Edgars Rubenis / ADRA (Andrew DR Abbott)

Event information

We are very happy indeed to welcome back Latvian solo guitar wonder Edgars Rubenis after a very special gig he played in April.
Edgars explores the vitality of six stringed steel guitar finger-picking, particularly in early blues and ragtime traditions. Edgars writes seemingly old yet entirely new music – material that pays homage to the great originators of these styles and also dares to diverge at its own will.

Also playing is Andrew DR Abbott's ADRA project
ADRA, the solo project from Andy Abbott (That Fucking Tank, Nope), will release new album Music for Psychiatric Wards (and Fluid Structures) on 1st November via ADRA Records.

A beautiful collection of immersive soundscapes, Music for Psychiatric Wards (and Fluid Structures) is informed by the time Abbott worked as a Creative Practitioner in psychiatric wards in Yorkshire as part of a three-month NHS pilot scheme.

Working on wards for people with dementia and memory problems as well those who had been sectioned, Abbott would play music once a week for 6 hours a day, responding to the mood of the service users to shift the tone of the music he made in real time. “If it was a flat day, I may decide to do something a bit more upbeat or if it was a very chaotic day or people were very agitated, I would play ambient music to calm things down,” he says. He also created an Ambient Accessible Music Board for both staff and service users to play with, and encouraged collaboration within the ward, allowing for spontaneous jam sessions.

The resulting compositions that Abbott constructed as part of this project now make up a finished album: Music for Psychiatric Wards (and Fluid Structures). A beautiful record that is a varied yet engulfing collection of music that runs the gauntlet from immersive soundscapes to organ drones, and features the gentle plucks of baritone guitar, the ethereal chimes of a mbira and the hypnotic flurries of a steel pan drum.