Island Folk(lore)
Muirsical Conversation with Ivan Drever
Orkney born singer songwriter Ivan Drever has been recording and releasing music (as a solo performer, collaboratively and within band format) for some twenty-five years.
Ivan Drever also has the knack of producing highly appealing and eminently listenable tunes, aided by his distinct and Orcadian accentuated baritone vocal.
That’s a combination many both appreciate and enjoy, especially when it produces an album of warmth and charm such as the musician's latest solo release, Bless the Wind.
Ivan and FabricationsHQ had been chatting for months about setting up a Muirsical Conversation but, with the noted musician living in Norway and having a busy schedule, he’s become a very hard man to pin down.
However, as it turned out, the eventual timing was perfect…
Ross Muir: This is a great time to catch you, Ivan. You recently released Bless the Wind and will be undertaking a number of Scottish dates throughout October. If we can start by talking about the album…
Ivan Drever: Well, after recording the previous album, Notes from an Island, which turned out to be kind of a concept recording, it was kind of nice not working to any type of constraints, just a collection of songs I’d written over the last year.
RM: There are also contributions from other musicians including Paul Eastham from Coast on piano and keyboards and your old Wolfstone sparring partner Andy Murray on electric guitars and bass…
ID: I’d been working with Andy on and off for a few years, so it was fairly natural to have him involved.
Andy's very creative and a great player. The amazing thing about Paul is the fact that I’ve never met him! Modern technology never ceases to amaze me, he did all his parts at home in Southampton and sent them up to me – I’m still getting to grips with gas power! [laughs].
Paul is a great musician and song writer… it’d be nice to meet him some day!
RM: I’m sure you’re musical paths will cross at some point. I’d like to feature a couple of tracks from Bless the Wind and will lead off with ‘Bring Me Down.’
Ivan Drever also has the knack of producing highly appealing and eminently listenable tunes, aided by his distinct and Orcadian accentuated baritone vocal.
That’s a combination many both appreciate and enjoy, especially when it produces an album of warmth and charm such as the musician's latest solo release, Bless the Wind.
Ivan and FabricationsHQ had been chatting for months about setting up a Muirsical Conversation but, with the noted musician living in Norway and having a busy schedule, he’s become a very hard man to pin down.
However, as it turned out, the eventual timing was perfect…
Ross Muir: This is a great time to catch you, Ivan. You recently released Bless the Wind and will be undertaking a number of Scottish dates throughout October. If we can start by talking about the album…
Ivan Drever: Well, after recording the previous album, Notes from an Island, which turned out to be kind of a concept recording, it was kind of nice not working to any type of constraints, just a collection of songs I’d written over the last year.
RM: There are also contributions from other musicians including Paul Eastham from Coast on piano and keyboards and your old Wolfstone sparring partner Andy Murray on electric guitars and bass…
ID: I’d been working with Andy on and off for a few years, so it was fairly natural to have him involved.
Andy's very creative and a great player. The amazing thing about Paul is the fact that I’ve never met him! Modern technology never ceases to amaze me, he did all his parts at home in Southampton and sent them up to me – I’m still getting to grips with gas power! [laughs].
Paul is a great musician and song writer… it’d be nice to meet him some day!
RM: I’m sure you’re musical paths will cross at some point. I’d like to feature a couple of tracks from Bless the Wind and will lead off with ‘Bring Me Down.’
RM: I can imagine Jim Reeves singing that song – it harkens back to the style of country-pop made famous by the legendary vocalist. I believe there was a lot of Jim Reeves being played in the Drever household as you were growing up in Sanday in Orkney…
ID: Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Slim Whitman and loads of Scottish Country dance music; besides that, both my uncles played guitar and sang country songs.
In fact, one of the favourite lines I’ve ever written was from the song ‘Ballad of James and Isa Cursiter.’ "Hamish sang of cowboys, and of Oklahoma hills."
RM: And you also had – and have – the Orkney Islands and the Highlands & Islands of Scotland with their rich tradition of music going back not just decades, but centuries...
ID: Yes, there were quite a few influences, but I always loved the Scottish music.
At one time I did quite a bit of research, trying to find the Orkney songs, but it seemed to me that there was very little there. Some people claim it never really existed but I honestly believe that most of it was lost or, more likely, never collected. Shetland seemed to fare better when it came to preserving material.
RM: You revisited some of that music on your Orkney Years albums and more lately on your 2010 CD, Notes from an Island. Your Orcadian heritage is clearly very important and very much part of your musical DNA.
ID: Notes from an Island was strange in a way. It was never intended to be a solely Orkney album, I just had around six songs that happened to be either about the islands or about people I knew or grew up with.
So I thought maybe it would be nice to complete it on that theme. I always thought it a bit of a shame none of the songwriters ever wrote about the Islands so, if no one else is going to do it, I’ll give it a go myself!
ID: Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Slim Whitman and loads of Scottish Country dance music; besides that, both my uncles played guitar and sang country songs.
In fact, one of the favourite lines I’ve ever written was from the song ‘Ballad of James and Isa Cursiter.’ "Hamish sang of cowboys, and of Oklahoma hills."
RM: And you also had – and have – the Orkney Islands and the Highlands & Islands of Scotland with their rich tradition of music going back not just decades, but centuries...
ID: Yes, there were quite a few influences, but I always loved the Scottish music.
At one time I did quite a bit of research, trying to find the Orkney songs, but it seemed to me that there was very little there. Some people claim it never really existed but I honestly believe that most of it was lost or, more likely, never collected. Shetland seemed to fare better when it came to preserving material.
RM: You revisited some of that music on your Orkney Years albums and more lately on your 2010 CD, Notes from an Island. Your Orcadian heritage is clearly very important and very much part of your musical DNA.
ID: Notes from an Island was strange in a way. It was never intended to be a solely Orkney album, I just had around six songs that happened to be either about the islands or about people I knew or grew up with.
So I thought maybe it would be nice to complete it on that theme. I always thought it a bit of a shame none of the songwriters ever wrote about the Islands so, if no one else is going to do it, I’ll give it a go myself!
Ivan Drever, blessed with the ability to write warm, appealing songs in a traditional style,
with influences ranging from the Scottish Islands to as far afield as the Oklahoma hills.
RM: If I could sidestep from recent solo work to your early band involvements. You founded Knowe O'Deil in the seventies and stayed until the late eighties, but your time with Wolfstone is your most successful and well-known group venture. How did you become involved with Duncan Chisholm and the Wolfstone gang?
ID: I had met Duncan at the Highland Trad Festival in Dingwall, around 1987; we’d played in a few sessions and seemed to hit it off. I moved down to Easter Ross a couple of years later and met the rest of the band. They covered one of my songs, 'Homeland,' on one of their earlier albums and it kind of took off from there. A very little known fact here – after their bass player left Duncan asked me if I played bass, to which I lied "absolutely!" It didn’t take long for them to realise I couldn’t play bass to save my life! [laughter]
Fortunately, I was kept on!
RM: It was certainly to the mutual benefit that you were kept on because that early to mid-nineties period is the band’s most satisfying, creatively, and certainly the most successful, commercially. Happy memories?
ID: Very happy memories, yes. I think it was a very creative time for us all, certainly a wonderful vehicle for my songs, having eight or so instruments playing on them as opposed to just vocal and guitar.
I quite fancy re-visiting them at some point, just maybe stripping them down, see if they hold up to being done acoustically.
RM: There's no question you contributed some wonderful tunes to the Wolfstone legacy.
'Heart & Soul,’ written with Duncan Chisholm, is one of many highlights on the excellent The Half Tail album.
The song also made an appearance in the movie Good Will Hunting – can’t have done any harm...
ID: No, indeed, although some people think we made a fortune from it. I wish! But it is a great medium to work in, although I have to say it was about four years later that I got to see it. Great film, though.
RM: The follow-up to The Half Tail was This Strange Place, but that album wasn't actually a Wolfstone recording; it was a side project put together by you and [then Wolfstone bassist] Wayne Mackenzie...
ID: Well, I think at that time we were keen to get away from Green Linnett,who were our label then; but they had said that if they didn’t get that album they would stop us releasing it!
We were kind of caught between a rock and a hard place; we certainly didn’t want it released as a Wolfstone album because it wasn’t Wolfstone. It was just, as you say, a wee collaboration between myself and Wayne, just a bit of fun really to fill in time.
I kind of felt sorry for the rest of the band because it was nothing to do with them and they were associated with what, in my opinion, wasn’t that great an album. Least said about the record company the better.
RM: I actually quite like that album; there is a light and pleasant acoustic feel to a lot of the material.
But because it was marketed as a Wolfstone album it confused fans, leading to the assumption the band were changing direction. And the "name on the tin" did you and Wayne a serious dis-service.
ID: As I say, it’s not my favourite album. If we knew what was going to happen we’d never have recorded it. Just another example of record companies riding roughshod over artists, really.
RM: Indeed, but fair to say your relationship with Duncan Chisholm – both in terms of friendship and musical chemistry – didn’t wane after you left Wolfstone. You clearly enjoy touring, playing and recording together. Your 1998 duet album The Lewis Blue is a great example of that chemistry.
ID: Yes, I always loved working with Duncan. He is, for me, the best slow air fiddle player I’ve heard.
The other thing of course, which is very important, is the chemistry, and I think we got that right.
And we always, always, had wonderful fun on the road.
RM: That leads to the obvious, follow-on question – you and Duncan have your own careers and various musical projects to keep yourselves busy but, time and schedules permitting, could we see you touring together again?
ID: I don’t see why not. Certainly, at the moment we’re both very busy with different projects but I’d be surprised if we didn’t tour again at some point.
RM: We mentioned Andy Murray earlier, a great guitarist and integral part of the Ivan Drever Band, or IDB.
The IDB allows you to turn up the amps a little and create some great electric folk ‘n’ roll...
ID: It’s been great working with a band again; bit like the old days, except everyone seems to go to bed earlier now! [laughs]
with influences ranging from the Scottish Islands to as far afield as the Oklahoma hills.
RM: If I could sidestep from recent solo work to your early band involvements. You founded Knowe O'Deil in the seventies and stayed until the late eighties, but your time with Wolfstone is your most successful and well-known group venture. How did you become involved with Duncan Chisholm and the Wolfstone gang?
ID: I had met Duncan at the Highland Trad Festival in Dingwall, around 1987; we’d played in a few sessions and seemed to hit it off. I moved down to Easter Ross a couple of years later and met the rest of the band. They covered one of my songs, 'Homeland,' on one of their earlier albums and it kind of took off from there. A very little known fact here – after their bass player left Duncan asked me if I played bass, to which I lied "absolutely!" It didn’t take long for them to realise I couldn’t play bass to save my life! [laughter]
Fortunately, I was kept on!
RM: It was certainly to the mutual benefit that you were kept on because that early to mid-nineties period is the band’s most satisfying, creatively, and certainly the most successful, commercially. Happy memories?
ID: Very happy memories, yes. I think it was a very creative time for us all, certainly a wonderful vehicle for my songs, having eight or so instruments playing on them as opposed to just vocal and guitar.
I quite fancy re-visiting them at some point, just maybe stripping them down, see if they hold up to being done acoustically.
RM: There's no question you contributed some wonderful tunes to the Wolfstone legacy.
'Heart & Soul,’ written with Duncan Chisholm, is one of many highlights on the excellent The Half Tail album.
The song also made an appearance in the movie Good Will Hunting – can’t have done any harm...
ID: No, indeed, although some people think we made a fortune from it. I wish! But it is a great medium to work in, although I have to say it was about four years later that I got to see it. Great film, though.
RM: The follow-up to The Half Tail was This Strange Place, but that album wasn't actually a Wolfstone recording; it was a side project put together by you and [then Wolfstone bassist] Wayne Mackenzie...
ID: Well, I think at that time we were keen to get away from Green Linnett,who were our label then; but they had said that if they didn’t get that album they would stop us releasing it!
We were kind of caught between a rock and a hard place; we certainly didn’t want it released as a Wolfstone album because it wasn’t Wolfstone. It was just, as you say, a wee collaboration between myself and Wayne, just a bit of fun really to fill in time.
I kind of felt sorry for the rest of the band because it was nothing to do with them and they were associated with what, in my opinion, wasn’t that great an album. Least said about the record company the better.
RM: I actually quite like that album; there is a light and pleasant acoustic feel to a lot of the material.
But because it was marketed as a Wolfstone album it confused fans, leading to the assumption the band were changing direction. And the "name on the tin" did you and Wayne a serious dis-service.
ID: As I say, it’s not my favourite album. If we knew what was going to happen we’d never have recorded it. Just another example of record companies riding roughshod over artists, really.
RM: Indeed, but fair to say your relationship with Duncan Chisholm – both in terms of friendship and musical chemistry – didn’t wane after you left Wolfstone. You clearly enjoy touring, playing and recording together. Your 1998 duet album The Lewis Blue is a great example of that chemistry.
ID: Yes, I always loved working with Duncan. He is, for me, the best slow air fiddle player I’ve heard.
The other thing of course, which is very important, is the chemistry, and I think we got that right.
And we always, always, had wonderful fun on the road.
RM: That leads to the obvious, follow-on question – you and Duncan have your own careers and various musical projects to keep yourselves busy but, time and schedules permitting, could we see you touring together again?
ID: I don’t see why not. Certainly, at the moment we’re both very busy with different projects but I’d be surprised if we didn’t tour again at some point.
RM: We mentioned Andy Murray earlier, a great guitarist and integral part of the Ivan Drever Band, or IDB.
The IDB allows you to turn up the amps a little and create some great electric folk ‘n’ roll...
ID: It’s been great working with a band again; bit like the old days, except everyone seems to go to bed earlier now! [laughs]
RM: IDB have since released a great little EP, but what’s the latest on the full-length IDB debut album?
ID: The album is pretty much recorded, it’s just kind of difficult to fit anything else in at the moment.
I’m sure it will see the light of day at some point.
ID: The album is pretty much recorded, it’s just kind of difficult to fit anything else in at the moment.
I’m sure it will see the light of day at some point.
The misrepresented This Strange Place ("credit where credit's due" cover by FabricationsHQ)
The Ivan Drever Band: electric folk 'n' roll from Finlay Wells, Andy Murray, ID and Iain Coates
RM: You have worked and recorded with many great musicians, but I was wondering if you would ever consider writing or recording with a young man who is one of our most accomplished contemporary folk singer songwriters. Goes by the name of Kris Drever…
ID: [laughs] I would love to, but it’s much harder to pin him down than me! He’s one of the hardest working musicians I know and I don’t see him as much as I’d like, but that's a good thing because it means he's busy.
He’s got a brother, Duncan, who is great too. Maybe one day the three of us could do an album; I’d like that.
RM: Forget Mumford and Sons, here's Drever and Sons [laughter]. Joking aside, it would be wonderful if that could become a reality.
Am I right in saying Kris also toured with the Celtic Fusion music and dance show you composed the songs and music for?
ID: That’s right, we toured the States for around six weeks with it. Because most of the band was American, he was the only proper drinking buddy I had! But yes, he’s a great musician and I’m very proud of him.
RM: That project and tour must have been interesting work and quite gratifying to have been chosen as the lead composer. How did the opportunity arise?
ID: Well I think they’d been listening to a lot of Wolfstone albums; they probably checked to see who was writing most of the stuff and got in touch. It was a lot of fun, touring eighteen states in six weeks, although sharing a tour bus with a bunch of screaming seventeen-year-old American dancers wasn’t too pleasurable!
I seem to remember poor Fraser Fiffield (multi-instrumentalist and composer) being most put out by the noise levels! [laughs]
RM: As we finish, I’d like to return to where we started, the new album and tour.
This will be a great opportunity for fans and lovers of intimate singer-guitar shows to hear you performing a collection of your songs. Can we expect a number of Bless the Wind tracks?
ID: Yes. Most of the set is from Bless the Wind and Notes, with a few oldies thrown in for good measure.
I’m absolutely enjoying the solo stuff – small, intimate concerts I love.
RM: Your solo rendition of a song that features on the Ivan Drever Band EP, ‘Walk Beside Your Shoes,’ did not make the final cut for Bless the Wind, but you have since made it available as a free download.
Will we be hearing it on the tour?
ID: Yes, I always like to play it live. I’m always slightly surprised how well it goes down because it’s such a simple wee thing, but then maybe that’s why!
RM: I think so. Its beauty is in its simplicity...
The Ivan Drever Band: electric folk 'n' roll from Finlay Wells, Andy Murray, ID and Iain Coates
RM: You have worked and recorded with many great musicians, but I was wondering if you would ever consider writing or recording with a young man who is one of our most accomplished contemporary folk singer songwriters. Goes by the name of Kris Drever…
ID: [laughs] I would love to, but it’s much harder to pin him down than me! He’s one of the hardest working musicians I know and I don’t see him as much as I’d like, but that's a good thing because it means he's busy.
He’s got a brother, Duncan, who is great too. Maybe one day the three of us could do an album; I’d like that.
RM: Forget Mumford and Sons, here's Drever and Sons [laughter]. Joking aside, it would be wonderful if that could become a reality.
Am I right in saying Kris also toured with the Celtic Fusion music and dance show you composed the songs and music for?
ID: That’s right, we toured the States for around six weeks with it. Because most of the band was American, he was the only proper drinking buddy I had! But yes, he’s a great musician and I’m very proud of him.
RM: That project and tour must have been interesting work and quite gratifying to have been chosen as the lead composer. How did the opportunity arise?
ID: Well I think they’d been listening to a lot of Wolfstone albums; they probably checked to see who was writing most of the stuff and got in touch. It was a lot of fun, touring eighteen states in six weeks, although sharing a tour bus with a bunch of screaming seventeen-year-old American dancers wasn’t too pleasurable!
I seem to remember poor Fraser Fiffield (multi-instrumentalist and composer) being most put out by the noise levels! [laughs]
RM: As we finish, I’d like to return to where we started, the new album and tour.
This will be a great opportunity for fans and lovers of intimate singer-guitar shows to hear you performing a collection of your songs. Can we expect a number of Bless the Wind tracks?
ID: Yes. Most of the set is from Bless the Wind and Notes, with a few oldies thrown in for good measure.
I’m absolutely enjoying the solo stuff – small, intimate concerts I love.
RM: Your solo rendition of a song that features on the Ivan Drever Band EP, ‘Walk Beside Your Shoes,’ did not make the final cut for Bless the Wind, but you have since made it available as a free download.
Will we be hearing it on the tour?
ID: Yes, I always like to play it live. I’m always slightly surprised how well it goes down because it’s such a simple wee thing, but then maybe that’s why!
RM: I think so. Its beauty is in its simplicity...
RM: As ‘Walk Beside Your Shoes’ plays us out Ivan, it just remains for me to thank you for stopping by at FabricationsHQ. See you out on the road…
ID: Pleasure, Ross. Hope to catch up again soon!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Ivan Drever
September 2011
Ivan Drever website: http://ivandrever.co.uk/
Visit Band Camp to hear, buy and download albums by Ivan Drever: http://ivandrever.bandcamp.com/
Featured audio tracks are presented to accompany the above article and by kind permission of Ivan Drever. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Photo Credit (live shot): Tinged Memories Professional Photography
ID: Pleasure, Ross. Hope to catch up again soon!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Ivan Drever
September 2011
Ivan Drever website: http://ivandrever.co.uk/
Visit Band Camp to hear, buy and download albums by Ivan Drever: http://ivandrever.bandcamp.com/
Featured audio tracks are presented to accompany the above article and by kind permission of Ivan Drever. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Photo Credit (live shot): Tinged Memories Professional Photography
