“On The Road Again…”

Every year,
in March.
As the days start to get longer,
the snow begins to melt…

And with Opening Day just around the corner,
I get this feeling
that all is well in the world…

It’s in that blush of excitement that I hit the road.

See you then.
See you there.

Mike

March 13th – Watson, SK – Watson Museum (for tickets, contact Jim at 306-287-7130)
March 14th – Humboldt, SK – Odditorium (for tickets, contact Chris at 306 – 281 – 8373)
March 15th – Saskatoon, SK – The Bassment
March 18th – Winnipeg, MB – Times Change(d)
March 19th – Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room (Temple Bar)
March 21st – Calgary, AB – King Eddy

For tickets, click on the link below
https://linktr.ee/mikeplume

“The Ballad of the Mike Plume Band and the Blacksheep Inn”

From September 1997 through May 2019, we played the Blacksheep twice a year.

On Saturday, May 25, 2019, I said, “Goodnight, and we’ll see you next time…” as we walked off stage.

None of us knew (globally) what was just around the corner.

Now, nearly seven years later, we’re headed back to Wakefield for two nights in January.
Our first time since 2019.

It will also be the triumphant return of Dave Klym on lead guitar, who has not played in Wakefield since May 2005.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for these shows.
MP

For tickets, click here…
Friday, January 16th –
https://events.frontdoor.plus/event/1781
Saturday, January 17th –
https://events.frontdoor.plus/event/1782

This Is Our Home (8:30 Newfoundland)

I am always tinkering with songs.

Even after I’ve recorded them,
I still find myself going back and tweaking them.
Nudging them one way or another.
Running sandpaper over them to smooth out any rough edges that I might have missed.

I can (and often do) change the key and feel of a song from night to night.
The guys in the band like to joke that I don’t even play a song the same once, let alone twice.

“Hey, let’s do If There Ever Was A Fool, but this time, let’s play it in E minor…”

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Upon Further Review…

What a crazy last couple of weeks it’s been, with nine shows all across the Canadian Prairies.

Moose Jaw.
Regina.
Humboldt.
Edmonton.
Bonnyville.
Watson.
Saskatoon.
Winnipeg.
Calgary.

Folks traveled from all over everywhere.

Like Mike and Matt from Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Jari, Lucie, and Lillie From Hurkett, Ontario.

John from Vancouver.

And even John and Michelle from way up north in Fort Nelson, British Columbia.
Thanks to Joel Stewart for rolling down the highway with me and opening the shows.
Thanks to Sean Davis Newton for opening the show in Edmonton.
Thanks to all the promoters who helped pull this off.
But most importantly, thank YOU for spending your hard-earned money to come to the show.

Do not, for a second, think that your efforts went unnoticed or unappreciated.

Every time I do a run of shows like this, you all restore my faith in the reason I do this.

I will be back.
And of that, you can be sure.

Take care,

Mike

“Havelock, New Brunswick – 1978”

I remember the first time I ever set foot (or skate) on a hockey rink.

It was in December 1972, at the outdoor rink up by the Cement Plant houses in Havelock, New Brunswick.

I was four years old.
My cousin Terry was with me.
There must have been a hundred kids on the ice.
It was snowing.

Perfect, like a snow globe.

I remember the sound of hockey sticks slapping at pucks and skate blades carving into the ice.

I remember the sound of laughter.

I remember toques and scarves.
Cold cheeks.
Snow on eyelashes.

It took me forever to make my first lap around the rink.

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“Dance Ruby, Dance”

I remember it as if it were a meal ago.
I wrote “Dance Ruby, Dance” back in July of 2005.

Ruby’s first birthday.

One day, I was playing my guitar, and Ruby, who was just learning to walk, suddenly stopped and looked at me.

She started bouncing up and down like kids do when they’re excited.
Every time I’d stop playing, she’d stop dancing.
I’d start playing again, and she’d start bouncing up and down again.

It was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

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“Upon Further Review…”

I am sitting in an airport bar in Edmonton, having what I swear will be my last pint (at least for a while anyway) while trying to process the last week.

And WHAT a week it was!

As is always the case when the guys and I all get together, we laugh like there is no tomorrow.

My buddy Marek says that hanging out with the MPB is like hanging out with the Marx Brothers.

He’s right.
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“The Song Harvester EP – Vol. 1”

At any given time I’m working on about 80 different songs.
Some songs are almost done.
Some are just a thumbnail sketch.
Some are co-written.
Some songs I’ve been slogging away on my own for decades.
Other songs slide off my radar for years at a time.
Unless I’m recording an album tomorrow morning, some songs (ok most songs) I’ll complete and then completely forget that I wrote them.
Back in January, my buddy, Rob Smith (from Royalty Records) asked me if I’d ever thought of visiting these songs in a stripped-down (almost unplugged) fashion.
And with that, the seeds were planted for the album that would become “The Song Harvester.”
I spent the next month picking out songs and running sandpaper over them to ensure there were no rough edges.
Then I set up shop at home in our “walk-in” closet and slowly these songs came to life.
Once they started to take shape, I sent the tracks off to Ernie, Ryan and Jeff to record their parts from the comfort of their homes in Ontario.
My buddy Neil MacDonald, (who has been singing on my albums since 1997’s “Song and Dance, Man”) recorded his vocal tracks at home in Edmonton.
Ruby sang on “Motorbike.”
Once all the parts were recorded my pal Marek David mixed the album from his home in Victoria.
The album was mastered by Jim DeMain at YesMaster in Nashville.
Like my previous two albums, Steve Coffey provided the paintings for the cover.
For now, “The Song Harvester EP” is streaming everywhere, anywhere and wherever you listen to your music.

At some point, it’ll wind up on CD.
At some point, it’ll wind up on vinyl.
But for now, stream away!
Thanks for always being around,
Mike

“Steel Belted Radio”

In August of 1997, I was at a radio station in Calgary promoting our new song, “Rattle The Cage.” 

While on the air, the D.J. and I were laughing it up, going back and forth. 

Lots of fun. 

He played the song. 

“Alright, that was ‘Rattle The Cage’ by the Mike Plume Band.”

We were on a commercial break and I was packing up to leave when the D.J. said, “Man, I love that song. It’s too bad we can’t play it, but I like it. It’s a good song, man.” 

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