The number three has proven to be a very lucky draw for Halifax singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett – Three, the title of his latest album, recently won him six awards at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards. At Canadian Music Week, Plaskett won the 2010 Indie Award for Solo Artist of the Year. He also has been nominated for Songwriter of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for the upcoming 2010 Juno Awards.
Plaskett reminisces about his momentous evening “in the spotlight” at the East Coast Music Awards that were held in Sydney, Cape Breton, “It’s an honour to be acknowledged in this way… I worked really hard. It’s funny how the Awards work because there were a lot of my friends in the same categories with me. When I won a bunch of times, I was happy but I also felt kind of sheepish – I think the love should be spread around.”
His music has been described as “a blend of 70’s hard rock, 60’s pop hooks and catchy, clever lyrics delivering a retro modern rock tongue-in-cheekiness.” Released through MapleMusic, Three features three discs, each disc features nine tracks (a multiple of three) and a lot of the song titles are one word repeated three times. “Three is a very universal and balanced number in a strange way,” reflects Plaskett. “I recorded the album when I was 33 years old … it was sort of an obsessive impulsive endeavour that I got carried away with and I saw it as a work on many levels – you know a story with a beginning, middle and end.”
In today’s music industry Plaskett feels that there is no one recipe for success. Talent combined with dedication, time and persistence is crucial. Beyond that, there is also some luck involved. “There is less activity now with the major labels in terms of them signing less music. You have to build things up from the grassroots more so than you did before in getting a record deal.”
Starting next week Plaskett will be touring in the Maritimes and Ontario for nine shows with his old band Thrush Hermit from the 90’s. Then for the month of April, he will be opening up for the Barenaked Ladies Canadian tour. “I feel that things have been going really well and I try not to take any of it for granted. The way I have approached things over the past few years is to make the records that I want to make and to work with my head down, as far as touring, and then look up now and then and go, ‘Hey, more people at the show – things are different, things are improving.’”