Gaz Brookfield

Gareth "Gaz" Brookfield (born 4 July 1979) is an English folk and rock musician, who is based near Swindon, England. He is usually a solo artist, playing acoustic guitar, but is regularly joined by fiddle player Ben Wain and also has a full band, the Company of Thieves. He is also followed on his expansive tours by a loyal following calling themselves "The Land Pirates".

Gaz Brookfield
Brookfield playing live at the Cheese and Grain, Frome in 2022.
Brookfield playing live at the Cheese and Grain, Frome in 2022.
Background information
Birth nameGareth Brookfield
Born (1979-07-04) 4 July 1979
Kettering, Northamptonshire, England
GenresAcoustic, Folk, Rock
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals, harmonica
Years active2006–present
LabelsIn My Lounge Records
Land Pirate Records
Websitehttp://www.gazbrookfield.com

Biography

In his early career, Brookfield played with a number of bands but moved to a solo career in 2006.[1] In 2010, he won Acoustic Magazine's Singer-Songwriter of the Year award,[2] which also won him a place on the Big Top stage at Beautiful Days Festival, where he played twice more since.[3] He played at other major festivals such as Glastonbury,[4] and supported artists such as The Levellers, New Model Army, Ferocious Dog, and Frank Turner.[5][6] In 2011, he became the first (and to this date only) unsigned solo act to sell out the 450-capacity[7] Fleece in Bristol,[3] an achievement which he has since repeated four more times with his Christmas shows;[8] the 2014 show was also his 1,000th gig.[9] In 2017, due to demand, the Christmas show was moved to the 750-capacity[10] Bristol Bierkeller which sold out as well.[11] With the closure of the Bierkeller shortly afterwards, the 2018 show was moved again, this time to the bigger SWX venue,[12][13] where the 2019 show was also held. The Bristol Post, naming Brookfield in their "60 Coolest People in Bristol" article, said "There aren't many musicians in Bristol who could sell out the 1,100-capacity SWX, but he does."[14]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brookfield was forced to shield due to his Type 1 diabetes,[15] and was one of the first artists to write and publish an entire album about the pandemic which was appropriately called Lockdown and was released on 2 October 2020. While unable to tour during the pandemic, he played a weekly live stream entitled "Live from the Lockdown",[16] which celebrated its one-year anniversary with the 52nd show on 12 March 2021.[17] Brookfield released his eighth album, Idiomatic on 1 November 2021, which reached No.10 in the UK Download Charts.[18]

The Company of Thieves
Gaz Brookfield and the Company of Thieves, 2022. {l-r} Leks Wood, Ben Wain, Tom Granville, Gaz Brookfield, Nick Parker

Brookfield plays semi-regular shows with a full band, the line-up of which is as follows;[19]

  • Ben Wain (fiddle)
  • Nick Parker (mandolin)
  • Chris Webb (guitar)
  • Leks Wood (drums)
  • Jon Buckett (keyboards)
  • Tom Granville, (bass)

Discography

Brookfield has released eight original studio albums, plus four "Solo Acoustic Guy" albums with re-workings of his previous songs. He has also produced a number of live albums.[20]

Studio
  • Trial and Error (2011)
  • Tell It to the Beer (2012)
  • In The Company Of Thieves (2013)
  • True and Fast (2015)
  • I Know My Place (2016)
  • Lostfolk (2019)
  • Lockdown (2020)
  • Idiomatic (2021)
  • Morning Walking Club (2023)

Reworkings
  • Solo Acoustic Guy (2015)
  • Solo Acoustic Guy II (2016)
  • Solo Acoustic Guy III (2017)
  • Aged Revolt (split with Jake Martin, covering each other's songs, 2018)
  • Solo Acoustic Guy IV (2021)

References
  1. "Gaz Brookfield". City Showcase. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. "Acoustic guitar player wins music award". Gear4Music. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. "Gaz Brookfield – What's On". Nottingham Post. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  4. Cork, Tristram (27 June 2014). "Glastonbury Festival: Review – Gaz Brookfield". Somerset Live. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  5. Franklin, Dave (1 September 2016). "Sounds around Town". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. Ashdown, Kerry (21 April 2017). "Middle of Nowhere Festival". Staffordshire News. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  7. Southall, Nick (16 September 2014). "The Fleece, Bristol". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  8. "Gaz Brookfield: The West Country Troubador". The Ocelot. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. "Gaz Brookfield interview". Bristol 24/7. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. "Bristol Bierkeller". Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  11. "Gaz Brookfield's Christmas Show 2017". Bristol Bierkeller shows. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  12. "SWX Bristol". SWX Bristol. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  13. "Gaz Brookfield – SWX". SWX Bristol. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. Cork, Tristan (28 April 2019). "The Bristol Cool List 2019". Bristol Post. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  15. Tasker, Ian (21 October 2020). "Gaz Brookfield: The Old Normal and other new lockdown songs". Here Comes The Song. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  16. "2020 - this year in music". TrueStyle Music. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  17. Brookfield, Gaz. "Live from the Lockdown #52". Twitter. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  18. "Idiomatic reaches UK Download Chart top 10".
  19. "Events – Gaz Brookfield". Marrs Bar. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  20. "Gaz Brookfield". Discogs. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
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