J. Plank
J. Plank (Jeff Plankenhorn) is a BC-based, internationally touring singer-songwriter and master of the
lap steel guitar, known for soulful vocals, tasty instrumental work, dynamic stagecraft, and a sound
that bridges blues, roots, folk and soul. After honing his trade as a sought-after and award-winning
Austin session musician with artists like Ruthie Foster, Joe Ely, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jimmy Lafave,
Plank launched his solo career in earnest with his 2016 album Soulslide.
His 2023 album Alone At Sea, produced by Colin Linden, was praised for its “folk singers’ poetic
sensibilities with a razor sharp melody and an arrangement that will send a shiver down your spine
the first time you hear it” and songs that “chime and ring with richly melodic guitars as they draw
upon Plankenhorn’s natural charm as a singer”
.
In 2025 he released The Bend, a stripped-down solo acoustic album recorded on the Texas coast,
showcasing his voice, lap steel, acoustic guitar, and piano. His next release is a high-energy blues
roots album recorded half in the Netherlands with a band called The Southern Aces (from the south
of Holland!) and half back in Texas. The album blends live-off-the-floor energy with wizardly guitar
playing, innovative songwriting, and, most of all, deep groove and features guest appearances from
some of Plank’s favourite musical colleagues.
Plank shines on festival stages with his own sets, leading song-swaps and workshops, and sitting in
with other performers. He leads songwriting workshops at a variety of levels, and also has a growing
resume as a producer.
At home on Vancouver Island, Plank hosts a concert series called Ramble at the Big Yellow Hall
inspired by Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble where Plank and his house band back up and collaborate
with guest artists from local emerging talents to regional mainstays and guest headliners. For Plank,
music is about bringing people together — whether biker or drag queen, listener or dancer — to
share in the joy and connection that only a great song can deliver.
