The Mike Plume Band comes to Moose Jaw on September 9th for the Homestand ’23 concert, bringing more than three decades of signature roots/rock/country sound, and a band that’s been together since the start.
The Homestand concert series is now in its third year. It is the primary focus of local charity group River Street Promotions (RSP). Proceeds from the concert, held each year at Ross Wells ballpark, go to the RSP fund, which supports and enables programming for youth mental wellness in the Prairie South and Holy Trinity Catholic school divisions.
“I’m vividly aware of what Homestand is all about, and of the organizers,” Mike Plume told MooseJawToday.com. “You know, James Murdock, Jared Mathieson, and that whole crew, working away like crazy people. I’ve worked with them before when they had, what was it, Nashville night or something, at the Mae Wilson back in 2018, when they were raising money for the hospital.
“If you can play for a cause and shine a light on people in need, how can that ever be a bad thing?”
Plume is, in fact, a Moose Jaw regular, and has played at the Mae Wilson almost every year since 2018. He loves the city and said none of his regular fans will be surprised to hear it.
“I’ve been quite adamant about my opinions of the town of Moose Jaw and all the Moose Javians in it,” he laughed. “I’m looking to buy property there; I really do like Moose Jaw.”
Another connection Plume has is to Joel Stewart, an RSP co-founder based out of Toronto.
“Joel Stewart was the best man at my wedding back in 2002. Yeah, we’ve been buddies since Christ was a choirboy — since the Dead Sea was just sick. Any music video I’ve ever done — anything where I appear on film, actually — he’s been on the other side of the camera.”
He’s also been good friends with Corb Lund for 26 or 27 years, touring extensively with him in 2022, shares a birthday with Lindi Ortega, with whom he has also played several venues, and can’t wait to meet and play with Jordyn Pollard (“everything I’ve heard from her, I’ve liked.”)
Plume has always been a musician. Originally from New Brunswick, he played his first show at 17 at his high school in Bonnyville, AB, in 1985, alongside Ernie Basiliadis, who remains the drummer for the Mike Plume Band to this day.
The other members of the band include Ben Wilson on bass guitar, Ryan Barwin on pedal steel, and Dave Klym on lead guitar.
“This band has been my band forever, like my drummer and I, we’ve been playing together since 1985. This is not just some pickup band I’m bringing in; my guitar player has been in the band since ’94, and the newest guy is my pedal steel player, and he’s been with me for 10 years.”
The veteran musicians have together released 13 albums and many singles and EPs as the Mike Plume Band (MPB), including “So Long, Stompin’ Tom,” “8:30 Newfoundland,” and “Perfume and Gasoline.”
They have, collectively, played thousands of hours of live shows.
The band’s latest full album was 2020’s Lonesome Stretch of Highway. It took off, but Plume said he was unfortunately unable to fully realize the album's potential.
“Lonesome Stretch of Highway came out right smack dab in the middle of the pandemic,” Plume recalled, “and it was the highest charting album I ever had, and I couldn’t tour it because of COVID.”
Plume said the temporary lack of shows forced him to take a job at music chain Long & McQuade in Edmonton, selling guitars. He described taking that as a kick to his ego, but kept his perspective positive. Now, he’s excited to reunite with his band for their first post-pandemic tour. Each member lives in a different part of the country, so it's a much-needed in-person reunion.
“We’re back on the road this fall, doing five shows with the guys,” he said happily. “We’re doing Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Moose Jaw, and by the time we hit Moose Jaw, we’ll be on fire.”
Plume hit a rough patch with his music in 2003, he said, and became so discouraged he decided to give it all up. To still be touring, writing, and releasing 20 years later proves you can’t take the music out of the musician, and an artful perspective remains his approach to his songs and lyrics.
“In 2003, I thought I was done with music, and I put my guitar away,” he said. After an impulsive visit to an art store (“I bought everything but a beret and a knife to cut my ear off,” he said), he took up painting for a time.
“I never realized it, but I guess I still needed an artistic release. So, now, if I’m not writing songs, then I’m working on my little stories and memoirs. I haven’t painted in a while, but I keep threatening to.
“The muse is a fickle mistress. If you’re chasing the muse, it plays hard to get, but if you play hard to get, it will be there tapping on your shoulder going, ‘Hey, here’s a song.’ So, that’s really how I treat it now. … One day, there’s a song sitting there, and there’s nothing I love more than the craft of songwriting.”
Plume’s writing and artwork can be seen on his website, www.mikeplume.com.
Tickets to Homestand ’23 are available from Sasktix.ca, and through the River Street Promotions website at riverstreetpromotions.com.
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