Sandwick Hall, West Mainland, Orkney, 4 August 2011

ORKNEY-raised Ivan Drever returned to his home islands for his ‘world tour of Orkney’; a prelude to a forthcoming tour of Scotland in October. The former Wolfstone player is travelling solo, minus his Ivan Drever Band or his sometime duo partner, Duncan Chisholm.

An enthusiastic home-grown audience welcomed Ivan home at Sandwick Hall. He landed after wowing folk on his home island of Sanday, where he grew up as one of ten children.

Orkney-born singer and songwriter Ivan Drever

But first up on the stage in Sandwick were the evening’s support act, Broken Strings, the award-winning folk group of 14 and 15-year-olds who write their own tunes and play with gusto, accomplishment and supreme confidence.

They won the Danny Kyle Open Stage at this year’s Celtic Connections and the Open Stage at Orkney Folk Festival. Each took their turn introducing a tune, modestly mentioning who had written it and for what occasion. These included teachers retiring or a friend being chased by a bull – a mix of a slow reel with a hint of Spanish tension and the up-tempo chase.

The supreme confidence of these youngsters, tutored by Saltfishforty’s Douglas Montgomery, is astounding. Magnus Bichan juggled pipes, fiddle and banjo for various tunes while the mesmerising hands of Guille Lopez rippled like waves on the cajon. Add Robbie Stevenson on the box,  and Chloe Peace, Graham Low and Graham Rorie on fiddle, the latter also playing the mandolin plus Aidan Moodie on guitar and it is obvious why this band wowed audiences at Celtic Connections earlier this year.

Their influences are the multi-instrumental The Chair and Session A9 but their own compositions give them a unique identity.

“Watching Broken Strings play it is safe to say the future is in good hands,” said Drever as he and his guitar took over the stage. While the youngsters favoured fast reels and toe tappers, Ivan took the retrospective line, singing beautiful slow songs of the hardship of working the unforgiving land in days gone by and the lost way of life on islands like Sanday. Particularly poignant was If I Could, wishing he could walk in his father’s shoes and see him again.

There may be sad lines from the gorgeous voice with the Scottish and country chilled guitar, but the Drever banter brought laughter.  When the Queen came to Orkney to open a window in St Magnus Cathedral (no one told her we don’t open windows much in Orkney), The Rose of St Magnus tune was his response.

His latest album, out this month, is Bless the Wind [an appropriate choice for an Orcadian – Ed.]. Its title track says more about tending the soil but is a celebration: bless the wind that took you here, bless the wind that drew you near.

There’s more of a country influence and a slight speeding up of tempo in these new songs, still a nod to his childhood on Sanday where Jim Reeves and Johnny cash were favourites. Give Me Your Sweet Heart is totally a new country song.

Following the recent tragic events in Norway, where Drever lives, his tune to his Norwegian wife, The Flower of Kristiansund, was dedicated to mark “this poignant time”.

Catch Ivan Drever on his Scottish tour starting at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness on 4 October, for one of Scotland’s finest songwriters and players.

© Catherine Turnbull, 2011

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