As always you can find my upcoming tour dates, in the pacific northwest and more, below with links to info and tickets
and you can join my patreon for new music from me every month and more content and livestreams at patreon.com/jeffplankenhorn
Well I’ve completed another tour (albeit a short “mini-tour”) and my heart is full. Montana is a big and beautiful state full of music lovers, stellar venues, and genuinely unique inhabitants. As someone who fancies himself as having the gift of gab that often becomes more of a curse than a blessing, the storytelling nature of conversation with these fine folks often gives me a fighting chance to shut up and listen. Sean Devine (fellow songwriter and troubadour who first brought me to this region to play some duo gigs with him and to whom I am eternally grateful) tells me, “we spend a lot of time alone up here Plank. Sometimes we get a little long-winded. Especially when we haven’t seen anyone for a while.” I love my long conversations with Montanans. I have a long list of people to thank for this tour, but I’m going to try to thank them all personally and move on to the business at hand.
That would be the business, or rather the enjoyable pastime listening to music.
I spent one night in Bozeman at the home of a gentleman named Kurtis to save money on hotels. That’s something I hardly ever do. I need space on the road, and sometimes a friendly Motel 6 is all I need if I can’t spring for the Marriot Courtyard. But I know this feller and I was looking forward to it. Kurtis is old school Montana and happens to be the proprietor of a well known and well loved restaurant there in “The Bozone.” I still don’t know anyone who calls it that. I naively offered to buy him and his gal breakfast the morning before I had to drive off to Red Lodge. He stated the glaringly obvious truth that I mistakenly missed — that he spends so much of his life in a restaurant that the absolute last thing he would want to do is go to one. He proceeded to cook me breakfast the next morning of biscuits and gravy that was out of this world, and some delicious skillet potatoes. He offered ketchup and/or hot sauce. Usually I opt for the latter. Neither were needed. Heaven on the road.
The reason I’m relating that story to my situation is that many of my performing and wandering minstrels prefer not going to see music very often, and even veering away from listening to music while traveling through the air or riding or driving town to town. With more than 40 years of performing, and more than 30 logged on the road I spend enough time in clubs, theaters, and even a fair share of festivals now. I spend enough time writing, recording, and (not as much as I used to as a sideman) learning other people’s tunes. Often the preferred auditory choices for traveling musicians such as myself consist of books on tape à la Audible, podcasts, or even the occasional stand-up comedian set or album.
I often find myself not listening to music enough. I love finding out about new music, and I also love listening to music of the past that somehow I “missed the boat” on discovering when it was originally released. I needed new inspiration. I was about to get it — and then some.
I had about 11 hours of travel time with layovers and flying to Montana from Vancouver Island on Wednesday August 17th, with gigs starting on the 18th, and I had free messaging available on my flight from Denver (what a great connection from Vancouver Island!) into Billings, MT. To split up the 7&1/2 hours of driving I had to get to Whitefish on Thursday night for my first gig, I opted to drive two hours to a little town called Hobson and lay my weary head to rest at The Stumble Inn. I may use that name someday. I do love a good double entendre.
Back on the airplane — I was about 15 minutes from landing, and it wasn’t too late so I started texting a bunch of my friends to get some driving entertainment of the musical variety. Here’s what the generic message I sent out to them said:
“Hey ____. I’m gonna drive a bunch this week. Instead of books on tape, I want music. Asking all my peeps to recommend one album. Any genre, any time period. What you got?”
I randomly chose the people I texted. Could have asked a lot more friends but these were just the first that came to mind for some reason. I expected only a few responses, but they quickly came rolling in like a lovely musical waterfall. Everyone seemed excited to “hip” me to something they loved.
Here’s a list of what came in within about 12 hours:
Sender Artist Album
Ruthie Foster Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones
Matt The Electrician Devon Sproule I Love You, Go Easy
Kevin Russell Link Wray Link Wray
Ray Prim UGK Ridin’ Dirty
BettySoo Kacy & Clayton Plastic Bouquet
Jake Carrington Howlin’ Wolf The Howlin’ Wolf Album
Bruce Hughes Crack The Sky Crack The Sky
Michael O’Connor Elton John Rock Of The Westies
Gabriel Rhodes ELO Alone In The Universe
Dallas Carrie Weather Report Heavy Weather
Scrappy Jud Newcomb Little Stephen Soulfire
Doug Cox Thomas Dolby The Flat Earth
Rick May Mae Moore Dragonfly
Phil Wipper The Wood Brothers The Muse
Hayden Lindsey Cast Iron Filter Paradise In Palestine
Again, these were just the first people who popped into my noogin’ to ask. Some of these albums I have never heard. Some of these albums I have played so many times I know every beat, note, and lyric. Some of these were sort of in the middle so-to-speak. Every one of them has something to offer.
As a songwriter and player I abhor pigeonholing music. Against my better judgement, but in order to exemplify the eclectic and varied tastes of my friends and musical cohorts I want to tell you the many genres represented here. There’s jazz fusion, newgrass, hip-hop, classic and anthem rock, very early techno, songwriter, americana, psychedelic blues-funk, and things I’m probably mis-labeling and forgetting.
With a little over 1,000 miles of driving this trip, I was able to listen to all but 4 of these albums all the way through (some more than once Link Wray thanks Kevin) and 2 of them I only got a few songs into. I also stumbled onto the John Lennon album Mind Games when one of the streaming services was on continuous play and suggested it by playing a tune. That was cool. I really wasn’t too aware of that record.
I did actually listen to a few podcats. Sodajerker on songwriting (the episode with Any Partridge of XTC is brilliant), the Bob Lefsetz Podcast (thank you Scrappy), NPR Up First, The Making Sense Podcast with Sam Harris, and some chapters of Eckart Tolle and Morgan Housel on audible. Of course when driving through Glacier National Park, by Swan Lake on the way to Bozeman, and my favorite 15 miles on the way south into Red Lodge, I turned it all off. Sometimes you just have to listen to the music in your mind, or take in the scenery.
All in all, this was a very cool and inspiring experience. It kept me alert, happy, singing at the top of my lungs (not always great before a gig but oh well), and jamming along and dancing in my rental car for 5 days straight. If you love being exposed to new music, whether new to you or just plain new, then I encourage you to ask your friends, coworkers, and families to suggest one album, and see what they come up with!
I love my friends, family, and my musical community. Thank you all. Come and check me out at one of the shows below and I may just cover one of these artists…
Plank
AUG 28 SUN Hosting Blues Jam at The Queens @ 4:00pmNanaimo, BC, Canada
SEP 1 THU Plank solo at The Plaid Pig @ 9:00pmTacoma, WA, United States
SEP 2 FRI Plank solo at Brewminatti @ 7:00pmProsser, WA, United States
SEP 3 SAT House Concert Sisters, OR @ 6:30pmSisters, OR, United States
SEP 4 SUN Plank solo at The Commons Cafe @ 7:00pmBend, OR, United States
SEP 11 SUN Plank solo at Rainshadow Recording Studio @ 7:30pmPort Townsend, WA, United States
SEP 23 FRI Plank solo return to Bez Arts Hub! @ 7:00pmTownship Of Langley, BC, Canada
SEP 29 THU Plank's solo return to Natalie's @ 7:00pmWorthington, OH, United States
OCT 4 TUE Plank in Toronto! @ 7:30pmToronto, ON, Canada
OCT 5 WED Plank in Buffalo! @ 8:00pmBuffalo, NY, United States
OCT 6 THU House Concert sponsored by Bop Shop Records! @ 7:00pmRochester, NY, United StatesVIP
OCT 7 FRI Plank show w/Neil Minet, Raedwald Howland-Bolton opening @ 8:00pmSyracuse, NY, United States
OCT 9 SUN Plank at Southgate House Revival Room! @ 9:00pmNewport, KY, United States
OCT 14 FRI Plank Trio Victoria, BC @ 7:30pmVictoria, BC, Canada
OCT 30 SUN Plank's Trio at Gruene Hall! @ 1:00pmNew Braunfels, TX, United States
NOV 4 FRI Plank's Power Trio - Saxon Pub @ 8:00pmAustin, TX, United States
NOV 5 SAT Plank in The Woodlands! @ 8:00pmThe Woodlands, TX, United States