IVAN DREVER -       Press Reviews  

INVERNESS COURIER Friday 4th February 2000.               

" SINGER MANAGES TO SHINE ON HIS OWN "  

ON these dark nights, the stalls foyer of Eden Court is proving ideal for folk and jazz performances. It has an atmosphere and intimacy that suits this kind of music and being in the engaging presence of this long, lean Orkney-born singer-songwriter was almost like sitting in his front room.

      Now resident in Inverness, the former member of Wolfstone is one of the finest in a rich stream of talent produced by the Highlands & Islands in recent years - a composer with an ear for a strong melody, a lyricist with an acute sense of rhyme and a performer with an equally rare ability to ornament his gentle expressive voice with imaginative guitar accompaniment. Drever has the technique to make one instrument sound like three.                                                                                  

     Songs about the Vikings, the cattle drovers and Clearances reflect the history and traditions of the North of Scotlandwhile others like "Stevie Sings The Blues" and a beautiful slow air, "The Flower of Kristiansand", are drawn from personal experience.

The medium-paced Country-flavoured "Snowdrops In The Rain" would be snapped up if it ever got to Nashville. Drever's program on Wednesday evening was seasoned with some traditional tunes and a discerning choice of songs by other singer-songwriters, including "Neil Gow's Apprentice" by Michael Marra and John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" which put Drever's talent's into a wider perspective. A veteran folk fan declared that his version of "Lady Take Your Time" was even better than that of Alan Taylor who composed it.

The first set could not be faulted but the second was more uneven. Older songs like "The Braes of Sutherland" and "Homeland" sounded derivative or less accomplished than later Drever material but his instrumental arrangement of "The Rowan Tree" and an encore, "Wild Mountain Thyme", were remarkable demonstrations of his gift for refreshing well-worn material.                                                             J.L.