Nowhere with You: The East Coast Anthems of Joel Plaskett, The Emergency and Thrush Hermit

(Paperback, No Edition)

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A celebration of a beloved Canadian icon, featuring dozens of original interviews and exclusive photos

Joel Plaskett has earned an awful lot of honourifics in his career so far, counting folk hero, indie darling, and national treasure among them. And thats just since the Halifax musician started making records of his own in 1999. For a decade before that, he was one-quarter of Thrush Hermit, a band of scrappy Superchunk disciples who became hard-rock revivalists and one of the last survivors of the 90s pop explosion of major-label interest in Halifax.

Canadas east coast has never been much of a pop-culture mecca. Most musicians from the region whove ever made it big moved away. But armed with a stubborn streak and a knack for great songwriting, Plaskett has kept Halifax as his home, building both a career and a music community there. Along the way, hes earned great respect: when he plays shows in Alberta, east-coast expats literally thank him for staying home.

Nowhere with You is the study of how he pulled this off, from the origins of Canadas east-coast exodus to Plasketts anointment as Halifaxs Rick Rubin. Its a story about what happens when you call a city the new Seattle, about the lessons you learn playing to empty rooms in Oklahoma, and about defying radio-single expectations with rock operas and triple records. Its about doing what you want, where you want, no matter how much work it takes.

Reviews

Author Josh OKane has lovingly created a well-researched story of the life, the lore, and the passion behind Joel Plaskett, a truly great Canadian artist. Nowhere with You is an inspiring read in many ways. Its a book about song, place, collective and solo music experiences, career defiance, and believing in yourself and your community. As I read the last chapter with a tear in my eye, I had to drop the needle on Joels latest slab of wax, which is a celebration of Plasketts career so far, just like this book. Grant Lawrence, CBC personality and author of Adventures in Solitude
Nowhere with You is as eager, ambitious, and warm as Plasketts music itself, serving not only as an essential archive to date of one of our countrys all-time talents, but of a time and, more importantly, a place, in Canadian music. Nicole Villeneuve, Editor at AUX.TV
Canadians love to talk about our great storytellers of the past when we have one walking amongst us today. Joel is as deft with words as he is with emotion. He is as truthful, funny and brilliant as any who have come before him. Any opportunity to learn a little about Joel is one that is not to be missed. George Stroumboulopoulos
A lovely book. Worthy of the CanRock literary canon and then some. Dave Bidini, member of Rheostatics and author of On a Cold Road and Writing Gordon Lightfoot
Well-paced, comprehensive and extensively researched More than a biographical account, Nowhere With You is a meditation on roots and community. Globe and Mail
For any fan of Plasketts, Nowhere With You is simply a must-read. Winnipeg Free Press
An exemplary rock'n'roll biography, perfectly tracing the timeline of Plaskett's rise up the ranks of Canadiana while also offering up enough unknown tidbits to surprise even the most well-informed supporters and historians of East coast indie rock. Exclaim
OKanes familiarity with the scene and the general excitement around the East Coast at that time anchors his narrative, but even more enjoyable is his palpable enthusiasm for the music he documents OKanes research is thorough: his detailed account of much of Plasketts catalogue is amplified by interviews with members of Plasketts bands, his family, and Plaskett himself, creating a full picture of a life lived through music. National Post

Author Bio

Josh OKane is a staff reporter with the Globe and Mail. He has previously written for the Telegraph-Journal, Toronto Star, Exclaim!, and New Brunswicks Here Magazine. He grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, but, like thousands of Maritimers before him, now lives in Toronto.