“Legacies” is the gift that keeps on giving.
The album has already given Ali Thibodeau, the singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary creative force who performs as Deau Eyes, a Newlin Music Prize win, as “Legacies” was honored as the top album released in the Richmond-Petersburg area last year. The 2022 LP also provided vividly rendered videos for standout tracks “Moscow in the Spring” and “Haven’t You Had Quite Enough.”
The title track now gets a turn in the spotlight. The video for “Legacies” will be screened for the first time at a special Spaghetti Dinner + Strings event being held on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at the Unity of Richmond church.
In addition to dinner and a show, attendees can expect a dream-like take on the song’s grand romantic vision, which is crystallized in the chorus: “I want a love like the legends all have spoken of / In an age where legacies are coming to an end.” The clip was directed by Thibodeau’s brother, Michael Thibodeau, with whom Ali has been collaborating audio-visually since childhood. “Our whole lives,” Ali says, “Michael has followed me around with a camcorder and I used to create songs on our karaoke machine tape deck. We’d make home videos and alternate as the subject in every scene directed and every piece choreographed.”
For this one, the Thibodeau siblings and the Sunroom production outfit Michael founded with twins Alec and Ryan Gary enlisted an all-ages cast in order to stage a haunting depiction of a wedding. Think nuptials at the end of the world.
“We spitballed on awkward bits of our childhood,” Ali says, “the beautiful melodrama of tradition, and all the unlikely characters that we have crossed paths with over the years … With a great community effort and the skills we’ve picked up over the years, we brought this video to life with misty-eyed nostalgia, giggling in disbelief.”
To mark the occasion, Ali will be giving a special performance with a string quartet, complemented by a differently stringy dinner of spaghetti and the video’s premiere. The event is part of Deau Eyes’ 10-shows-in-12-days Tour De Richmond, a tradition that began last year as a way to discover new venues and try new approaches to engaging with listeners. This time around, she’ll have passports fans can take from show to show to get stamped, as well as special merchandise to commemorate each event.
“There are so many talented RVA musicians and I’m lucky to be collaborating with so many of them on this tour,” Thibodeau says. “Every show and venue will be so different … It feels like I’ve been preparing for this all year and I can’t wait.”
The Deau Eyes Spaghetti Dinner + Strings event will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at the Unity of Richmond church. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner starts at 6 p.m. and music starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at linktr.ee/xodeau. To hear and purchase “Legacies,” visit deaueyes.com.
