Kris Drever
Encyclopedia
Kris Drever is a Scottish
contemporary folk musician and songwriter, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water. Drever also plays in the folk trio, Lau
, alongside Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke, and has worked with numerous other British folk contemporaries including Kate Rusby
, John McCusker
, Eddi Reader
and Julie Fowlis
.
Kris is the son of Ivan Drever, a former member of Wolfstone
.
where he learned to play guitar
and participated in the island's folk festival. In 1995 at age 17 he moved to Edinburgh
where he played at the Tron Ceilidh House several nights a week. He played the double bass
for a time but returned to the guitar where his style - "a highly individual blend of rhythm and harmony, folk, jazz, rock and country inflections" - made him a sought after session musician
.
In late 2000 he began playing alongside Nuala Kennedy and Anna-Wendy Stevenson in a weekly session at Sandy Bell's pub in Edinburgh. The trio became known as Fine Friday which toured in the UK, Europe and Australia and released two albums before disbanding. Drever went on to collaborate with a number of prominent folk musicians including: Cathy Ryan of Irish-American supergroup Cherish the Ladies
; Scottish fiddlers John McCusker
and Bruce MacGregor
; Irish accordionist Leo McCann; Gaelic band Tannas
; and the Irish dance show Celtic Fusion. Drever is also a founding member of the folk collective Session A9, has been a member of Kate Rusby
's band and has worked with contemporary folk artists Eddi Reader
and Julie Fowlis
.
In 2005 Drever formed the trio Lau
along with Scottish fiddler Aidan O'Rourke and English accordionist Martin Green. The band has released two studio albums and conducted numerous tours throughout the UK and worldwide. His most recent collaboration has been with Roddy Woomble
, lead singer of Scottish indie band Idlewild
, and John McCusker. The trio worked, along with other notable folk musicians, on an album entitled Before the Ruin
which was released in September 2008.
Before the release of Black Water, Drever had not considered a solo career. In an interview with Mojo
, Drever states:
A live DVD was released July 28, 2008, featuring Drever's "Classic Album" set at 2008's Celtic Connections
.
In January 2010, Drever released his second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth
during Celtic Connections. Drever launched the album with a concert at the Old Fruitmarket on January 29, alongside his former band, Session A9.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
contemporary folk musician and songwriter, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water. Drever also plays in the folk trio, Lau
Lau (band)
Lau is a contemporary folk three-piece from Scotland, named after an Orcadian word meaning "natural light." The band is composed of Kris Drever , Martin Green and Aidan O’Rourke . To date, the band has released two studio albums and a live album.Their debut album, Lightweights and Gentlemen, was...
, alongside Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke, and has worked with numerous other British folk contemporaries including Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
, John McCusker
John McCusker
John McCusker is a Scottish folk musician, record producer and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby...
, Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts...
and Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.-Musical career:Fowlis grew up in North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community, and has been involved in singing, piping and dancing since she was a child.She is a...
.
Kris is the son of Ivan Drever, a former member of Wolfstone
Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Highland music combined with rock and roll. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. To date, they have released seven studio albums, the latest, Terra Firma, in 2007. The band record on their own...
.
Career
Drever grew up in the Orkney IslandsOrkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
where he learned to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and participated in the island's folk festival. In 1995 at age 17 he moved to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
where he played at the Tron Ceilidh House several nights a week. He played the double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
for a time but returned to the guitar where his style - "a highly individual blend of rhythm and harmony, folk, jazz, rock and country inflections" - made him a sought after session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
.
In late 2000 he began playing alongside Nuala Kennedy and Anna-Wendy Stevenson in a weekly session at Sandy Bell's pub in Edinburgh. The trio became known as Fine Friday which toured in the UK, Europe and Australia and released two albums before disbanding. Drever went on to collaborate with a number of prominent folk musicians including: Cathy Ryan of Irish-American supergroup Cherish the Ladies
Cherish the Ladies
Cherish the Ladies is an American all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America in what had been a male-dominated scene...
; Scottish fiddlers John McCusker
John McCusker
John McCusker is a Scottish folk musician, record producer and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby...
and Bruce MacGregor
Bruce MacGregor
Bruce MacGregor was a professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League. During his 15 year career, MacGregor played for the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, scoring 213 goals and 257 assists in 893 games...
; Irish accordionist Leo McCann; Gaelic band Tannas
Tännäs
Tännäs is a church village and parish in Härjedalen, Sweden with a population of 114....
; and the Irish dance show Celtic Fusion. Drever is also a founding member of the folk collective Session A9, has been a member of Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
's band and has worked with contemporary folk artists Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader
Eddi Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts...
and Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.-Musical career:Fowlis grew up in North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community, and has been involved in singing, piping and dancing since she was a child.She is a...
.
In 2005 Drever formed the trio Lau
Lau (band)
Lau is a contemporary folk three-piece from Scotland, named after an Orcadian word meaning "natural light." The band is composed of Kris Drever , Martin Green and Aidan O’Rourke . To date, the band has released two studio albums and a live album.Their debut album, Lightweights and Gentlemen, was...
along with Scottish fiddler Aidan O'Rourke and English accordionist Martin Green. The band has released two studio albums and conducted numerous tours throughout the UK and worldwide. His most recent collaboration has been with Roddy Woomble
Roddy Woomble
Roderick "Roddy" Woomble is the lead singer of Scottish rock band, Idlewild and a solo contemporary folk musician. To date, Woomble has released six full-length studio albums with Idlewild, and two solo albums, My Secret is My Silence and The Impossible Song & Other Songs...
, lead singer of Scottish indie band Idlewild
Idlewild (band)
Idlewild are a Scottish rock band, formed in Edinburgh, in 1995, comprising Roddy Woomble , Rod Jones , Colin Newton , Allan Stewart and Gareth Russell...
, and John McCusker. The trio worked, along with other notable folk musicians, on an album entitled Before the Ruin
Before the Ruin
Before the Ruin is a studio album by Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble, released 15 September 2008 through Navigator Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #156 and the Scottish Albums chart at #45...
which was released in September 2008.
Before the release of Black Water, Drever had not considered a solo career. In an interview with Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, Drever states:
A live DVD was released July 28, 2008, featuring Drever's "Classic Album" set at 2008's Celtic Connections
Celtic Connections
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international...
.
In January 2010, Drever released his second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth
Mark the Hard Earth
Mark the Hard Earth is the second solo album by contemporary folk musician Kris Drever, released January 2010 at Celtic Connections. The album was officially released on March 8, 2010.-Track listing:#"Mark the Hard Earth" - 4:45#"This Old Song" - 3:54...
during Celtic Connections. Drever launched the album with a concert at the Old Fruitmarket on January 29, alongside his former band, Session A9.
Personal life
He is the cousin of game developer and drummer Terry Drever.Solo
- Black Water (2006)
- Mark the Hard EarthMark the Hard EarthMark the Hard Earth is the second solo album by contemporary folk musician Kris Drever, released January 2010 at Celtic Connections. The album was officially released on March 8, 2010.-Track listing:#"Mark the Hard Earth" - 4:45#"This Old Song" - 3:54...
(2010)
With Lau
- Lightweights and GentlemenLightweights and GentlemenLightweights and Gentlemen is the debut studio album by folk band Lau, released on March 19, 2007 to critical acclaim.-Track listing:All tracks arranged by Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke# "Hinba" - 5:07#* "Hinba"...
(2007) - LiveLive (Lau album)Live is a live album by contemporary folk three-piece Lau, released April 28, 2008 through Navigator Records.-Track listing:All tracks arranged by Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke#"Stewarts"#"Banks of Marble"#"Frank and Flo's"...
(2008) - Arc LightArc Light (album)Arc Light is the second studio album by contemporary folk three-piece Lau, released on March 30, 2009 on Navigator Records.The album's bonus track is a cover of The Beatles' song, "Dear Prudence"...
(2009)
With Roddy Woomble and John McCusker
- Before the RuinBefore the RuinBefore the Ruin is a studio album by Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble, released 15 September 2008 through Navigator Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #156 and the Scottish Albums chart at #45...
(2008) #156 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
Other appearances
- The Girl Who Couldn't FlyThe Girl Who Couldn't FlyThe Girl Who Couldn't Fly is an album by British folk musician Kate Rusby, released in 2005. The title refers to Rusby's fear of flying.The album cover features a painting by former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon.-Track listing:...
- Kate RusbyKate RusbyKate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
(2005) - Ballads of the BookBallads of the BookBallads of the Book is a studio album, released on 5 March 2007, on Chemikal Underground. The project was curated by Roddy Woomble, and features collaborations between Scottish musicians and Scottish writers. The album is considered a "joint effort" by all those involved...
- appears on IdlewildIdlewild (band)Idlewild are a Scottish rock band, formed in Edinburgh, in 1995, comprising Roddy Woomble , Rod Jones , Colin Newton , Allan Stewart and Gareth Russell...
's "The Weight of Years" (2007) - Awkward AnnieAwkward AnnieAwkward Annie is the seventh studio album by English contemporary folk musician Kate Rusby, released on 3 September 2007 on Pure Records. The album is the first to be produced by Rusby herself, following her split with husband and producer John McCusker....
- Kate RusbyKate RusbyKate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
(2007) - In Love and Light - Heidi TalbotHeidi TalbotHeidi Talbot is an Irish folk singer from Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. Talbot is the former singer of Irish-American musical group Cherish the Ladies.-Early life and education:...
(2008)
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
- 2007: Horizon Award for Best Newcomer - winner
- 2008: Best Group - winner (with Lau)
- 2009: Best Group - winner (with Lau)
Garden Sessions
- 2008: Song Of The Year - winner for 'Poorest Company' with Roddy Woomble & John McCusker
External links
- Official website Krisdrever.com
- BBC Biography BBC.co.uk