J. Plank

Friday, October 23, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. PDT

St. Paul's United Church, 2410 Malaview Avenue, Sidney, BC

Published by Seaside Music Festival

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 c