Locations have a certain appeal to musician John K. Samson. Calling himself “a bit of a thwarted fiction writer,” the thin, bearded punk poet said that settings help ground his songs.
“I think maybe it’s because of where I’m from, but I think the landscape really has a profound effect on the way people are,” he said.
“And so that’s always had a big philosophical part in my music. The fact of the place, where you are, and how that influences who you are.”
Samson’s first full-length solo record, Provincial, is filled with such places. The album began as a seven-inch singles series about specific roads in Manitoba, Samson’s home province.
The idea expanded to a full album, he said, after he realized that one road, Highway One, made for a good centrepiece.
While the songs may romanticize cold stretches of prairie asphalt, Samson said he hopes they make listeners think more about where they are.
“When I read a good short story, or I hear a great song, it makes me think of the place I’m from,” he said. “It makes me think about who I am, and how I fit in with the world. I guess I think of art as this thing that promotes empathy in the world, promotes us thinking about each other and the way we’re all connected.”
Empathy, Samson said, informs everything from his song writing to his politics. He supports causes like the movement to rename the Nepean Redskins, he said, calling it a “racist name.”
Samson’s interest in the political has been apparent since his career started. He was the bassist in Winnipeg punk giants Propagandi until 1997.
It was during his tenure in that band that he released some of his early solo recordings, which he said embarrass him a bit now.
“I don’t really relate to those songs very much anymore,” he said, staring thoughtfully out the hotel lobby window.
“They seem something like from the distant past, a different person who I don’t really know anymore.”
Provincial is also different from those early solo recordings in that it has a lot more collaboration.
There are about 18 musicians on the record, Samson estimated. These include Shotgun Jimmie, Constantines drummer Doug MacGregor, and Samson’s wife Christine Fellows, according to Samson’s website. With so many people, Samson quipped, “It’s less of a solo record than anything I’ve ever done, actually.”
The album has also left Samson excited to write and record with the act he’s best known for, acclaimed indie rockers the Weakerthans.
The band hasn’t put out a studio album since 2007’s Reunion Tour. And while Samson is itching to get back to the band, he said he appreciates his time away, especially when it lets him play live with musicians like Michael Feuerstack, also known as Montreal singer-songwriter Snailhouse.
“Just opportunities like that to just kind of do different things, I feel really lucky to have been able to do that,” he said.
“But, you know, I still want to play the rock and roll music,” he said with a chuckle.
