, as he admits. "I'm actually a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, but those are the kind of songs I'm drawn to." No surprise then to hear Jason cite Coldplay alongside Wilco, The Jayhawks and Skydiggers as some of his favourite bands.
The official word on the status of The Waltons is that they are on hiatus, but Jason acknowledges that, unofficially, the chances of them playing together extensively in the future is remote. "Keith [Nakonechny] is studying for a Ph.D, Todd [Lumley] is playing with Hawksley Workman, and Sean [Bryson] is doing web design at Maple Music."

Jason is bringing his new band out to Ontario for a month or so of gigs through November. His stint in the Maple Lounge series at The Rivoli on (Nov. 12, 19 and 26) will be solo, but a Nov. 28 gig downstairs at The Rivoli will feature his band. Under and Over is now out on Maple Music.

Publication Date: 2003-11-09
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3337