BIRMINGHAM: Kitchen Garden Cafe

Sunday 1st April, 2018

7:30pm

Event information

Husband and wife songwriting team Ruth and Brookln Dekker, now based in Nottingham, produce indie folk musings.
Having tied the knot years earlier, Brookln and Ruth Dekker came together musically in 2006 in their then home city of Chicago, inspired by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, Grandaddy, John Martyn, Jose Gonzalez and Elbow. They called themselves Rue Royale. “We wrestled with the idea of starting a band together for some time,” admits Brookln. “It’s proven transformative.” The Anglo-American outﬁt earned their stripes on the Chicago music scene before selling most of their belongings and boarding a plane for Europe, armed with their instruments and self-titled 2008 debut LP, for their ﬁrst out-of-town tour. The road quickly became Rue Royale’s way of life – with chips and dents in their tour vans’ bodywork testament to nearly 1000 shows in 15 countries. Having worked with a couple of small indie labels, Rue Royale have largely worked in a DIY fashion. Between tours the couple rustled up a cottage industry at their new home in Nottingham. Together they printed, snipped, sewed and stuffed over 10,000 Rue Royale CDs, including 500 pre-orders for their second album ‘Guide To An Escape’ which they issued independently in 2011. ‘Guide To An Escape’ was picked up by Sinnbus who re-released it in March 2012. The album featured the single “Halfway Blind” which got repeat plays on BBC 6Music by the likes of Gideon Coe when released as a limited edition seven inch. In 2013, the duo successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign for their third album ‘Remedies Ahead’. Released by Sinnbus, Remedies Ahead’ was well received internationally with radio play across the European continent.