Real Friends In Montana
For Sean and Jimmy,
I hope I’ve remembered these occurrences somewhat close to how they really happened. Either way, thank you fellas.
Friends and neighbors, as of late this newsletter/blog has become more of a newsletter/newsletter and I miss the writing about my misadventures on the road and at home in the business of music. So I’m taking this 4 hour flight after watching Confess, Fletch (I do appreciate films that are only 1 hour and 38 minutes long in this world of epic franchise long-winded self-aggrandizing cinematic nap-inducing experiences) to write a little on how I came to have Montana as one of my favorite places to perform. Soon I will be heading back to our home on Vancouver Island for the holidays to spend with wife, dog, and family.
As always, scroll down to see my upcoming dates and gig info with the links below, check my website, or follow my Bandsintown for regular updates.
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It’s not an easy thing getting out from under the hat of an accompanist. To this day (albeit way more infrequently) I get introduced as “he’s mostly known for being a sideman.” It’s hard when you have spent over 6 years of solely making your living playing your songs (and the occasional cover — we’ll get to that in a bit) to be recognized for what you do, not what you did. At least in this business.
Most of the people reading this know me only as a “solo artiste” or “singer-songwhiner” as I like to put it when I’m feeling self-deprecating. However I am extremely proud of my accomplishments and that at 43 I started a solo career and at 49 it’s kicking ass and it’s still what I do for a living (aside from the occasional private lesson, workshop, studio work, commercials and such, all of which either done in person or sometimes “remotely”/online). Most of all I love writing, recording, and performing my songs. I also do enjoy being on the road almost as much as I love being home, and I am grateful as all get-out that you afford me the luxury of a not-as-easy-as-you’d-think but immensely gratifying profession. Thank you. For real.
But why drone on about this? It’s only recognition right? Who cares what other people think? We all truly know that fame is fleeting at best. I droned on above because I used to hide behind covers that I would re-imagine and try to make my own, to make up for my insecurities as a generally sophomoric songwriter. Maybe even because I was more worried about what my peers thought. More on that to come…
I’m pretty sure the year was 2016. My new album SoulSlide had just come out, and this was the beginning of my solo career and the end of my 16-year stint as a side-person in Texas. I got sober in 2012, I got married in 2013, and after those two wonderful happenings this was definitely another milestone.
I can get to Montana from here, I promise.
Picture a song-swap (or “song pull” as it’s known in Nashville) at the now defunct Strange Brew in South Austin Texas during the South By
Southwest music (and lots of other things now) festival. All day long and for that matter all week, bands and solo artists are shuffled in and out of clubs hoping someone will notice them among the hundreds. Fans are herded in and out of said venues like mooing cattle seeing tons of bands for a reasonable wristband considering how much they get to see if they so choose to. Many “non-SXSW sanctioned” events happen at the more than 100 venues in Austin as well. This was one of those, but Strange Brew had developed a winning reputation as a great place to play in a very short amount of time. I may have helped get it started with a few weekly consultations, but I can’t take credit for it’s great sound, lovable staff, and insistence on taking care of musicians financially and otherwise as best they could. Scott Ward, Kacey Crowley, and a few others had a hell of a lot to do with that.
I hardly ever play SXSW. Once in a while I get talked into it. For fans it is wonderful. For bands it sucks. If you are an Austin musician, and you are playing a show during SXSW there’s about a 95% chance I’d say you are not being paid a dime. Even if you play at a SXSW sanctioned event, and everyone in the club paid top dollar for a wristband, the most you will get no matter how many shows you play that week, how many band members you have, how many travel or hotel or food expenses you have, you will make $150. So if you have a wristband, the band still isn’t making shit. To this day I think that’s still the pay. So if you are there and you can, tip the bands first, tip the sound engineers and techs next, then the bar, because you’re money is most likely going to someone corporate who doesn’t give a crap about the musicians bringing all that business to Austin.
So I got talked into doing this songswap for free. As I said, it’s no fault of Strange Brew it’s just the way things work during South By (what the locals call it). Turned out to be a pretty fun one. One that would shape my travels to this day.
There was a tall, soft-spoken, long-haired, cowboy-hat-wearing songwriter (although his hat seemed appropriate even before I knew it was — a lot of hats in the music business, rarely are they appropriately or justifiably adorned). His name was Sean Devine (still is). The Montanan from Paradise Valley just outside of Yellowstone National Park. I enjoyed his tunes, and the other folks we were swapping songs with, but I was shuffling around promoting my new record and was barely able to remember what club I was in and what day it was. I probably had 5 gigs that day - no joke! But I do remember his gentle singing voice and authentic seemingly genuine style of performance. He was damn good. Memorable and inspiring. We met ever so briefly, exchanged a few pleasantries and both went on to “the next gig.”
Later that year or maybe the next year Sean went out of his way in my estimation and tried to get in contact with my then booking agent about flying me up to Montana to play a song I had sung at the song swap for his wedding! We never were able to make it happen, but maybe a year later I was desperately trying to expand my fan base outside of Texas, and either my agent contacted Sean again, or Sean contacted her about doing a short duo-acoustic songswap "Sean & Plank” tour in Montana.
I was flattered and excited. When someone offers to help me build in a new area, and you are as unknown as I was then and still am in most places, I choose to take it as a gift. A big gift. It’s like the two opening slots I did for Eilen Jewell in the PNW a few weeks ago and the Ruthie Foster gigs I opened last week in Texas - they are handing me on a platter some of the audience and connections they have worked very hard for (as long as I flow through with a great performance). As Ray Wylie Hubbard told me a long time ago when I was trying to figure out some way to pay back someone who had gone out of their way to help me, “Aw Jeff, just be gracious and grateful.” I still think of that often and quite a bit of other tips he taught me. After all he is the Wylie Llama.
So I fly up to Montana and get picked up by Sean at maybe the Bozeman Airport in his white conversion van. I can’t tell you how many white conversion vans there are shuffling from gig to gig around the U.S. and elsewhere at any given moment, but I can tell you it’s probably in the hundreds.
Soon after we started our travels together I came to find out that the song that Sean was hoping I would play at his wedding, was actually a cover. A song called “Walking In The Sun.” No, it wasn’t “Walking On The Sun,” by Smashmouth. Walking in the sun, by Jeff Barry. Jeff Barry wrote a lot of hits. The version I first heard was done by Percy Sledge, and I thought until just recently his was the first recording. Turns out the second version I heard a few years later was the first version recorded, by a funk band I have always loved called Rufus, featuring the great Chaka Khan. It was difficult and a shock to Sean that I covered the song. He assumed I would only play songs I had written in a songswap, so he thought it was my composition. He didn’t take into account how insecure I was about my own songwriting at that time (and kind of still am), so I would throw in an occasional lesser-known cover I had recorded on my new aforementioned album.
Back on this tour, my first in Montana, we only had about 4 gigs I think, same amount I will be having on this run starting Thursday. I have found it hard to break in to markets like Missoula with the big clubs, but most of the other towns have smaller venues and have welcomed me with open arms. So four gigs will usually cover it despite the size of the state (I mean, it’s not as big as Texas).
One of the gigs in particular was what we call in the veteran-of-music world a “booking coup.” Everyone had good intentions, promoter and performers did their job and plugged the gig well in publications and on social media, but the crowd was light. Like, really light. Like, “barely out numbered the band” light. 1 out of 4 ain’t bad on a run in a new market. You gotta roll with it. No big deal. Besides, I was having a blast getting to know Sean and his songs. Still very happy to traipsing along the beautiful and mountainous countryside making music and making friends. In the long run I was more than happy to have one gig be less than spectacular.
After the “booking coup” we were on our way out of Red Lodge, and Sean got a wild hair. “Hey man, you mind if we stop on the way out of town? I think you should meet Jimmy.”
“Sure. Who’s Jimmy? You’re the engineer on this choo-choo ride we’re on.”
“Jimmy Kujula. He owns and runs an internet radio station and venue out of his home. Jimmy’s Roadhouse.”
“I like it.” We were there in maybe 10 minutes, and pulled up to a lovely and modest home on a maybe an acre or two with three ***outboard*** buildings. One is a little casita affectionately known as the “love shack” which I now stay in every time I come to Jimmy and Lauri’s (despite the name that does not inspire confidence). The other two large more industrial buildings, maybe the size of a hanger for a turboprop or two. The one closest to the house is where the radio station and the venue live.
I can’t remember if Sean even called Jimmy to tell him we were coming. All I remember is that moments after meeting me Jimmy said, “you fellas want to go on air?” Then truthfully the first get-to-know moments I had with him were live in interview on musicranchradio.com chatting and playing. How cool is that?
I think we stayed on air for about an hour. Laughing, playing music, sharing stories, and in general having a grand time. Jimmy and I stayed in touch and later I would come back to play Jimmy’s Roadhouse by myself, and if memory serves me correctly I’ve sold out his 40-or-so seat venue the last 3 times I’ve been there to perform. I’ll be playing there this week on Saturday night, and we are sold out once again, just a few months later than the last time I was there! Check out Jimmy’s radio station and if you live or are ever near Red Lodge, MT get a ticket and go see and hear someone at Jimmy’s Roadhouse. Man, Jimmy’s just the best. Music loving, promoting, mentoring, and fostering son-of-a-gun. Jimmy and Lauri have become dear friends and I look forward to seeing them as often as I can.
So I have Sean to thank for that whole relationship, and a lot more gigs, and more. Sean and I will also be playing together for a second time at The Attic in Livingston, MT this week. The first gig on my run and the only one we’ll be together, at a place we played on that original only a handful of years ago. The Attic is a beautiful venue with world-class staff and sound. The other two gigs on this run will be in Cody, WY and Billings, MT. In Cody I’ll be at yet another venue Sean recommended to me but I have yet to play called The Colonel Venue and Lounge. I had a really great interview last Monday morning on bighornradio.com with another DJ named Mac Watson, and if anyone in Cody is a nice as he is, I’ll be having a blast there. The last gig on the run will be in Billings, MT at Craft Local. Jimmy also told me about this spectacular new venue right before my last trip to Montana. He got my agent in contact with them and a young lady with great love of music who also is quite obviously fostering the musical community there named Stephanie Beckett (marketing manager and event coordinator) who also helps run the venue. My very first gig there was a big success and I’ll close out this run and my final gig this year will be there in Billings early on a Sunday evening.
You see how this works friends and neighbors? Sean Devine, a stellar songwriter himself, much more accomplished and at it for much longer than I, was moved by a cover song I did when he was visiting Austin while we were performing in a songswap at SXSW shortly after my solo career had begun. Through him setting up our first tour, his continued help for years since, and him introducing me to Jimmy I’ve been able to play Montana regularly and begin to expand into Cody, WY. Through him introducing me to Jimmy that day and us all hitting it off and having a great afternoon, I have regular airplay on an esteemed internet radio station and a killer venue to play every time I come to Montana! Then through Jimmy I’ve met countless people I haven’t even begun to mention who help spread the word when I’m up there.
I could tell you dozens of stories of people like this all around the world. Music lovers and concert goers. Lovers of the craft of songwriting and performing. Promoters, folks who run house concerts, dj’s, and just great fans who give you the most precious gifts, not asking for anything in return except that you write and record the best music you can and play your heart out when they come to see you.
I try my best to pay it forward to Sean, Jimmy, and these many others because I can rarely pay back the people who have helped me. You may see Sean Devine sitting in with The Resentments or the Purgatory Players in Austin or at a house concert or venue I have recommended, but he’s there because he deserves those gigs and performance opportunities. I may be able to tell other acts I know personally or that my agent books to go play Jimmy’s because it’s a gas and get him an act or two he didn’t have a line on. None of that will ever scratch the surface of what these fellas have done for me. Pretty sure they do it all the time. Montana is full of great writers and performers, and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot more of them. Hopefully Sean and I will finally get to sit down and write a song together this trip.
I live a charmed life, I know it. Color me gracious and grateful.
See you in Montana and Wyoming this week for my last dates of 2022!
The Attic Montana
Thu, Dec 8 @ 8:00PM
The Attic Montana, Livingston, MT
Plank (solo) co-bill/song-swap with his buddy Sean Devine in Livingston! Tickets are $15 for this 21+ ages show. Doors open at 7pm, they start performing at 8pm. Get your tickets now...
The Colonel Venue and Cigar Lounge
Fri, Dec 9 @ 8:30PM
The Colonel Venue and Cigar Lounge, Cody, WY
Plank's solo tour of Montana/Wyoming tour continues! Tonight in Cody. Tickets are $5 for this 21+ ages show. Jeff begins performing at 8:30pm.
Tune in to Big Horn Radio on the morning of this show (12.9) at 8:15 to hear an interview & acoustic performance preview of tonight's fun...
Jimmy's Roadhouse
Sat, Dec 10 @ 7:00PM
Jimmy's Roadhouse, Red Lodge, MT
Plank returns for another performance Jimmy's! Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show. Jeff begins performing at 7pm. THANK YOU ALL, this show is SOLD OUT!
Jeff Plankenhorn @ Sun, Dec 11 @ 8:00PM
Jeff returns to Billings & Craft Local. Doors open at 7pm, 8pm solo show. Tickets a mere $5, all ages show...
McCabe's Guitar Shop
Fri, Feb 17, 2023 @ 8:00PM
McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA
Jeff opens for Phil Salazar at McCabe's! Tickets are $22 (+$4.75 ticketing fee) for this all ages show. Doors open at 7:30pm, Jeff (solo) begins his performance at 8pm. Get your tix now, will be a sold out show!
Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe
Thu, Mar 9, 2023 @ 8:30PM