John K. Samson goes solo in Provincial

Though perhaps best known as the lead vocalist for indie rock band The Weakerthans, Winnipeg singer-songwriter John K. Samson is now branching out as a solo artist with his new album Provincial.

It originated as "a fun thing to do while The Weakerthans was having some downtime," he told Jian Ghomeshi of CBC Radio's Q.

The geographically inspired projectbased on the idea of exploring different Manitoba roads and expressed through guitar-fuelled folk-rock songs soon grew beyond its modest beginnings.

Still, after four studio albums as part of the Juno-nominated The Weakerthans (and two albums with his former band Propagandhi), it was a challenge putting out a solo release, Samson admitted.

"It was like recording for the first time," he noted. "It made me feel a bit naked."

Provincial's release on Tuesday arrives alongside the debut of Samsons new book Lyricsand Poems, 1997-2012, a collection of his lyrics and poetry from the past 15 years.