2015-02-06: Bernerland: the Songs of Geoff Berner!

Though our paths have not crossed all that often (usually at the ArtsWells festival!), local accordionic songwriter Geoff Berner nonetheless looms large in our band's history, inviting us to headline his show at the first annual Accordion Noir Festival, after which he sagely proclaimed: "every night some band is the best band in the world for that night, and tonight I think it was you guys." We debated long and hard whether to perform his "Dalloy Polezei" when we performed at the fundraiser for the Police Museum. (The verdict was unanimous: we totally should, and we definitely wouldn't.) In fact, a turn-of-the-century appearance opening for folkie weirdo Dan Bern at the Britannia Elementary auditorium was entirely responsible for Blackbox Squeezebeard being inspired to pick up the accordion in the first place.

So finally we have an opportunity to give back some of what he has given to us: we didn't take the chance to cover any of his numerous amazing original songs on the Festival Man album, but we will be giving up two at the fabulous Bernerland roast / tribute show coming up this Friday night!

The roster is a gallery of big talent including his old friends in the Burnettes, Jeff Andrew, Dave Lang, Demon Squadron, E.S.L., Ford Pier, Carolyn Mark, Rae Spoon, fellow Monster of Accordion Jason Webley... and us! All hosted by Ken Gordon... one night only, 8:30 pm at the WISE Hall (1882 Adanac St. at Victoria), tickets will be $20 at the door (only $15 advance!) and all proceeds will be generously donated to the WISH drop-in centre. It has no option but to be quite a show.

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January was unexpectedly busy for us -- in addition to the big 10th-anniversary blowout, we performed two more gigs last week you never found out about here. First off was Support Resistance!, a brief but punchy appearance at a fundraiser for the Carnegie Newsletter on Jan 24th (at which Mr. Berner also weighed in!), and then on the 29th we had a fascinating chance to provide ambient and improvisatory instrumental wallpaper for a pecha kucha at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC, where we drifted among cello pedal loops beneath the skeleton of a blue whale.

Here we are living the dream of re-enacting @TheDecemberists Mariner's Revenge Song at @beatymuseum . pic.twitter.com/8tNdtndhla

— Creaking Planks (@creakingplanks) January 30, 2015

Show business! Even after 10 years, it can't help but surprise you!

We sure are an animated bunch!

In celebration of our Jaan Pehechaan Ho video breaking 15 thousand views (and the Heineken campaign fuelling its accidental virality showing no sign of slowing), here's a low-fi video -- an animated .GIF made out of snapshots virtuous band photographer Jonathan Dy took of us the same night as that viral video was made, three-quarters of a year ago. We have listened to the masses, tightened up our arrangement, and even learned the words to the second verse! There's a round of recording coming up and this tune is definitely on our hit list.

(Haven't you always wanted to have a little band in your desk, to take out and put on the shelf to caper and cavort for your amusement at the drop of a hat? I'm of half a mind to violate every design tenet on the book (where's my blink tag?) and put this little animation on the top of our website, for viewers to enjoy on every page.)

Two items of further note: we missed telling you about a gig we played Tues, Jan 31st, fundraising for the Federation for the Organization of Open Desire at the Little Mountain Gallery (where we'll be back Thurs March 1st presenting you a re-match with Portland's Underscore Orkestra -- but I get ahead of myself) and this Saturday night, Feb 18th, we'll be joining Blackberry Wood at the Big Blue House again for another jam-packed album fundraiser show there, shuffled among such luminaries as Geoff Berner, Carolyn Mark, and the Orkestar Slivovica. Just keep your ears open as you walk along Salisbury Street, there's no way you'll miss it.

2009-08-01: Creaking Planks at the ArtsWells Festival

Blackbeard Squeezebox has been several years running with his bit on the side, the Joey Only Outlaw Band, but finally this year he gets to reconvene with his old Living Closet cronies with the jug band of the damned in tow!  ArtsWells, BC's biggest little indie arts festival takes place over the BC Day long weekend in the little town of Wells, BC (and neighbouring historical Barkerville) in the Cariboo, from Friday July 31st through Monday August 3rd.  Sharing various stages with us at various times are a whole bevy of buddies both accordion-slinging and non-; a partial look at the stellar line-up this year includes such friends as Ana Bon-Bon, Blackberry Wood, Geoff Berner, Jess Hill and Raghu Lokanathan (we'll be playing a show with him in town the following week) and luminaries such as Fish & Bird, Linda McRae, Rae Spoon and the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra!

We're slated to be performing an afternoon set at the Barkerville venue Saturday (2-3 pm) and in the downstairs of the main hall Monday afternoon (3-4 pm) but you'll be finding various and sundry Planks all over the festival grounds, nosing out jams and sating our hunger for knowledge at workshops like the accordions in the round session Saturday at noon or Dr. Steelhand's slide guitar workshop Sunday morning (11 am-1 pm) in the school classroom!  (Our regular hunger will be sated by Martin in the kitchen, no doubt!)

2008-10-03: the Creaking Planks close the 1st annual Accordion Noir festival of Squeeze!

With all September's transitions, we've been a bit out of sorts recently, as a result of which some of our recent performances have slipped past without being commemorated here, including a three day spree -- this year's community circus at the Four Sisters Co-Op (Sat Sept 13th), the start of a new GoGo season at Hoko's with Francis Mantis and the Sun Aristocrats  (Sun Sept 14th), and a monthly cultural night at the Cedar Cottage Community Garden (Mon Sept 15th)... plus another great evening at Trees Fri Sept 5th at which some of our number sat in with Erin Graves! ( -- an impromptu backup stint that can be witnessed through Youtube videos.)

But that's not what this post is about!  Not catching up, but boldly bounding forward, like a hell-bent golden retriever hurtling lemming-like off a cliff in pursuit of a glowing tennis ball.  (But not quite as, y'know, ominous.)  Squeezebeard Blackbox's weekly side project Accordion Noir, the world's only all-accordion radio show / podcast, is putting on the first annual Accordion Noir Festival of Squeeze... mainstage performances from 9 pm on at the Railway Club (579 Dunsmuir at Seymour, upstairs) Friday, October 3rd! Admission should be in the vicinity of $10, a bit less for Railway Club members.  The Planks will be giddily closing the night sometime after midnight!  (And please, dismiss those nepotistic thoughts from your head -- we were hand-picked by festival headliner Geoff Berner, the man who first inspired Squeezebeard to pick up his blackbox, along with Amy Denio from Seattle and Natasha Enquist from Victoria, making this a Pacific Northwest summit of sorts.)

For your entertainment, education, edification, and for interior decorating purposes, here is its poster:

... and here is an audio promo for the festival!  For further synergy, the Planks will be sitting in on the episode to be broadcast Friday, September 26th, in order to promote the festival to local listeners with (as before) some live performance on the air.  We should be audible during the show's typical runtime, from 9:30-10:30 pm Friday night on CFRO 102.7 fm CO-OP Community Radio... or, for those of you who plan to be huddling in concrete bunkers deep underground, on their audio stream. (For those who enjoy deciphering cryptic filenames, it should also turn up for a couple of days after broadcast in their mp3 archives... and several weeks later on the AN site 8) (Edit: and here it is!  A short set, a small Plankian turn-out... but still a good time!)

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Squeezebeard feels it would be remiss were we not to mention, as does the poster, that the Railway show is actually only the second day of the festival, which opens 7 pm the previous night Thursday Sept 2nd at Spartacus Books' new location (684 E. Hastings at Heatley and no, it doesn't just sound familiar -- I knew we'd find a way to play at that site again!  It's Gabe's old Gaff Gallery!) and will include not only hot live performances by real squeezeboxers (and not just him! as is so often the case at the monthly squeezebox circle regularly held at that place and time) but Bruce's pet project the accordion fashion show and a 9 pm screening of the Accordion Tribe movie. (5-minute teaser trailer!)


(For posterity's sake, though it's long since been forgotten in the post's narrative, here is the poster from our Trees show.  Since we always have such a nice time there, we should be back like clockwork in six months' time, March 6th 2009!)