Dave Woodhall talks to a musician who’s enjoying himself.
Some people have lifelong dreams that never get past the ideas stage and they spend their time bemoaning how they could have done it, if only the time was right, or they had the finance, or contacts, or…
Or they could have been Chris Bevington, 52 year old Staffordshire blues bass player and man on a mission, who wanted to get into the studio and record. The result, Chris Bevington & Friends, got glowing reviews on its release last year and the band he put together for the recording are now playing live, with dates including the Colne Blues Festival on August Bank Holiday and before that a warm-up before at the Robin on 3rd August. He told us how it all started.
“I’ve spent most of my life in bands but I always had an ambition to go into a studio with people I admire. I was on holiday when I made a list of musicians I wanted to play with and I thought that if I could get these people to do it, if I could persuade them, do the orchestrations and then take it from there, could it be done?
“Well, they agreed and originally it was going to be three tracks. But I was so pleased and everything was going so well that the momentum took over and we went off in an entirely new direction. More people got involved and they put their heart and soul into it. We ended up with eleven songs, the full album and it came out last year.”
The band included George Glover from the Climax Blues Band, 10cc drummer PauL Burgess and Jim Kirkpatrick, guitarist with FM. You talk about momentum and that’s obvious both from listening to the album and reading reviews of that and your live shows. You all seem to be enjoying yourselves and there’s a real enthusiasm for the music.
“I noticed that from the start. Everyone in the studio was laughing and joking, having fun, everyone gets on so well, they’re all such great musicians but all so modest and likeable. Their enthusiasm was brilliant and that’s continued over into the live shows.”
You didn’t go for the obvious choices either. There’s some standards such as Crossroads, but there’s also lesser-known things by modern artits like Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
“I did try. The album was put together in three chunks, and they grouped together in a feel. Some of the tracks had big brass sounds, others had a different, slide aspect.”
It must be a buzz to play somewhere like the Robin, particularly when you went from support slots there to headlining.
“Mike Hamblett’s been extraordinary. I sent him a CD and I thought if I didn’t hear anything fine, but he rang me up right away, he was impressed and gave me a couple of supports. Now he’s given us a headline gig. I’ve watched many a great band there and it’s such a great venue.”
You’ll be following in the footsteps of Jack Bruce, Steve Cropper, Booker T, people like that so there’s no pressure.
“Er, yes, I’m getting nervous already. I’ve very respectful of who’s played there and I’m not sure why I’m up there but I know why the rest of the band are. They play these sort of venues regularly and they deserve to but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve got the full band, most of them played on the album, with the brass section and the backing singers.”
Then you’re playing the Colne r&b festival, the biggest in Britain and one of the best in the world. Another ambition realised?
“Yes, I’m on the Sunday after the British Blues Awards. We’ve got an hour and again, I’ll put the full show on and that’s another ambition realised.”
Which leads to the obvious question – what next?
“I’ve started on the next album, we’re looking at tracks already and I hope it’ll be out in the next year. In 2015 we should be playing some more festivals; I’m trying to build up contacts and spread the word.”
You seem to have achieved a lot of your ambitions. Do you have any more, and are you setting your sights higher?
“I work on the theory that everything’s focused. Things have happened that I would never have expected, the album coming out, getting good reviews and getting into the blues charts. I’ve surpassed everything I ever wanted to do but my final ambition is to carry on playing and enjoying myself.”
Chris Bevington plays the Robin on 3rd August. www.therobin.co.uk www.chrisbevingtonmusic.co.uk