A Softer 'Plumb'

CBN.com MODERN ROCKER TURNS TO A SOFTER SOUND

Plumb (aka Tiffany Arbuckle) gained popularity with teens and young adults with her relatable lyrics and edgy rock style sometimes compared to Evanescence or Sixpence None the Richer. She’s written popular songs that gained attention like Cut and Damaged about cutting and sexual abuse. When her life changed dramatically after having two children only 18 months apart, Plumb says her songs changed too.

“This album, like the others, is where I was - it’s also where I still am,” she said, “knee-deep in motherhood.”

Her children, she said, “were the real catalyst behind the muses and songs.” This new album, Blink puts an appealingly modern spin on lullabies for today’s generation of moms. It may not be as popular with the teen and young adult crowd, but it accurately reflects her life now.

WHO IS PLUMB?

During the late 1990s, Tiffany fronted the Dove Award-winning alternative rock band Plumb; she adopted the name Plumb for her subsequent full-fledged solo career. She was born in Indianapolis and grew up in Atlanta. After a short time touring as a back-up singer, she moved to Nashville where she landed a record deal and formed Plumb with a neighbor, songwriter and producer Matt Bronleewe (he turned out to be an original member of Jars of Clay). Plumb built a following via its adult alternative rock sound.

When the group decided to disband in 2000, Tiffany decided to end her performance career and just write songs. However, a note from an inspired fan after her last concert convinced her to stick with it. (The fan said Plumb’s song Damaged, about sexual molestation, had changed her life.)

In 2003, she released Beautiful Lumps of Coal, and two of its songs landed on a Gwyneth Paltrow film, A View from the Top. Her album Chaotic Resolve (2006) solidified her reputation in several musical genres. She’s written songs for and with Michelle Branch, Mandy Moore, and Kimberley Locke, among many others. Her music has been heard in many films and on their soundtracks, including Bruce Almighty, Brokedown Palace, Just Married, The Perfect Man and Evan Almighty, among others, and on TV series including Dawson’s Creek, ER, Felicity and Roswell.

MOTHERHOOD AND CAREER WOMAN

Her husband, longtime manager and publisher, Jermey Lee, urged Plumb to stay off the road following her 2006 album Chaotic Resolve. During this time she wrote the delicate, ethereal sounding tunes on her 2007 Blink Album. Motherhood has changed Plumb.

“My priorities have shifted,” she said. “I’m more intentional about my art. Children are another level of accountability. Now, I really want something my kids can grab onto and hold them accountable in purity and hope.” On her new sound she added, “I’ve toned it down a little to create a little longevity for myself. I don’t think trying to be a rock star allows me that opportunity - there’s something very liberating about still being and writing what is real, and saying it even more beautifully - and still being able to rock out now and again.”

“This is in me,” she said, referring to her need to create. “I’m a wife and mother and singer and writer and so many other things. Yes, now I am a mother, and I’m so much more than just that too. I hope to inspire other women to continue to pursue their dreams and passions and be the gifts of unfathomable worth to a generation aching to respect them. The challenge is to keep them in priority, something that cannot happen on your own. So, the accountability to maintain them is by far one of the most important facets to my life.”

HER FAITH

Raised in a very godly home, 8-yr-old Plumb accepted Christ at VBS one summer. At 16, she remembers realizing she and God had an actual relationship, with friendship and back and forth dialogue. Her friends used to tell her she was such a strong Christian, but her response to them was, “No, I’m just afraid of my dad!” At 18, she believes her first real test of faith was breaking up with someone she cared deeply for because he wasn’t a Christian. At that point she felt like she took ownership of her faith; it wasn’t just her mom and dad’s beliefs, it was hers as well.

Plumb met her husband Jeremy at her home church in Nashville, and admits she found her spiritual soul mate and best friend. Together, they committed to raise their children to know Christ. Recently, her 3-year-old son Solomon told his mom, “God lives in my heart, and I can talk to him.” In addition, when Solomon was suffering recently with the stomach flu he looked at his mom and said, “Will you ask God to help me?” It’s in those moments that Plumb knows her new direction in music was the right decision. Her older children love the CD, Blink. Solomon knows the song In His Arms is about him.

“He knows that Mommy is singing about him, but he also knows I’m singing about God’s love for him. I believe the song’s message will be in his heart for the rest of his life; in every test, trial, he is always welcome at my table and always will be my son,” Plumb said.

“The community of church does not exist for me, I exist for it,” Plumb said. Jeremy and Plumb attend church faithfully. She has several close accountability partners at church and Plumb believes living in accountability is absolutely necessary. At times, serving God through music ministry has been incredibly challenging, but just as rewarding. She says the sacrifices she’s made as a Christian are worth it.

“To reach people who are hurting, who need to know they’re not the only one - that’s better than any dumb award I hang on my wall.” She added, “Ministry is your life as a whole: how you treat the lady at the store, the person at work. It’s like the quote from St. Francis, ‘Preach a sermon with your life every day and use words if you have to.’”

Many of her songs are not your obvious “Christian” songs.

“The music I write is more like stories of life. My songs meet someone where they’re at before spelling out the answer for them. I’d rather write music that moves them a step forward toward Christ, that gives them hope,” Plumb said. “Eventually they will discover that Jesus is the ultimate hope.”

Some might say she’s writing music to be more commercially appealing, but Plumb disagrees.

“I write what’s real. The hope of Christ is thread into every song I write. But I’ve never left God’s name out of a song to sell it, and I’ve never put God’s name in a song to sell it,” she said.

She is very aware of the influence she has.

“Fame and fortune are fleeting,” she said, “but real faithfulness, making a difference in a person’s life, lasts for eternity.”