Headfirst Editor's Pick
"Sell out warning! Like a delightfully broken Ben Webster, Alabaster dePlume's fragile, breathy saxophone playing is as immediately captivating as it is extraordinary. Expect delicate solo work, warm ensemble and spoken word in turmoil from the Mancunian's bitter tongue."
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A gig held at Strange Brew on Saturday 11th November. The event starts at 19:00.
Ear Trumpet Music Presents: Alabaster Deplume. Standing show (with some unreserved seats) at Strange Brew, 10-12 Fairfax St, BS1 3DB - Ages 14+ (Under 18's to be accompanied by a responsible adult)
Doors 7:00pm, Show 7:45pm, 10:00pm Event Ends
Gus Fairbairn, aka Alabaster DePlume, has a pocketful of phrases that he uses all the time whether he’s walking down the street or holding court with musicians and an audience. For a long time the Mancunian would tell anyone who’d listen that they were doing very well. More recently, it’s another phrase which has a similar effect and which belies his unwavering commitment to personal vulnerability and collective politics: “Don’t forget you’re precious.”
A process that is people-first not product-first ensures that the music is unique; often gem-like. Alabaster DePlume’s songs are built on sonorous circular melodies and luminous tones that transmit calmness and generosity in warm waves – unless they’re raging against complacency and the everyday inhumanity of end times capitalism. Most importantly, he brings a valuable transparency to his work. “This is what I’m really doing,” he says. “I want to talk about why I’m doing this, and how I’m doing this.”
Come With Fierce Grace is a collection of tracks drawn from the same sessions as Alabaster’s much-lauded double LP GOLD (which was a Pitchfork ‘Best New Music’ in April of 2022, and included in ‘Best Albums of 2022’ lists by NPR Music, Pitchfork, The Guardian and MOJO). Rather than a collection of B-sides, it's a continuation of the organic collaborative and improvisational process that he established... almost as if GOLD has grown a new limb or aged into a new phase.
Thick Richard.
Wordplay, well-crafted verse, and occasionally acerbic, well-targeted comic attacks have earned him much respect from artists and audiences from Edinburgh to Glastonbury.
He has supported acts including; Kate Tempest, The Fall, The Lovely Eggs, The Courteeners, Jerry Sadowitz, John Hegley, Arthur Smith and Frank Sidebottom. Thick Richard has been heard a number of times on BBC radio, including presenting and writing BBC 6 Music's Beat of the Day and performed live on the channel for National Poetry Day.
A regular headliner of Hammer and Tongue nationwide poetry tours and is usually to be found performing a wide variety of live music and cabaret venues. He has also had a sell out tour of his solo show “Swear School”
He has released 2 collections of his work with Flapjack Press, “Vaudavillain” 2017, “Read em and Weep” 2020 and was included in “NeurodiVERSE” a Flapjack Press anthology of neurodiverse writers.
“Thick Richard’s poems remind you of things you’d forgotten were true. His words are rattling and brilliant and shoot life back at you in all its futility and chaos and wonder.” - Kate Tempest- Poet https://eartrumpetmusic.co.uk
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
Doors 7:00pm, Show 7:45pm, 10:00pm Event Ends
Gus Fairbairn, aka Alabaster DePlume, has a pocketful of phrases that he uses all the time whether he’s walking down the street or holding court with musicians and an audience. For a long time the Mancunian would tell anyone who’d listen that they were doing very well. More recently, it’s another phrase which has a similar effect and which belies his unwavering commitment to personal vulnerability and collective politics: “Don’t forget you’re precious.”
A process that is people-first not product-first ensures that the music is unique; often gem-like. Alabaster DePlume’s songs are built on sonorous circular melodies and luminous tones that transmit calmness and generosity in warm waves – unless they’re raging against complacency and the everyday inhumanity of end times capitalism. Most importantly, he brings a valuable transparency to his work. “This is what I’m really doing,” he says. “I want to talk about why I’m doing this, and how I’m doing this.”
Come With Fierce Grace is a collection of tracks drawn from the same sessions as Alabaster’s much-lauded double LP GOLD (which was a Pitchfork ‘Best New Music’ in April of 2022, and included in ‘Best Albums of 2022’ lists by NPR Music, Pitchfork, The Guardian and MOJO). Rather than a collection of B-sides, it's a continuation of the organic collaborative and improvisational process that he established... almost as if GOLD has grown a new limb or aged into a new phase.
Thick Richard.
Wordplay, well-crafted verse, and occasionally acerbic, well-targeted comic attacks have earned him much respect from artists and audiences from Edinburgh to Glastonbury.
He has supported acts including; Kate Tempest, The Fall, The Lovely Eggs, The Courteeners, Jerry Sadowitz, John Hegley, Arthur Smith and Frank Sidebottom. Thick Richard has been heard a number of times on BBC radio, including presenting and writing BBC 6 Music's Beat of the Day and performed live on the channel for National Poetry Day.
A regular headliner of Hammer and Tongue nationwide poetry tours and is usually to be found performing a wide variety of live music and cabaret venues. He has also had a sell out tour of his solo show “Swear School”
He has released 2 collections of his work with Flapjack Press, “Vaudavillain” 2017, “Read em and Weep” 2020 and was included in “NeurodiVERSE” a Flapjack Press anthology of neurodiverse writers.
“Thick Richard’s poems remind you of things you’d forgotten were true. His words are rattling and brilliant and shoot life back at you in all its futility and chaos and wonder.” - Kate Tempest- Poet https://eartrumpetmusic.co.uk
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
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