I first became aware of Tiffany Arbuckle Lee (Plumb) in 2006-ish… Way back when it was okay to download music from the internet (was it ever really ok?), I downloaded a copy of her song "Real Life Fairytale". I had no idea who she was or anything about her, but I was determined to like the song. I thought the name was fun. :) Of course not too long after, the song was featured in The Perfect Man, and everyone who watched chick flicks knew about her. That wasn't the only movie her music has been featured in; her songs have also been in Drive Me Crazy (with Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grier – "Stranded"), and Bruce Almighty (with Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Morgan Freeman – "God Shaped Hole").
Bruce Almighty scenes + Plumb's "God Shaped Hole"
While the movies may have made Plumb a household name, Tiffany Arbuckle Lee's career began much earlier than that. Growing up in Atlanta, she flew to Nashville right before her 21st birthday and became a backup singer for artists like Amy Grant and Bill Gaither. In 1997, she was signed on with Silverstone Records and her first album Plumb was released. The album reached number 28 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian Music. Within 2 years, she had recorded and produced her second album Candycoatedwaterdrops, an album that received much recognition, saw strong radio success, and won the 2000 Gospel Music Association Dove Award for "Modern Rock Album of the Year". Assuming she had reached the pinnacle of her career and with a strong desire to focus on her personal life, Plumb temporarily considered leaving the music industry until she received a note from a fan a few hours before what she thought was going to be her final concert saying "Whatever you do, I just want you to never forget that you have changed someone's life". Realizing just how powerful her music was, Plumb continued forward in her career signing on with Curb Records and producing the album Beautiful Lumps of Coal in 2003 and Chaotic Resolve in 2006, neither of which had as much success as her previous albums.
As it would seem, with the last album to hit mainstream radio being in the early part of the century, I was surprised and excited to see just what Tiffany Arbuckle Lee had done with her music in the time since when I won a copy of her latest album Exhale which was released in May of this year.
Let's just say … I wasn't too impressed.
Her music is pretty vanilla, for lack of a better comparison. Everything seems to be the same in the album – there are no real surprises. If you want a pretty relaxed Christian album, this is probably a good one for you. It's just Plumb – very straightforward and very much the sound you may have come to expect from so many of her other albums.
While I wasn't in love with Exhale, there is one song I keep going back to – "Broken Places". I think this is perhaps because, shortly after I received the album my friend of nearly 12 years moved to Germany and quit talking to me, so I was feeling pretty down. :( This song conveys a bit of what I'm feeling when I think about that.
But, unlike many other albums (of Plumb's and other great artists) there is one song that I have to skip every time it comes on – "Great Is Our God". It seems like such a positive uplifting song, but perhaps the tone of it is too contradictory for me? Whatever it is, I just don't like the song…
In this newest album by Plumb, she sings about the tough times she has gone through and how she has learned to rely on God for support. This may not be everyone's cup of tea and it certainly wasn't my best-loved, but I'm glad to have had the opportunity to catch up with an old favorite and see what has happened with her music in the past few years.
Are you familiar with the artist Plumb? Have you heard her new album Exhale?
To find out more about Plumb, visit her official website, Facebook, twitter, and instagram accounts or order Exhale online.
