A moment of silence for two Vancouver venues

A moment of silence, please. You, you in the back... yes, with the alpenhorn. Just for a minute, please. Well, okay, but take it outside. Man, than thing is huge. Now, where was I? Ah yes, a chance to pay our respects to two local music venues who played key roles in the development of the Creaking Planks, both of which closed their doors to live music performance in October.

The narrow confines of Cafe Montmartre always seemed more like an alley between buildings where someone had hung sheet metal roofing and a few tricycles than a building of its own; unbearably hot in the summer, it played host to the long-running Thundering Word open mic series long after its founder passed on. We featured at the open mic twice, and played there on numerous occasions -- a room we had access to book when other venues didn't necessarily believe in our locally-unproven support acts such as the Accordion Babes from California, and of course, we'll never forget the riot (well, the police came and my mother was standing on a table) when Mezamazing played with us there at the Accordion Noir Festival.

Two blocks away, the Little Mountain Studios have completed their conversion into a theatre, after what must be nearly a decade of struggles with the city inching incrementally toward venue legitimacy since its early days as the Butchershop Floor Gallery, where a young Lord Eel, Lee Shoal, and Blackbox Squeezebeard managed to clear a full house shortly after meeting just by pulling their instruments out. Later, we managed to play a haunting set to an empty room while accidentally burning a hole in a banjo. After the changeover we took on an official status as the venue's "house band", playing many an opening, and for a time enjoyed a weekly residency there. There, also, we put on gigs that quite simply couldn't have happened anywhere else -- the Cabaret of Wonders! Err on the Side of Caution! (And of course, hosting Mezamazing after their Montmartre show.) And of course, we had many, many RAV line nights.

We don't strictly speaking need them now, but the bands who are, now, in the position we were in, then, do need rooms like these. (Venues that will pay you are also nice, to be sure, but even before your band is at that level, you need a place outside your living room to develop your skills to a point where you can go semi-pro.) Where will they be found? These rooms are survived in the neighbourhood by the Main and the Cottage Bistro; more widely, the Safe Amplification Society is keeping its finger on the pulse of accessible venues for eg. all-ages shows that can't always promise the massive paying patrons many venues demand (in lieu of rent; of course, if you have capital, anything is possible... but that's not a reason to make everything impossible to those without capital if all they have to trade on is talent!)

So hats off to the rooms for keeping on keeping on; it's always a surprise when the totally anarchic band perseveres and manages to hang on for longer than legitimate businesses (well, and the LMS, which just seemed unkillable, despite its years of seemingly perpetually teetering on the brink.) We would have liked to give you one last set, but timing isn't only the secret to great comedy, but also sometimes its inverse. Many regards to Ali and Ehren; letting your art lead you through life is one folly, but then running a business predicated on daily dealings with those fools is a whole other flavour of foolishness. We wish you great success in your next adventures and look forward to our paths crossing then!

2010-11-28: Creaking Planks at Cafe Montmartre

While we made some improbable new Portland friends at last month's Montmartre gig, we thought that we might like to stack the deck a bit and power-load the evening with an old friend -- Little Mountain Gallery arts godfather (which we'll in turn be shilling for Dec 10th at the Rickshaw) and incomparable comedic musical improviser Ehren Salazar. (4362 Main Street at 28th, by donation, 8-11 pm.)

2010-10-24: Creaking Planks at Cafe Montmartre

The sun sets earlier and people enter an oasis of routine and everyday schedule between the end of summer and the start of holiday madness. Defying this so-called everydayness, the jug band of the damned takes to the Montmartre stage once again for the first time since May. By donation.

2010-05-13: Accordion Noir presents... Still More Pleasing Squeezing

The latest installment in the Accordion Noir radio show's series of exciting alt-accordion concerts, this evening of Pleasing Squeezing (Thurs May 13th) returns to Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th Ave) with an exciting triple-bill: not only does the jug band of the damned return to its old squeezing grounds, but joining us are Fang, the new duo side-project of Barbara Adler (who last played with us there at last year's memorable Accordion Noir Festival launch party) and Winnipeg's fabulous Ingrid Gatin.  We play for tips at Montmartre, so you have no excuse not to join us and our joyful noise!

2009-12-15: Rump Planks back at Blackstrap Sadie's Old-Time Jamboree

Sarah Jane "Blackstrap Sadie" Scouten seems to have decided to have us back! From 8 pm on tonight, a couple of Creaking Planks are outnumbered (for once) by the Lawn Dogs and a whole host of holidaying Scoutens (including Anna and Jacob) determined to make Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th Ave) as much fun as their favorite front stoop. Also on the bill: David Faber and his fabulous autoharp! Bring your most owlish nanny and make sure she's darned good and ready to hoot!

2009-10-27: Blackstrap Sadie's Old Time Jamboree #2

Blackstrap Sadie (perhaps best not to ask what those straps are for) mounts the second of her extraordinary hootnannys down on Cafe Montmartre's cozy little stage (4362 Main Street at 28th), the next best thing to a front porch, where the bill boasts "everything from blues to bluegrass to old time to originals and all the beauty that there is, in between." Fortunately for us, that grey liminal zone is our specialty.

We (who? Anna Scouten, Andrew Beaty, Sarah Jane Scouten, Martin Riesle of Maria in the Shower), the Lawn Dogs, and more!) play for tips at Cafe Montmartre!

2009-09-11: Creaking Planks headline the second annual Accordion Noir Festival's launch party at Cafe Montmartre

We had so much fun closing last year's Accordion Noir Festival in the middle of the night (sold out, line-up down the stairs and out on the sidewalk) that we just had to open a supplementary stage at this year's festival to give us another chance to play at it (while opening some room on the mainstage the next day for Story and Jason Webley.)  Seeking some squeezy acts with smaller stage footprints and performers with lower individual profiles in this town, we managed to secure a very exciting line-up of some of Vancouver's choicest bellowers:  Andy Fielding, Dawn Zoe (Alchemy), Tina Tew (Wintermitts), Barbara Adler (of the Fugitives), Joanna Chapman-Smith, the Balkan brass razzmatazz of Mezamazing at what can charitably be described as long last... and the Planks close again, because why mess with a tradition of such success?  We'll be starting at 8 pm and seeing just how much we can squeeze in by 1 am.  We play for tips at Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main at 28th Ave.) but a suggested donation would be seven dollars for all these great acts!

2009-06-26 through 30th: the Flogged Round the Fleet tour of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast

The jug band of the damned finally has some copies of its longago-recorded CD ("Flogged Round the Fleet") together in its swell limited-edition, first-run deluxe packaging edition, and by gum, we aim to seed the entire periphery of the Georgia Strait with them! One gig suggested a circumnavigation and so we're spending a long long weekend making a round trip to introduce some sleepy island-dwellers to our unique brand of demented traditional music new and old.

• Friday, June 26th, Victoria, Solstice Festival for the Folk


• Saturday, June 27th, TBA


• Sunday, June 28th - an afternoon show at the Duncan Garage Showroom, then an evening show following the B:C:Clettes at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park


• Monday, June 29th - an afternoon show at the Gumboot Cafe in Roberts Creek, then an evening show at the Wild Bistro in Gibsons


• Tuesday, June 30th - a return home at Cafe Montmartre in Vancouver

The first stop is a return to the Solstice Cafe (529 Pandora Ave, Victoria), the site of our standing-room-only Island debut last Spring, sandwiched (with David Simard and Free Range, aka Danielle LP, Meg O'mally Iredale, Marly Iredale and Shanti Bremer) in the middle of three smashing nights of splendiferous Festival performances -- and just the start of a long weekend of Vancouver Island wanderings for us!

Saturday is necessarily under wraps until we finalise the remaining brass tacks, but keep posted for updates!

Sunday Longevity John squeezes us in to his Duncan Garage Showroom (330 Duncan Street, Duncan) for an afternoon show running 2-4 pm, $10, and I promise we will squeeze back. Later that evening, around 8 pm, we follow the B:C:Clettes, our red and black sistren of the bike dance community, for a third encounter for the benefit of the patrons of the Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park campground (near Parksville) at the amphitheatre there. Unplugged! Wheels will roll. Helmets will shake!

Monday, we make good on a longstanding threat to descend upon Roberts Creek's Gumboot Cafe (1057 Roberts Creek Rd), logging an afternoon set there from 4-6 pm, then we mosey along to the Wild Bistro (682 Gibsons Way) in Gibsons to play out the evening from 8-10.

Tuesday night we shake the last of the sand off our saltwater-stained sleeves and take to the Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street) stage back in Vancouver to play late into the night (as the following day is a statutory holiday - Canada Day!) and celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of Blackbox Squeezebeard's parents.

2009-05-16: Planks back at Cafe Montmartre with Petunia!

Following our bombastic April Ship of Fools variety show, Ali has seen fit, in his ultimate wisdom, to turn the Montmartre stage (4362 Main Street) over to us for another Saturday night filled with much merriment and musical mayhem. Joining us tonight for a tasty set in the middle is our pal Petunia!

2009-04-04: Blackbox Squeezebeard's April Ship of Fools birthday celebration at Cafe Montmartre

As an experiment into filling a whole night at Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th Avenue) with varied textures of performance from members of our multifarious crew and extended family, the Creaking Planks celebrate Blackbox Squeezebeard entering into his fourth decade with the April (Ship of) Fools Variety Show from 8 pm through "late" (past midnight!) Saturday, April 4th. Performances will include magic from Travis, interstitial improvisation and ukulele from Ehren Salazar and John Barbour, new music from familiar faces Paul Hendriks (aka the Rev. Lucian Rumblebucket), possibly demonstrating his banjo aptitude, and Eryn Holbrook (aka Daisy Jones-Locher -- who worked a wonderful whimsical adaptation of Hieronymus Bosch's "Ship of Fools" into the show's poster!) contributing a solo set a couple of months earlier than usual, sharing her voice-and-keys songwriting not much heard since the days of her Perpetual Dream Theory project. Also joining us will be a very special set from washtub bass outsider Al Mader, the Minimalist Jug Band, and of course a couple of sets of Creaking Planks creaking and planking.

At Montmartre we play for tips, but we anticipate your generosity in support of this jam-packed night and its auspicious occasion.

Edit: phew! What a night! Check out VanCityMike's gallery of shots from the variety show up on Flickr!

2009-02-28: Planks at Cafe Montmartre with Erin Graves

We're back at our monthly appearance at Cafe Montmartre (down at 4362 Main Street at 28th Avenue) with our friend Erin Graves who we met last September at Trees and resolved to do more work with.  The usual sequence of events there has us playing an opening set starting by 8:45 for 45 minutes, then our guest plays a similar set (possibly with some Planks sitting in!), then another one from us.  We play on a pass-the-hat basis, so bring some friends and a great hunger for crepes, wine and hat-filling.

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And here we were!

Photo by Erin Graves. Daisy Jones-Locher can't be seen just off to the left.

2009-01-16: Creaking Planks at Cafe Montmartre with Rick Keating

Last night, however well-received, was just a warm-up.  Friday night we plan to pull out everything we proudly displayed and more, with two full courses of Plankification sandwiching a very rare set by the host of the Thursday night open mic at the Little Mountain Neighborhood House, Rick Keating.  The man strums, he stomps, he puts up a godawful fuss.  And we love the bastard for it.  It's like a primer in Folk 101, skipping right past the student exercises and landing directly in a master class where they have learned to tune their instruments and stop whining.  Doors at 8, and we should be cooking by 9... by pass-the-hat donation, at Café Montmartre (4362 Main Street at 28th).

(Thanks to Leah Nilson for taking the photo at the bottom so long ago that has now ended up on two posters!)

Update: a Plank rump (sax, fiddle + squeezebox) drummed up business a bit the night before with appearances at the Little Mountain Neighborhood House open mic and a surprise revival of the Hidden Agenda series at the Little Mountain Studios, a benefit for Sweetie Pie Press.  Aren't their wares swell?

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We were caught at that engagement also!

Photo by Mike David Hawley

2009-01-11: Planks and Petunia at Montmartre, redux!

The Jug Band of the Damned revisits Main Street's little slice of Paris, Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main at 28th) courtesy once again of the western swingingest flower in the whole dagblamed garden, Petunia, sandwiching us between two sets of him playing with a small combo and featuring scattered smatterings from Al Mader, the Minimalist Jug Band -- the visionary behind "Lousy Lover" and "Dead Man's Pants". Not to be missed!

We'll be back there later in the week with Rick Keating, so stay tuned!

2008-11-30: Creaking Planks feature at Thundering Word Heard

Vancouver's favorite open mic series on and off since its inception under T.Paul Ste.Marie and DJ Dutch Boy in 2001, we first featured there slightly over a year ago, following a strong reception at the BC:Clettes Rouge et Noir cabaret, and probably spent as much time trying to jockey everyone into place on the cozy stage as we did playing.  We ended up performing several times over a period of a few weeks and then totally dropped off the radar for months.  Let's see if we can't stagger things out a bit this time!  Thundering Word is now hosted by Bill McNamara and Wanda Nowicki, and it doesn't just have featured performers -- it's also a fully fledged open mic!  Turn up to Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main at 28th) around 7:30 pm to sign up and you, too, could share our stage.  Though probably not while we're on it -- there's hardly room enough for us as it is!  DJ Cassady will get you hooked up and we'll see what spoken word / music fusion may result.  (I'm on the edge of my seat!)

We should be returning to Cafe Montmartre January 11th to be the filling in a Petunia sandwich again, but you'll be hearing more about that closer to the date.

Edit: Bill made a new drawing to promote our appearance this night!  We only just found out about it upon arrival, but it's a swell "Night on Bald Mountain" rendition of our "jug band of the damned" tag-line.  Stand back and enjoy!

Planks wrap up October: Parade of Lost Souls, Petunia at Montmartre

We had so much fun at Horace Phair VI that we couldn't keep still. (Especially Scruffy Bigbass, who had a claustrophobic call of the wild in the middle of past-midnight highway construction in the vicinity of Everett.)

This year, for HPVII, with under half as many Planks on board, things were a little more sedate for us...

though Nite Brite, The Pathogens and Oven Mitts were quite literally rocking the block while everyone else drank their head off with a pint of the homebrew Budd Dwyer ale on tap.

Then our timing belt broke in Olympia on the way back, but that's  a whole 'nuther story (and a happy departure to a Planks tradition of strewing dead automobiles across the West Coast.)  Do you have your copy of our HPVII mix yet?

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A week later, we hunkered down with Whiskey Jar to wish our mutual friend Wyoming Johnny a very happy birthday, and tonight, Saturday October 25th, we are letting our online following (all other locals have already made up their minds about attending this regardless of our participation) know that, following a seasonal squash-mangling, we will be logging an appearance (an earful at least) at tonight's Parade of Lost Souls, from six to nine pm in the Black Zone (at the intersection of William and Maclean, for the living.)

Tomorrow night, Sunday Oct 26th, we take to Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main Street at E 28th Avenue) to join roots showman Petunia in a brief opening set around 8 pm... to be followed by a drunken pumpkin-carving contest.

And as for Hallowe'en?  Do keep posted... we have a special surprise in store.

2008-05-09: Katie GoGo, Clare Love and the Creaking Planks

Without a doubt, Hoko's booker and impresario par excellence Katie GoGo has led us into good times. But we have good times all over the place. Back last fall we had good times at Café Montmartre alone three times over a three week period! But now, finally, the time has come for these two great tastes to be enjoyed together: flexing her production muscles, Katie is trying out a new night at Café Montmartre (4362 Main at 28th Ave.) And who is she inviting to help her show her best face at her inaugural show there? That's right -- itinerant songwriter Clare Love. Who is awesome. And also us. Who are also awesome. (At least, our webmaster thinks so.)

Performances should be underway by 8 pm; entrance is by donation (please direct your tips to the hat!) and do make sure to enjoy the kitchen specialty of hot crepes on these cool evenings.

A surprise addition to the splendid bill was a brave individual who took to the stage after the rest of the performances and played a haunting rendition mashing up the chord transition from Portishead's "Glory Box" with the lyrics to Will Smith's theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air -- truly a performance to remember.