Robb Johnson plays a special launch gig for his wonderful Gentle Men tonight at Sheffield Library Theatre with help from Jude Abbott, Roy Bailey, Jenny Carr, John Forrester and Barb Jungr all of whom feature on the new recording of this moving and ambitious work, which comes in a special limited edition hard back book set.
This is a personal family history, originally released 16 years ago and now updated and rerecorded to quite stunning effect.
As Robb says, “Gentle Men is a family history of The War To End All Wars, and the century that followed. I wanted to show my grandfathers as people with lives either side of the war, not just as victims in uniform. They had aspirations, expectations, different lives, sunnier lives perhaps before 1914, and although both survived the war, both of them were forever in its shadow. And I wanted to state in solidarity with all the Erns and Harrys who never came back, that each one of the dead was equally a unique individual with an own story worth the telling, and with as much to offer, and as much to lose.”
‘It’s a wonderful mixture of the political and personal that stretches over their entire lives as young men, soldiers in the trenches, working in the 30s, eventually becoming fathers and grandfathers. A really moving piece of work.’ Billy Bragg
Gentle Men Tabernacle Gig 7 Nov 2013
Thursday 5th December, 7:30 pm
The Sheffield Library Theatre, Central Library, Surrey Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 1XZ (map)
Gentle Men album launch
Tickets £14 / £12 concessions (box office 0114 249 6000)
With Jude Abbott, Roy Bailey, Jenny Carr, John Forrester and Barb Jungr