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.

2010-09-28: Creaking Planks live on CaBaRadio

It was a cold, wet, late night at UBC, and as the witching hour approached we wondered if any of our fans would be hearing the three of us make merry music over the airwaves, courtesy of Teddy Smooth and E-roc at CiTR's CaBaRadio. Maybe not. But still -- there's always the Internet's long memory (sorry, tail) to fall back on. Thrill as we (eventually) reflect on our origins and quip regarding the recent Accordion Noir Festival! And enjoy three great tunes, including one recently exhumed while Stateside from the ancient past.

Here's the recording! And here's the playlist!

• Creaking Planks Trio - Insane in the Membrane (Cypress Hill): 12:57-16:30 (3:33)
• Creaking Planks Trio - CaBaRadio stinger: 16:31-16:40 (0:09)
• Creaking Planks Trio - Kiddie Closer (Nine Inch Nails): 16:41-20:34 (3:53)
• Creaking Planks Trio - (Hit Me) Baby One More Time (Britney Spears): 26:42-29:29 (2:47)

Bonus! Hear us simmer in the background as we promote a different radio station's affairs!

2010-09-24: Accordion Noir Festival Squeezebox Dance Party

The third annual Accordion Noir fest is upon us again, a whole week of festivities already underway (click here for full details) and as with the previous two years, the Creaking Planks simply had to log an appearance celebrating the bountiful local supply of the wonderful squeezy weirdness whose virtues the Accordion Noir radio show / podcast extols weekly. Otherwise put:

Friday, Septemeber 24th -- Vancouver's number one squeezebox dance party: Mezamazing, Maria in the Shower, the Orkestar Slivovica and the Creaking Planks!

This Friday night, we celebrate two of the greatest mechanical inventions of the 19th century: the accordion, brought to life in the hands of some of East Van's most bombastic purveyors of dance music from the Balkans and points further out in left field, and the bicycle, rolled along Vancouver's moist lanes and byways in defiance of the notion that the change of season has to bring with it a change in attitude.

Enjoy an earful of the sweet people-powered music that ruled over the pubs and campfires before steam power ruined everything, starting at 9 pm upstairs at the Grandview Legion Hall (2205 Commercial Drive) and running late into the night. Everyone can enjoy the show for the low price of $10, but helmet-clad Critical Mass riders pay only $8!

2010-09: Planks Island Tour with Uni & her Ukulele

What was previously alluded to can now be stated plainly: the Creaking Planks are returning to Vancouver Island, with fewer stops than last time -- only two, making for a killer weekend with our Californian uke-slinging pal.

Friday, Sept 10th, we'll be back at the Duncan Garage Showroom playing for an unruly crew of Long John and some of Duncan's finest connoisseurs of humourous musical mayhem.

Saturday, September 11th, we take on Victoria's Fort Cafe (742 Fort Street) not only with Uni in tow but also Victoria's own squeezebox madman David P. Smith headlining a thrilling night of killer tunes on outsider instruments -- doors at 7:30, music at 9.

Then, Sunday, September 12th, we return home for our second year at the Fringe Festival bar (you can catch us in the program!) at the St. Ambroise Fringe Bar at Agro Cafe (1363 Railspur Alley, Granville Island), where not only will Uni be joining us again, but also Dr. Steelhand's alter ego, Travis the Magician, promoting his Fringe show Things That Never Happen.

2010-09-07: Creaking Planks back at the Railway Club for more Memewar

On short notice all around, en lieu of visiting Gibsons again (RIP Wild Bistro! And too darn bad we missed the Gumboot train) we're joining our good friends at Memewar Magazine for another 'do celebrating their rag down at the Railway Club, (579 Dunsmuir Street, upstairs) with the Jeremy Braax Band, Brent Lawrence, and our new best friend for the next week, California's Uni & her Ukulele. (Stay tuned for more information about further upcoming shows with her, and for an account of our adventures in California!)

Things have been so hairy in the coming and going (everything except for Blackbox Squeezebeard, that is) we've even had a few good times come up on us so suddenly we didn't get a chance to talk them up here -- times like last week's other Railway appearance, at Redrick Sultan's tour send-off Aug 29th, the killer Steinberg summer party at the end of July, and our last intersection with our Memewar friends, playing a set of songs about cryptozoology to kids at the CNIB camp on Bowen Island. How awesome is that?

And then of course there's the Accordion Noir Festival coming up in a couple of weeks... but one post at a time, friends!!

2010-08-12: Planks play Alex Cieslik's "Outside Access" art opening at the Little Mountain Gallery

Alex "Scruffy Bigbass" Cieslik, who once had a painting stolen while playing guitarrón with Planks at that fateful Rouge et Noir cabaret, hasn't been seen much in a Plankian context since our Gibsons visit of June '09... but does have a new body of visual work ready to present to the public's scrutiny at the old Little Mountain Gallery (195 E. 26th Ave.) we've all logged so many hours into propping up. It's been Quite Some Time (two and a half years?!) since the last time we played an art opening there, but these strange little gigs were positively fundamental in the development of the Creaking Planks. I highly recommend playing art openings on a regular basis to all new bands!

The exhibition runs from Thurs Aug 12th through Thurs Aug 26th; we will however only be performing there opening night.

2010-08: Planks Cariboo tour

Did you see our Church set from last year's ArtsWells festival in the Barkerville ad on the inside front cover of this year's Summer Festival BC Musician issue?

Look a bit more closely...

Well, we had so much fun at last year's ArtsWells Festival at Wells and Barkerville, BC, we're going back this BC Day weekend.  Around 1:15 pm Saturday, July 31st, the Creaking Planks will be performing at the Sunset Theatre for just about an hour, following Blackbox Squeezebeard's hosting the "Bellows on Fire" accordion workshop at noon at the outdoor stage.

You'll see more Planks at the festival, including Blackbox hosting the mainstage Saturday night (featuring our friends from Fish & Bird, Geoff Berner, and The Burning Hell!) and being ritually shorn at Sunday's 1-Minute Play Contest to further fundraise for the festival beyond what we raised hosting the WellsAid concert earlier this summer... the question on everyone's lips is of course Will he have to be issued a new pirate codename?

Following the ArtsWells Festival, while we're all up in thar part of the world we've planned to join our favorite songwriter in his hometown, turning the tables, and join Raghu Lokanathan for a show in Valemount Tuesday, August 3rd, at the Anglican-United Church hall (1175 7 Ave).

The next day, Wed, Aug 4th, the Creaking Planks swing over to Prince George's ArtSpace (above Books & Company, 1685 3rd Ave) to play a show with Johnnie Ninety-Nine, our most northerly gig yet!