SproutSpoken: Face The Music

A hearty helping of open-mic and music loveliness and a headline set from Tongue Fu's Chris Redmond.

SproutSpoken: Face the Music brings everything you’ve come to expect from a night out with SproutSpoken but this special night celebrates and showcases the ways poetry can combine with music.

Sign up to the open-mic and share! Whether it’s your first time or a regular – there is bags of support and encouragement! If you’re taking part, tickets are free – just book one below and include a few details about yourself when you checkout. For this event, we’re encouraging participants to think about how they blend music with spoken word by putting a poem to pre-recorded music, collaborating with a musician or any other way your imagination takes you! Why not come along to the workshop with Chris Redmond earlier in the day?

SproutSpoken is just as much about our audiences… you don’t need to take part to enjoy an evening out with a difference. Come along and soak up the exciting range of local people from the community ‘having a go’ as well as emerging performers and headline acts.

At this event, we’ll have some feature spots from local poets and we’re also super-excited to welcome Chris Redmond with a headline slot!

Chris Redmond is a poet, musician, performer and producer. A regular at music and literature festivals, he’s featured on BBC Radio 1, 2, 4, 6Music, CBBC and Sky Arts. Chris’s debut collection Let The Pig Out is published by Burning Eye. Sometimes he goes deep (ish). Other times he’s content to splash around happily in the shallows. Like a poetry narwhal, but skinnier and without the prongy bit.

Chris is artistic director of Tongue Fu, one of the UK’s leading spoken word shows, where poets, comedians, storytellers and rappers perform with improvised music and films. Tongue Fu has toured from London’s Roundhouse to Dublin to Rio to Cape Town collaborating with a range of artists from Kae Tempest, to Irvine Welsh and Akala. In 2020 TF released their first studio album,’ Boat Building’, a collaboration with poets, Vanessa Kisuule, Dizraeli, Amyra León, Anthony Anaxagorou and more. It featured on BBC6Music, BBC R1, 1Xtra, BBCR4’s Loose Ends, BBC In- troducing and WorldWideFM.

“A beautiful album” – Cerys Matthews (BBC 6Music)

“…easily one of the best Spoken Word albums in recent years.” Raymond Antrobus

As a musician Chris has toured extensively with all kinds of reprobate bands. In the slightly more respectable world of theatre he has worked with Improbable on Panic, ice&fire on The Nine O’- Clock Slot and with Cecilia Knapp on her show Finding Home. He is currently working as musi- cian, writer and performer for Off The Beaten Track, a new dance/theatre/comedy show by Sole Rebel. He has also composed music for EMI/KPM, BBC One, ITV and Discovery Channel.

As an educator, Chris leads workshops in writing, performing and musicianship for organisations such as the British Council, BBC, BAC, First Story, National Theatre, the Roundhouse and St Mary’s University, London.

Chris lives in Somerset with his family and their one-eyed murderous cat.

As usual, Sprout Health Foods will be providing a great range of hot food and snacks, as well as alcoholic/soft drinks.

Doors open: 7pm

Event start: 8pm

Age Guidance: 14+

*PLEASE NOTE THAT IN THE EVENT OF NICE WEATHER, THIS EVENT MAY BE OUTSIDE IN THE SPROUT COURTYARD; PLEASE BRING SOMETHING WARM TO WEAR AS THE NIGHT DRAWS IN!*

SproutSpoken is kindly supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.