Jeff Stuart playing guitar at home. ‘It’s always been important for me to have a true creative outlet.’Lindsay Pratt/Supplied
By day, Jeff Stuart is a senior adviser in Alberta’s public health-care system. By night, he’s the lead singer and songwriter for popular indie folk band The Hearts. He says that he gets fulfilment from both careers, despite the challenges of balancing competing priorities.
In this series, Reimagining Wealth, we explore the evolving definition of wealth in today’s world. Here, Mr. Stuart tells us how he juggles a busy career as a communications professional with live shows and recording sessions.
Tell me about your day job.
I do work that is related to communications strategy and employee engagement supporting staff on the front lines who are providing health-care services in Alberta.
You also have a music career. How did that come about?
For most of my life I’ve been involved in music [in some way] or another, and for the past many years I’ve played music professionally as a singer, songwriter and performer.
I currently play in a band called The Hearts. We’re based in Edmonton and we’ve been at it for over a decade, and we write and record original music. I would describe it as Americana-inspired indie folk.
We recently released our fifth studio album Traces, which came out last November. We reached number one on CKUA Radio, which is a big entity out here in Alberta, and other independent radio across the country, and even BBC Radio in the UK. So, we’re getting a lot of positive critical feedback and airplay in various places around North America and beyond.
The Hearts performing live at the Starlite Room in Edmonton, April, 2025. From left, Dwayne Martineau, Brad Tebble, Lindsay Pratt, Jeff Stuart, Chris Quesnel and Gavin Dunn.Tim Osborne/Supplied
How important is it for you to have both careers?
In a lot of ways, one kind of feeds the other. I definitely get fulfilment out of my day job, but it’s always been important for me to have a true creative outlet and music enables that. It allows me to collaborate with a lot of other people. Even just within the parameters of The Hearts, there’s a lot of great collaboration and support and it becomes like a little family.
Also, having [another] career provides a buffer in not having to rely exclusively on music for income. Because I have my other career, I can focus on trying to make the best art that I can without having to pander or make something for the sake of financial return at the cost of my creative vision and the creative vision of the people that I’m working with. I think we’re all music nerds first – you know, those kids in our parents’ basements or garages playing songs – we just happen to keep getting older and hopefully a little better over time. But I think that spark and creativity is still very much alive because we don’t have to rely on the music exclusively to put food on the table.
Is it difficult to juggle your day and night jobs?
It can be a bit of adjustment, but it’s also part of what keeps things interesting. You can go from the excitement of being in front of a crowd of 800 people to [being in] the office on Monday morning, going through your emails and looking at what you have to accomplish for the week. You just have to learn to do whatever you need to do to switch gears, and it has come easier over the years.
For me, it could be a matter of going for a walk or something before we have show or a recording session. It’s a physical and mental reset.
What’s next for you?
My fiancé and I also have a folk duo called Holidays in Canada. We’re in the process of making our first record. So, I’m very busy making music and it’s never lost on me that I’m incredibly fortunate to have both my careers.
