About this Event

Tickets: £8

Doors: 7.30pm

Ages: 18+



That idea of family is one that beats strongly at the heart of Joseph’s newest album, Brother. For Joseph, the single word of the title symbolizes “companionship, community and closeness.” It marks a gentler, more thoughtful turn than Shoulder To The Wheel, informed in large part by the loss of a close family friend who passed away in 2010, leaving behind a young son and a pregnant wife. “He was a great guy, and a great songwriter. His death was a wake up call for me; it made me re-evaluate my life and what I wanted. I actually got a bit cross with myself because I realised I’d contained myself into this tiny bubble, and it made me want to get out and reconnect with the world.” Out of the first tentative sessions on his guitar following his friend’s death, sketches of songs began to unfold, meditations inspired by the bravery of his friend’s widow, and the sense of strengthened friendships that had bloomed out of their community’s collective grieving. “A bunch of our mutual musician friends got together to learn his songs and songs he loved and we all got on stage and played together at his wake.” It was after this tender send-off that Joseph realized the next album would be a group effort. “I worked with a band on this album, rather than doing it alone. I wanted Brother to be a record that lots of people could sing to.”



The first song to emerge, Till The Luck Runs Dry, turned out as an ode to optimism. “It’s about just getting on with it. Every day, it’s pure luck that we’re here.” The boot-heels-readied, gently determined stance of that song is a motif continued throughout Brother, being not so much a wallowing exercise in grieving and loss, but rather a reflective, onwards-looking meditation on “the stuff that happens once the grief subsides,” the friendships forged and the love and memories that carry you through the heartache. There’s a light, bluesy Americana at work on No More Sins, with tambourines and plucky banjos embellishing songs such as Mad World Waiting and the slow waltz of The April Spin, songs that sing of closure, hope and the healthy ache that comes with healing. It’s a journey that reaches its cathartic peak on the uplifting bridge of Anyway, in a crescendo of fluttering cymbals, soaring strings and life-affirming lyrics, before dipping gracefully into the album’s thoughtful, piano-driven eponymous endsong. “Brother isn’t an elegy,” says Ruarri with a smile. “It’s a celebration."



The BOILEROOM

13 Stoke Fields

Guildford

Surrey

GU1 4LS

01483 440022

www.theboileroom.net