Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires: Sounds Made By Humans

📍 Location: The Stables Theatre, Stockwell Ln, Wavendon, Milton Keynes MK17 8LU
📅 Date: Wednesday 5 November 2025
🕗 Time: 8:00pm
🎟️ Tickets: From £24.50

About the Event

Join poet Brian Bilston and indie-pop favourites The Catenary Wires for a one-of-a-kind evening of poetry, music, and creative collaboration at The Stables Theatre, Milton Keynes.

The event features two distinct halves:

• First Half: A solo spoken-word set by Brian Bilston, followed by a music performance from The Catenary Wires.

• Second Half: A full-band performance of tracks from their new collaborative album, Sounds Made By Humans.

Described as the “Poet Laureate of Twitter,” Brian Bilston has gained a huge following for his witty, heartfelt, and relatable poetry, with over half a million social media followers and multiple bestselling books to his name. His live performances blend humour, insight, and warmth in equal measure.

Meanwhile, The Catenary Wires — formed by Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey, and Ian Button — are known for their melodic, introspective indie-pop. Following the success of their critically acclaimed 2021 album Birling Gap, the group has toured internationally with their other bands, including the 90s cult icons Heavenly and Swansea Sound.

Their creative paths crossed when Bilston was spotted wearing a Heavenly t-shirt at a show — sparking a friendship and a groundbreaking collaboration. The result is Sounds Made By Humans, a seamless fusion of words and melody where poetry becomes pop and storytelling becomes song.

About the Album

Sounds Made By Humans isn’t a poetry reading set to music — it’s an album where poetry and pop co-exist in harmony. Thirteen of Bilston’s poems have been transformed into fully arranged songs by Rob Pursey, performed with a full band including Ian Button (drums) and Fay Hallam (keyboard).
Sometimes the poems are sung, sometimes spoken, sometimes both — always inventive, always human.

As Brian Bilston describes it: “A pop record where the poetry and the music are equal partners — sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.”