Following our recent recap of one of the singer-songwriter workshops at the 2025 Peterborough Folk Festival, I made sure to acknowledge that bringing artists together on these smaller stages often leads to some magical, once-in-a-lifetime moments. So, when a perfect opportunity to reconnect two artist friends presents itself, why not capitalize on it, right?
The artistic team at the Peterborough Folk Festival are a savvy bunch, and clearly knew that once they had locked in Dartmouth, NS singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett as one of their headlining acts, why not reunite Joel with his good friend (and local artist) Benj Rowland for a 45-minute collaboration on the Generation Solar stage for an early afternoon workshop. Yes, this pairing was too good of an opportunity to miss, and as fans of both artists, proved to be one of the highlights of this year’s festival experience.
“Hey, we’re gonna wing it for 45 minutes and see what happens,” Joel jokingly announced once both artists were given the green light to commence their set. “We’ve played music together, but not in a long time, so let’s see what happens.” Rewind the clock back to early 2017 where we recall attending a show from Joel’s “Solidarity” tour (promoting the album released as a collaboration with his father Bill Plaskett), and fuzz-folk duo The Mayhemingways (Josh Fewings and Benj Rowland) were part of Joel’s touring band (we caught the show that preceded their Massey Hall event in Toronto). Yes, as Joel stated here and now, it has been “a long time,” for us, indeed.
Going with the standard “in-the-round” format often synonymous with these workshops, both artists would rotate their leads respectively, but rather than simply observe the other, instead collaborated and jammed collectively on every song. “Benj and I, we’ve made music together, we’ve toured together, we’ve made a record together of his, and he came out on the road with me and my dad with the Mayhemingways,” Joel would later share. “And we have a kinship over four stringed instruments and eight stringed instruments, so we’re gonna lean into the tenor guitars and bouzouki’s and what not, tonight.”
Benj would lead off the set with “Ballad Of The Pig’s Ear” (the name of a popular tavern in Peterborough), with Joel adding instrumentation and harmonies, and clearly enjoying spending time with his friend once more. “I’m not that sentimental about playing one last show / Where the sound sucks and the cover’s low,” Benj would sing. “Where the bass it turns to treble, and the cover’s always low / Let’s not get sentimental about playing one last show.” And as Benj brought this opening song to a close, Joel would share a sentimental moment of his own, stating “it was a little bit, there,” before inviting Benj to accompany him on his popular song “Happen Now.”
“We don’t know what we’re doing exactly, so we’re just making it up,” Joel would joke during a moment where additional time was needed to retune their instruments. “This is a little tune from my triple record called ‘tuning, tuning, tuning’ that we’re playing for you now.” Once ready to roll, Benj opted to perform a jig. “This is kind of a new song that I’m gonna try,” he shared. “It’s written after an Irish writer, have you heard this, ‘the winners make the history books, the losers write the songs?’.” “That’s pretty good, is that the name of the song?” Joel asked. “Yeah, so I stole that line and made a song of it,” Benj replied.
Inspired by this sharing of new music, Joel took time to do the same. “I’ve been taking a class online on and off with a guy named Andrew McLuhan, who is Marshall McLuhan’s grandson, about Marshall McLuhan’s ‘Understanding Media’ book from 1964, which kind of saw the future really, in many respects,” Joel offered. “Chapter 2 of that book was an assignment and was called Hot and Cool Media. Anyway, this is what I submitted for my assignment … it’s a love song inspired by Chapter 2 of Marshall McLuhan’s ‘Understanding Media,’ the premise being hot and cold media. Hot media is like your cell phone, everything coming at you all at once. It’s explicit, it’s full on, you have to step away to absorb it all. And then a cooler medium will be like a black and white movie, where it will be a little more implicit, lower definition, you have to fill in the blanks. Like this song…”
Following an impressive nine-minute medley that sandwiched Plaskett’s “Absentminded Melody” between Rowland’s “Accident” and “Mountain Road” – with no pauses or awkward shifts, time was quickly winding down and allowed the duo one last number to close the show. And with their unanimous agreement, they went all out to deliver an amazing, lively rendition of Joel’s popular hit “Rollin, Rollin, Rollin’.” What a fun set – and here’s hoping that several years do not have to pass before these two talented musicians and friends can share a stage and their musical magic again.
Set List:
- Ballad Of The Pig’s Ear – Benj Rowland
- Happen Now – Joel Plaskett
- Hunter St. Blues – Benj Rowland
- Deny, Deny, Deny – Joel Plaskett
- Winners Make The History Books – Benj Rowland
- Fill In The Blanks – Joel Plaskett
- Accident / Absentminded Melody / Mountain Road (medley)
- Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’ – Joel Plaskett
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
