Joel Plaskett

For over three decades, Joel Plaskett has proven himself a spinning wheel of reinvention. The Nova Scotia songwriter's eclectic body of work reveals a restless and playful spirit, always transforming and expanding. While continuing to celebrate—and be celebrated for—his regional ties and embrace of East Coast musical traditions, Joel’s omnivorous appetite for new sonic horizons is an integral part of his work. His discography includes heavy riff epics, like Thrush Hermit's now-classic swansong Clayton Park (1999); low-fi and wide eyed solo records like In Need of Medical Attention (1999) and La De Da (2005); lean, loose and lyrical rock and roll with the Emergency on Down at the Khyber (2001) and Truthfully, Truthfully (2003); and a father-and-son nod to English folk traditions with Solidarity (2017). Then there are the endeavours that push the envelope further: the Emergency’s romantic epic concept album Ashtray Rock (2007); the months-long songwriting challenge Scrappy Happiness (2012); and Three (2009) and 44 (2020), Joel’s sprawling, multi-record ventures exploring love, loss, and existential investigation. For his latest release, the 4-track project One Real Reveal (2024), Plaskett strips his songwriting down to its raw materials, allowing everything in—all the human touches the tape could pick up—and letting (almost) everything out.