“It’s a mutual exchange of blood, bone, wood and metal, most of which is home grown. If you leave a Truax show without smiling somewhere in your body, you’re f**ked.” – Richard Hawley
“When he performs, it is a spectacle – the originality and seeming impossibility of what he does is much of the appeal.” –The Guardian
“His gigs are extraordinary, fizzing with showmanship.” – Q
American Thomas Truax is one of the most imaginative characters on the pop music fringe. Since the early 2000′s, he’s been releasing records and traveling the world performing with his evolving “band” of surreal self-made Harry Partch-esque instruments including a motorized drum machine made of bike wheels called ‘Mother Superior’ and a souped-up Dr. Seuss-ian Gramophone called ‘The Hornicator’, as well as his venerable resonator guitar (named simply Hank).
The Oxford Times calls Thomas “One of rock’s great eccentrics.”
Splendid Magazine calls him “one of the five or ten best singer/songwriters in the world that you’ve never heard of…an exceptional talent, unique and resistant to comparison.”
He crafts rich, poetically evocative and lively songs about insects, trees, technology, and a lifelong obsession with things lunar, including various reasons ‘Why Dogs Howl at The Moon’. His eight studio LPs include a highly-rated covers album ‘Songs From The Films Of David Lynch’, and his latest, ‘Jetstream Sunset’, features a powerhouse special ingredient in drummer Brian Viglione (of the Dresden Dolls/Violent Femmes). But while Thomas’s albums have received considerable praise, it’s his energetic and often surreal mix of man, machine, musicianship, storytelling, and audience interaction that make up the live shows for which he is best known.
The Rockin’ Inventions UK tour will include the British live debut of a new instrument ‘the Saxogramophone’.
Notable Truax supporters and collaborators have included Jarvis Cocker, Duke Special, Richard Hawley, Amanda Palmer, and the late author Terry Pratchett.
Thomas’s surreal rendition of the classic ‘Greensleeves’ will be featured on an upcoming Shakespeare-related compilation album ‘Food Of Love’, to be released on Autolycus records in May in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. He’ll perform this piece in three pre-tour Shakespeare Jubilee shows.
THOMAS TRUAX’S
ROCKIN’ INVENTIONS UK TOUR DATES 2016:
29th April, Fri: Northampton,
5th May, Thurs: London, Lexington 9
6th May, Friday: Brighton, Green Door Store,
13th May, Fri: Sheffield, Lamplight Club
14th May, Sat: Scunthorpe, Cafe IndiePendent,
169-173 High St, Scunthorpe DN15 6EH
15th May, Sun: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
18th May, Wed: York, Fullford Arms
121 Fulford Rd, Fulford, York YO10 4EX
20 May, Fri: Manchester, The Eagle Inn (Salford),
21st May, Sat: Widnes : The Studio,
Lacey St Widnes WA8 7SQ 0151 420 8997
26th May, Thurs: Bristol, Louisiana (with Bob Log III)
27th May, Fri: Plymouth, Devon The Red House
(Plymouth School Of Creative Arts), 22 Millbay Road
28th May, Sat: Exeter, Cavern,
83-84 Queen St, Devon EX4 3RP
29 May, Sun: Cardiff, Wales Strange Daze Festival
***
Summer Festivals
16th July, Sat: Truckfestival 2016 Steventon
24th July, Sun. Sheffield, Tramlines
