The former Waltons frontman Jason Plumb has figured out the key to sustaining a career in the Canadian music industry — write engaging pop songs, accumulate a stellar list of musician friends, and remain dedicated to your craft. With 25 years under his belt, the Regina, Saskatchewan-based singer and songwriter has amassed an impressive body of work that has taken him across Canada and around the world.

Winning a Juno, gold-selling records, and doing major tours with the Barenaked Ladies and Blue Rodeo have all contributed to his longevity. Plumb has consistently created music that is accessible and unique, identifiable, and pop- friendly with edgy honesty. He engages his listener and rewards them for their faithfulness by keeping audiences spellbound with soulful performances. It’s not surprising that he has been embraced by Canadian audiences and acclaimed by the industry and his peers. His latest album with his band, The Willing, All Is More Than Both, is about coming full circle, recognizing the power of getting back to basics, and letting the repetitive nature of life just do its thing. “Whatever is, once was, and will always be.” He’s not talking Buddhism, but more of the rite of passage journey he’s been on in the past few years. With the end of a marriage, the beginning of a new relationship, and the birth of his son, Henry, he’s content with letting life decide where it will take him.

“Living the same lives over and over again and being comfortable about that. We can’t really do much about the hands that we’re dealt. Play them the best that you can and in the end everything works out the only way that it can.” Having written in three separate phases, there’s a cyclical arc to the album.

Beginning with the 10 days he spent in a hotel room in Amsterdam, running away from reality. Then after the breakup, he spent a summer at the lake healing and writing. And ending with a newfound relationship and a newborn son back home. “There’s a real optimism in the songs,” he explained. “It’s a pretty mature record with playful rock songs.” “My son’s arrival while we were recording had a positive influence on my state of mind and my performance,” he explained. “It’s such a big change in life. I began the album a different person than when it was done because of him.” Plumb wanted to make an album that was upbeat, accessible, and easy to perform live. “I really wanted to have songs that would go over in a smaller venues. The attitude of these songs was about having a more upbeat record without a string section. Sort of the antithesis of my last studio record, [Beauty In This World] which was really ballad-heavy and lovey-dovey. I went into this one wanting it to be upbeat.”Plumb assembled an impressive guest list that includes Steven Page and Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies), Alex Lifeson (Rush), Serena Ryder, Chic Gamine, Ian LeFeuvre (Starling, The Hundreds and Thousands), Todd Lumley (Mr. Lonely, Waltons), and Richard Underhill (Shuffle Demons). And of course, his homeboys, the exceptionally tight and talented band, appropriately dubbed, The Willing.

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Thanks to Peter Holmstedt at HEMIFRAN