Artists pay tribute to rocker Joel Plaskett on surprise covers album
Songs from the Gang created in part as 50th birthday present
Some of the biggest names in Canadian music are paying homage to Joel Plaskett on a new tribute album that was made in secret — without the Halifax rocker's knowledge.
The double album titled Songs from the Gang — A Celebration of Joel Plaskett features covers from 22 artists including Sloan, the Sheepdogs, the Arkells, Mo Kenney, Alan Syliboy and Jenn Grant.
It was all kept confidential before being revealed to Plaskett earlier this week at Ditch Records and CDs in Victoria, where he and his family were visiting.
"There was this poster on the wall of this picture of me … and I kind of looked at it and I was like, I don't recognize this poster, and then I saw this vinyl beside it," he told CBC's Information Morning Nova Scotia.
"Then we went to a studio out here to listen to the whole thing and just listening to all these folks singing these songs, singing my tunes, a lot of friends, it's really something else. I was laughing and kinda crying at the same time."
The tribute was in part an early birthday present for Plaskett, who turns 50 on April 18.
He said the artists featured on the album are his friends and colleagues, and to hear it for the first time and have it released within the span of a few days is somewhat mind-boggling.
"I can't fully express what it means other than just to say a huge thank you to everybody involved," he said. "It's really something else."
Plaskett's career spans more than three decades, beginning in the 1990s with his band Thrush Hermit. He later embarked on an illustrious solo career, releasing 17 albums under his name and with his band the Joel Plaskett Emergency.
Known in the industry as a nice guy with a warm heart, Plaskett has in more recent years worn a producer's hat, making records in his studio, Fang Recording, in Dartmouth, N.S., even working with some of the artists featured on the tribute album.
From Alan Syliboy's Mi'kmaw-inspired and drum-driven version of Nowhere With You to the lively harmonies of Reeny Smith, Haliey Smith and Micah Smith on Wishful Thinking, each artist puts their own spin on the Plaskett classics.
Legendary rockers Sloan covered Love This Town, a song oozing with references to Halifax culture, landmarks and inside jokes.
The band's Chris Murphy said they hearkened back to the early days of Sloan for their rendition to give it more of a grunge feel.
Murphy is a longtime friend of Plaskett and recalls discussing music and life after closing out the bars in Halifax in the 1990s.
"He lived in the same neighbourhood as me, so when he started going downtown, he would drive me home and we would have these long conversations that would start at 2:30 in the morning," Murphy told CBC's Q with Tom Power.
"Just like a romantic hang talking about nothing at a time when we both had nothing but time. I really romanticize those talks."
Plaskett said it was Sloan that first gave Thrush Hermit a boost by bringing them on the road.
There's even a nod to Sloan in the song they chose to cover, Plaskett noted, when he sings, "If you saw my band in the early days, then you'll understand why we moved away," referring to Sloan's decision to leave Halifax and move to Toronto later in their career.
"To hear them singing it, I mean the whole thing, I'm kind of floored and my heart is really full," he said. "It's an incredible birthday gift."
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With files from Information Morning Nova Scotia and Q with Tom Power
