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Artist Bio

In 2026, the Joel Plaskett Emergency celebrates 20 years of rollin’ and rockin’ in their current incarnation—Plaskett himself on guitar, Dave Marsh on drums, and Chris Pennell on bass. They’ve marked the occasion with “Fill In the Blanks,” a strutting ’70s-style riff-rocker with playful lyrics subtly inspired by the theory of “hot” and “cool” media established by influential Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan. “I was imagining April Wine jamming with Steve Miller but then Dave and Chris took it to Portland Street like they always do,” says Joel. The raucous tune looks back fondly on life before attention-hijacking and encourages listeners to embrace the mystery and participate in the moment as Plaskett winkingly withholds words from its punchy chorus.

It’s a fitting new track for a songwriter and band who continue to deliver their message through analog mediums and spontaneous performances. Throughout their 20+ years, the Emergency has remained committed to the unvarnished push-and-pull that makes their trio so compelling.

The story of the band begins in fall of 1998, when Joel asked Tracy Stevens, Andrew Glencross, and former members of Superfriendz, Charles Austin and Dave Marsh, to join “The Emergency Band” to play shows featuring songs from his upcoming solo debut, In Need of Medical Attention. When the album dropped in fall of ’99, the band drove through a torrential hurricane to New York City in Joel’s enormous ’69 Pontiac Parisienne to perform at CMJ, marking the first of many miles to be clocked by the band.

As Joel worked up new songs at the millennium’s end and Thrush Hermit played their final shows, his musical connection with Dave, an experienced and mercurial drummer, grew stronger. In early 2000, the Emergency scaled down to a lean three-piece and Dave’s former Blackpool bandmate, Tim Brennan, joined on bass guitar. Working up the new material on the third floor of the historic Khyber building in Halifax, “The J.P.E.” soon recorded their reverberant debut, Down at the Khyber. The album brought them press accolades and tours in the U.K., and they dug in, crossing Canada multiple times in Plaskett’s 1995 Chevy Suburban to cut their teeth on stage and build an audience.

In 2003, they followed up with the more polished and punchy Truthfully, Truthfully, featuring songs like “Work Out Fine” and “Extraordinary,” which remain fan favourites to this day. Shortly after the album’s release, Tim Brennan bowed out to teach photography at art school.

By 2004, Khyber and Truthfully co-producer—and Joel’s former Thrush Hermit bandmate—Ian McGettigan had taken up bass duties, and the Emergency set out for a tour with The Tragically Hip in arenas across Canada, firmly solidifying their reputation as a hard-swinging, dynamic live band. The band recorded the Make A Little Noise EP in 2005 with Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson in the producer’s chair, and the effort yielded the Top 40 hit “Nowhere With You.” After an epic New Year’s Eve show at Halifax’s Marquee Club, Ian moved on to pursue his work with Camouflage Nights, and Joel and Dave were once again in search of a bass player who could ground their guitar-and-drum entanglement.

One evening in early 2006, Joel found himself in a cab with their future bass player at the wheel. Chris Pennell, who had been gigging locally for years with the band Slight Return, expressed interest and scored an audition. Once Dave found him a suitable nickname, Chris “The Elk” Pennell settled in to hold down the centre, and the band went on to make their most successful record to date—2007’s teenage love-triangle rock opera, Ashtray Rock.

The Emergency wrapped 2008 with a six-show run at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern, and over the next few years travelled the U.S. in support of The Hip, toured Australia, opened for Paul McCartney in Halifax, and headlined Massey Hall.

In 2012, the Emergency embarked on Scrappy Happiness, their most ambitious and in-the-moment album project: recording and releasing a song a week for 10 weeks. While the approach harkened back to the quick-turnaround singles of the ’50s and ’60s, it also foreshadowed the speed and immediacy at which the digital world now moves. The album’s fierce and lyrical opening track, “Lightning Bolt,” quickly became a live-show staple and a testament to the band’s electric alchemy.

While Joel’s solo and collaborative musical endeavours have run the gamut over the years, his performances and recordings with the Emergency remain a uniquely recognizable group effort that has garnered a diehard audience and many awards and nominations—including recognition from the Junos, Polaris, CBC, ECMA, Music Nova Scotia, and more.

With nearly three decades of odometers rolling, the Joel Plaskett Emergency remains a Nova Scotia band whose joyful energy has rocked the corners of Canada, from Newfoundland and Labrador to Iqaluit and Dawson City. “Fill In the Blanks” is out now, and the band returns to select festival stages this summer.