Ruarri Joseph announces UK tour 2013

Ruarri Joseph returns this Spring with the release of his new album ‘Brother’ on March 25 through Warner Label Services.  The record, Ruarri’s fourth studio album to date, is preceded by the release of a new single ‘Until The Luck Runs Dry’ on March 18.  Ruarri will tour the UK in support, including St Pancras Old Church on Thursday, 7 February.

‘Brother’ is a record inspired and propelled by ideas of friendship, relationships and family. From a young age, Ruarri Joseph has held family close to heart. He became a father at the age of just 19, but rather than becoming overwhelmed by the responsibilities of a young family, Ruarri instead felt spurred to pursue his passion for music (as well as inspiring him to relocate to Cornwall’s coast to settle well away from city life in Deptford.) “Being a young dad was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. If you need something to focus and ground you…have children.”

Now himself having just approached 30, this notion of family is one that beats strongly at the heart of ‘Brother’. For Joseph, the single word of the title symbolizes “companionship, community and closeness.” Building on the themes of his previous album, ‘Brother’ is largely informed by the loss of a close friend who passed away in 2010, and the sense of strengthened friendships that 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 at his wake, Last Waltz style.”  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 communal record for us all to sing to. “Brother isn’t an elegy. It’s a celebration”. 

Originally born in Edinburgh, the nomadic Joseph found his song-writing roots in the Southwestern Pacific. A move to New Zealand followed his parents’ divorce, and the young Ruarri found himself coming of age in Dannevirke (population 6,000), an isolated, rural farming community. At 17 Joseph packed his suitcase and moved back to the UK and settled in London, where he met his future wife.   At 25 Joseph released his debut album ‘Tales Of Grime and Grit’ through Atlantic Records, and shortly after leaving Atlantic in favour of independence in 2008, he formed his own label ‘Pip Productions’ through which his subsequent two LPs were released.  ‘Brother’ will be Ruarri’s first album since his debut to be released through Warner Music.

UK Live Dates:
Thurs 7 Feb                  St Pancras Old Church, London                          Sun 10 March                  Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Sat 9 Feb                      Farnham Maltings, Surrey                                    Wed 13 March                

  The Cellars, Eastney

Sun 10 Feb                  The Latest Bar, Brighton                                       Thu 14 March                 

 The Vic, Swindon

Sat 23 Feb                  The Junction 2, Cambridge                                    Fri 15 March               

   The Prince Albert, Stroud

Sun 24 Feb                  The Bicycle Shop, Norwich                                    Sun 17 Mar                  Dorchester Arts, Dorchester

Wed 27 Feb                  The Cookie Jar, Leicester                                    Thu 21 Mar               

   Chapel Arts Centre, Bath

Thu 28 Feb                  The Greystones, Sheffield                                    Fri 22 Mar                

  The Stables, Milton Keynes

Fri 1 March                  The Met, Bury                                                      Sat 23 Mar                 

 The Jericho, Oxford

Thu 7 March                  Fibbers, Yorkshire                                             Mon 25 Mar                  

The Half Moon, Putney

Fri 8 March                  Medicine Bar, Middlesborough                          Fri 29 Mar                

  Jolly Farmer,Newton Abbey