New video: Sometimes All The People

We missed our chance at our anniversary show a couple of years ago, when Rod Matheson set up to record us playing "Music Music Music" and had the shot ruined by overenthusiastic dancers enjoying themselves at the cost of posterity. But we had a standing arrangement to set up another video shoot of a live music performance in an unconventional situation, and after only two and a half years, we managed to make good on it! Finally, a good YouTube clip (we already have a popular one, now we need a good one) of our band looking and sounding more like it does today, a complete take of a song we actually know how to play, more or less.



Also, a bit of catchup: congratulations to Loren & Marisol whose wedding reception at 5 International we performed at in late April; hats off to the folks at the 6th annual Stainsbury Block Party we entertained Sept 7th while a real fire truck dazzled all, and greetings to all our old friends in Portland we partied with this Columbus Day weekend as well as the new ones from the Low Tide Drifters and Girls' Rock Camp we made in Eugene at Plank Town! (And thanks to Rachael & Ben for setting us up there, again!)
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2014-09-28: Oktoberfest II: Bier Hierder

Did you know that Oktoberfest actually begins in late September? We are sticklers for authenticity, as the photo below attests, so will not feel compromised at all when don our 'Clinking Pints' hats and show up to Bomber Brewing (1488 Adanac Street) on Sunday, September 28 to entertain the beery masses from 2-6PM. You can get advance tickets here, which guarantee you 2 beers, a commemorative stein, and food!

We may even revisit our classic rendition of Father Abraham's traditional Oktoberfest tune, Smurfing Beer. You can learn the words for the sing along portion by watching the video below. Putting it on repeat works best!



Get the full rundown, and follow the HTML breadcrumbs to purchase your tickets here: http://www.beermebc.com/2014/09/03/bomber-brewing-hosts-east-vancouver-oktoberfest-celebrations/.

2014-09-17: Planks support teachers!

It's been some time since we performed at Bandidas Taqueria (2781 Commercial Drive). Let's be fair, it's a taqueria, not a performance venue. But due to regrettable recent events, we find ourselves aligned again: in support of the striking public school teachers, Bandidas is donating 100% of its Wednesday night proceeds (weekly, until the strike ends) to support Families Funding Teachers. They debuted this initiative this past week, did their briskest business in their history, and the charitable diners lined up outside the front door were entertained by Emma and Roland.

This Wednesday evening, it will be a small contingent of Creaking Planks out on the sidewalk helping the keep high the spirits of hungry teacher-supporting diners. Come for the social justice, stay for the music!

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The @creakingplanks entertained the lineup outside Banditas tonight, as all their proceeds went to supporting BC teachers!

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2014-09-13: Squeezebox Rendezvous

Well, folks, that time of year is coming up again: September is when Geoff Berner's offspring has a birthday, and so that's the time of year when he is traditionally close at hand, and so that is the time of year when he is available locally to headline at the Accordion Noir Festival! We've been here since the beginning -- and now it's the 7th annual Accordion Noir Festival. In addition to appearances from local legends and festival favourites such as Geoff Berner, Barbara Adler and Jack Garton, this year marks the first AN Fest appearances of such visiting luminaries as Socalled and Miss Murgatroid -- and the final AN Fest appearance of the Creaking Planks. Gasp! Shock! Say it ain't so! Maybe coasting on a guarantee of future appearances just because the festival basically ran off our backs for several years was making us soft and lazy. Last year's "choose your own adventure" song was a unique and curious presentation, but the programmers have spoken -- and chosen us to headline this year's festival's Saturday night dance party with our inimitable "power set". (And who knows, maybe in time we can be brought back for a command performance "by popular acclaim." But it won't be in 2015.)

But enough about us! Who else is on the bill?

Saturday, September 13th, starting at 8:00 pm
at the Russian Hall (600 Campbell, Vancouver)

Meet up at le coin d'Accordion and Noir where French and English music lovers translate toe-tapping beats from quatre bandes dynamique, into the best dance party of the festival!

Quebec's Ol' Crocodile brings their infamous "Folk Sale" (dirty) folk to the Squeezebox Rendezvous alongside Vancouver's own genre-bending, bilingual six-piece, Wintermitts. The evening also marks the final festival performance of fan favourites The Creaking Planks, led by Accordion Noir Festival co-founder Rowan Lipkovits. This evening marks the first time that Accordion Noir Youth Incentives has sponsored a band to play at the festival. The Plodes, is a smart-punk four-piece led by young up-and-comer Reid Blakley.

Dr. Jack's Jackpot of Cabaret Curios will be there to add to the mayhem.

$12.50 Advance Tickets Online Aug 1 - Sept 10
$15 Tickets at Door

2014-08-29: with Professor Gall at the Prophouse

The Creaking Planks are performing at the Prophouse (1636 Venables Street) Friday Aug 29th in conjunction with a visit from a new friend from the land of old friends, Portland Oregon: Professor Gall comes to us through the Strangled Darlings, which is all the endorsement you need! In October we go to Portland, but once in a while we are given the opportunity to bring a bit of Portland up here: to the "other" Vancouver.

The jug band of the damned join forces with our Portlandian comrade-in-arms to present his "tincture of junkyard folk and steampunk jazz" at that cafe with more lamps per square foot than any other. We'll be playing a low-key set in counterpart to our dance party power set at the Accordion Noir Festival the following month, so fear not -- we'll have different textures in effect! You should totally come to both shows.

(Update: due to family emergency, Professor Gall was unable to make it out to the show -- so we swapped him out in a jiffy with Brooke Lunderville.)

2014-07-17: The Creaking Planks with Eryn Holbrook, & Christie Watson at The Prophouse

Join us on July 17 at The Prophouse Cafe for some good times, sweet sounds, iced beverages (and hot ones too; it is the middle of summer but as you like), astounding lamps, stylish chairs, miniature panthers, and more sweet sounds.

We know it's the middle of July, but it's supposed to be a warm, dry summer so there will be plenty of opportunity to hang out at the beach, and there's really only so many times you can bike around the seawall. Plus everyone goes away in the summer time and we know it can get lonely. So you should come hang out with us. We promise to all be delightful!

Indie Folk Singer songwriter Christie Watson, performs songs from his upcoming debut solo EP and a few new ones too... uplifting anthems, infectious melodies, soulful ballads - expect to feel good.
http://christiewatson.bandcamp.com/


Eryn Holbrook started making music in her garage in the early 90's. Since then, she's fronted local bands Perpetual Dream Theory and The Inference, and currently plays mandolin with The Creaking Planks.

2014-03-28: with My Dearest Friends, Jimy Now and The Milk Pipes at the Railway Club

After our anniversary extravaganza at the Railway, it was a surprise to get the phone call out of the blue from IMU Productions, whose shows you have assuredly seen postered all over the place. Their idea was to have a jug band support the ukulele-filled Milk Pipes, again at the Railway, and, by gum, they sure have found one. We aim to demonstrate to them that we really go for the jugular! The show will start at 9:30 pm, and the cover is $10. This is slated to be our only other public gig this winter, so bring your groundhog along and you can take turns checking each others' shadows. Now please enjoy some potted blurbs!

Friday, March 28th IMU presents MY DEAREST FRIENDS, The MILK PIPES, The CREAKING PLANKS & JIMY NOW @ The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir . Show 9:30pm sharp! Cover $10 . Purchase advance tickets online @ http://www.imuproductions.com/tix

MY DEAREST FRIENDS - The stirring sounds of My Dearest Friends fall somewhere between The Beach Boys and Portishead, a 1950s burger joint with rollerskates and Radiohead b-sides blaring out under the covered parking lot. Like all great art, it's indescribably focused, beautiful and irreverent, music that undeniably needs to be heard. Right. Now. http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Dearest-Friends/6094869802

The MILK PIPES - Sounding like a '63 Impala comin' sideways around a corner on two wheels, The Milk Pipes always drop the hammer on their original tunes with a joyful and reckless abandon. Tube amps and classic guitars slash against the solid punch of a rhythm section born to serve the song while keys and ukes underpin the whole cacophony with delicious counter melodies. http://www.themilkpipes.ca/

JIMY NOW - In this solo project, Jimy performs on electric ukulele and guitar. In re-creating the roots of classic rock, rhythm & blues, he captures the timeless music of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and many more in the 1950s to early 60s era. Prepare to be transcended. http://www.facebook.com/Jimy.Now

2014-01-19: the Creaking Planks' fabulous 9th anniversary concert

We did in fact make it to Horace Phair in Portland in October. And though we took November off, we managed to play a swell holiday concert to the Compassion Club in December. Now it is a new year and a chance for our first gig of the year -- which happens to be our annual band birthday party at the Railway Club!

doors at 7:30PM, show at 9:30PM (sharp...really!)
at the Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street (upstairs), Vancouver, BC
$9 at the door
Featuring The Creaking Planks, Glittering Kingdom, and Sidewalk Cellist.

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Nine years is a long time to keep on keeping on, but in recent years the Creaking Planks, East Van's jug band of the damned, have made a tradition of throwing themselves an annual anniversary show at Vancouver's ‘grande dame’ of venues, the Railway Club. Unwilling to allow themselves to be ground to a halt by the ravages of greying hair, sleepless toddlers, grad school and graveyard shift work, they aim to demonstrate that rock 'n roll remains the most prematurely ageing influence of all. With their unruly assortment of underdog old-country instruments, they breathe a new rootsy life into monster pop anthems which have long since collapsed beneath their own sodden hubris and, despite being old enough to know better, compel the moldering leg-bones of also-ran B-side songs that history has unjustly forgotten to jiggle and caper like they are callow and spry again -- some old trick involving a spike of shaved ginger root. Remember when you were young and foolish? You will.

Glittering Kingdom grooves, taps and twinkles through tunes that meander from lonely circus swing to prohibition-era jazz, folk noir to post-apocalyptic acoustic. The sparkly foursome (Katheryn Petersen, Lindy Gray, Jen Rashleigh and Belinda Bruce) braid fine harmonies amidst guitar, accordion, saw, harmonica, snare and tinkly percussion. Glittering Kingdom is jazzed to debut the video of their bittersweet cover of Leonard Cohen's "The Future" at the Railway.

Vancouver's Sidewalk Cellist takes the classics out of the concert hall and throws them into the streets, with the help of her nearly-indestructible carbon-fiber cello! She provides a musical mix of everything from Bach to Nirvana, jazz to heavy metal, and more, building bridges between genres for audiences of all shapes and sizes.