Author: brianbilston

Nights of music and poetry …

News

One tour may have just finished but here’s news of another one coming soon …

I’m delighted to announce that this autumn I’ll be going on tour with The Catenary Wires, for some fun-filled evenings of music and poetry. We’ll be performing our album ‘Sounds Made by Humans’, and there’ll be poems from me and music from the band throughout the night.

Most of the gigs are in November, with a few either side. We’ll be coming to Banbury, Brighton, Bristol, Chorley, Glasgow, Herne Bay, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Otley, Pocklington, Ramsgate, Sheffield, Stamford, Swansea, and Worcester.

Tickets have gone on sale this morning. For the full list of shows and links to tickets, you can find them all here:

Events

And here are few review snippets of ‘Sounds Made by Humans’:

“[An] album of the year.” Backseat Mafia

“An instant cult classic. 5/5” Louder Than War

“Filled to the rafters with wit and smart hooks.” Here Comes the Flood

Hope to see some of you there.

Brian

Sounds Made by Humans – out now!

News

Last week saw the release of ‘Sounds Made by Humans’, an album of ‘poem songs’ I’ve made with the brilliant Catenary Wires.

Sounds Made by Humans

The album is out now on vinyl and CD; it’s also available for streaming on Spotify and elsewhere, and can be downloaded.

Some places where you can find it…

BANDCAMP

SHOPIFY

ROUGH TRADE (including limited edition ‘white vinyl’ edition):

We’re really proud of it and we’ll be taking it on the road with us in the UK in November, for some evenings of music and poetry. More on that in a few weeks.

Happy listening x

Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires

Every Song on the Radio

News

A new ‘poem song’ with the fab Catenary Wires is out today: Every Song on the Radio Reminds Me of You. We’ve even made an accompanying video, in which I do some very good walking around with a radio, plus knob twiddling.

Caravan of love

It’s from our forthcoming album, ‘Sounds Made by Humans’ which comes out on 9 May and is available to pre-order on vinyl and CD from all good record stores. You’ll find it up on the various music streaming sites, too.

More info here: https://skepwax.myshopify.com/products/brian-bilston-and-the-catenary-wires-sounds-made-by-humans-album

Top of the pops to you.

A Poem for Every Question

News

Some news! A new book is on its way …

A Poem for Every Question consists of 100 new poems for children, written in answer to the curious questions that kids will ask.

Questions such as:
Are unicorns real?
How many stars exploded in the Universe today?
Was Blackbeard a real pirate?
Can it rain fish?

Each poem is accompanied by the clever and funny artwork of Joe Berger. It’s the first time I’ve ever had any of my poems illustrated like this, and I’m completely bowled over by how Joe has brought these poems to life.

A Poem for Every Question publishes in the UK on 25th September with Farshore Books, and is available for pre-order now. It can be ordered through all the usual bookshop places. You can find a few places to pre-order from here, including a link so you can find your local UK indie bookshop: https://linktr.ee/brianbilston

It will be out in Canada in December, and I’ll share news about when it’s available in the US as soon as I have it.

I’ll leave the last words about the book to Michael Rosen, who says: ‘These poems are the answers to every question you ever wanted to ask, and the question for every answer you wanted to question. Funny, informative and intriguing, this book will expand your brain to twice its size.’

Sounds Made by Humans

News

Some exciting news …

I’ve been collaborating (well, having fun) with a brilliant band, The Catenary Wires, who have very cleverly put some of my poems to music. The result is an album of thirteen songs to be released on 9th May on Skep Wax Records. It’s called ‘Sounds Made by Humans’.

It can be pre-ordered now on vinyl and CD here: https://linktr.ee/brianbilston and it will also be available for streaming and download.

The LP features some of my most popular poems ‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’, ‘She’d Dance’, ‘To Do List’, ‘Thou Shalt Not Commit Adulting’, alongside many more timeless, toe-tapping classics.

You can hear a sneak preview of ‘Alexa, what is there to know about love?’ here: https://brianbilstonandthecatenarywires.bandcamp.com/track/alexa-what-is-there-to-know-about-love

The album can be pre-ordered now on vinyl and CD, and includes a full colour insert with lyrics, illustrated by Elodie Ginsburg. It will also be available for streaming and download. Some places where you can pre-order:

BANDCAMP: https://brianbilstonandthecatenarywires.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-made-by-humans-2

SHOPIFY: https://skepwax.myshopify.com/products/brian-bilston-and-the-catenary-wires-sounds-made-by-humans-album?variant=50478896906579

ROUGH TRADE: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/brian-bilston-and-the-catenary-wires/sounds-made-by-humans

We’re really proud of it; so much so that there are plans afoot to take it on tour in the UK in November. I’ll share details of those dates with you when confirmed.

*The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button. Their critically acclaimed third album ‘Birling Gap’ was released in 2021. Since then, they have been focusing on their other bands, playing around the world with Heavenly (icons of the 90s indiepop scene) and Swansea Sound.

New shows for 2025

News

I’m delighted to announce a plethora of new shows for May 2025 with the brilliant Henry Normal. We’re be coming to BIRMINGHAM, CAMBRIDGE, HARROGATE, LANCASTER, LIVERPOOL, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MELTON MOWBRAY, NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, NORTHAMPTON, STOCKTON-ON-TEES and WHITLEY BAY. Tickets have gone on sale today.

As previously announced, we’ll also be reading poems in ASHFORD, BURNLEY, CARDIFF, HALIFAX, HASTINGS, READING, ST ALBANS, SHEFFIELD, SHREWSBURY, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, TAUNTON and WORTHING.

After all that, I’ll be having a bit of a lie down, although you may also catch me at a few festivals throughout the year.

Links to tickets can be found here: https://brianbilston.com/events/

Let Sleeping Cats Lie – out now

News

It’s UK publication day for ‘Let Sleeping Cats Lie’, my collection of poems about pets.

I wrote the for book children, aged between 7 and 95, and it’s available through all the usual bookshop places. You can find some of the online retailers here: https://linktr.ee/brianbilston

There are a few signed copies knocking about, too. Here’s a small list of some of the independent bookshops who have signed copies: https://linktr.ee/letsleepingcatslie

Anyway, that’s about all I have to say on the matter so I shall finish writing this post now.

Index of Poems I Shall Never Write

Assorted Poems, Selected poems

I’ve been having a bit of a sort out over the summer. I’m throwing out some old titles for poems which I shall never write. Free to a good home.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Assorted Poems

Some news! I have a new book of poems for children coming out in a couple of months – Let Sleeping Cats Lie.


It’s a collection of poems about pets (dogs, cats, goldfish, chinchilla, guinea pigs, snakes, budgies, rabbits, blue whales etc). I say it’s for children but it’s also suitable for grandchildren and, who knows, some grown-ups might enjoy it, too; I don’t like to be too prescriptive.


It publishes on 26th September in the UK. If you fancied pre-ordering a copy, you can do so through your local bookshop or visiting this page with links to some online booksellers:
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/brian-bilston/let-sleeping-cats-lie-pet-poems/9781035050550

Here’s a poem from the collection:

Wilf the Labracadabrador

Wilf the Labracadabrador
(who in dog years is seventy-six)

is a magician, a conjurer
and a hypnotist.

He saws teddies in half.
He pulls rabbits from hats.

He makes all his food vanish,
just like that.

Renowned for his showdogship
and smooth sleight of paw,

Wilf’s about to em-bark
on a nationwide tour.

Last week, I showed him
how to juggle with sticks.

Whoever said you can’t teach
an old dog new tricks?