Ben Beveridge

Toes were tapping, hands were clapping and smiles were all around Nov. 5 as Ben Beveridge and Fox Valley's Maria Danvers entertained a crowd of about 100 at the historic Lyric Theatre. The husband-and-wife duo from Maple Creek was in Swift Current as part of their tour of western Canada. They performed for almost two hours with a brief intermission, playing everything from Danvers' original pop-inflected country songs to Beveridge's old-time fiddle playing. The evening began with a selection of cover songs such as Suzy Bogguss' "Outbound Plane", along with some of Danvers' own songs from her debut album "As Long As There's You", with Beveridge providing harmony vocals and accompaniment on a multitude of instruments. The two-time provincial fiddle Grand Champion closed out the first set with several tunes showcasing his fiddling prowess, including some East Coast reels and classic wrestern swing. Before the intermission, Beveridge promised the audiencea "surprise" to begin the second set. danvers beveridge The surprise turned out to be a cameo appearance from his sister Rebecca, herself a deft fiddler and also the duo's promoter. The siblings delighted the audience with a trio of fiddle tunes before Beveridge crooned some laidback old-time songs. Danvers rejoined her husband onstage and they sang a few more duets like the Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do is Dream". The festivities reached a crescendo when Beveridge onceagain hauled out the fiddle for a serious workout. The highlight was a barnstorming rendition of the bluegrass standard "The Orange Blossom Special". The crowd cheered his violin virtuosity as well as the skills of David Barber on guitar, Beveridge's brother Aspen on drums and Clark Schaufele on upright bass and keyboards. The show closed with a two-song encore, ending with a cover of "Tennessee Flat Top Box" by Roseanne Cash. Look for Ben Beveridge and Maria Danvers to make their way to Swift Current again sometime in 2010. If the scrum that surrounded them after the show for autographs and conversation is any indication, they can expect another sizeable and appreciative audience. - Prairie Post

When Maria Danvers gets on stage to perform, it's a real family affair.

During her shows, she's up on stage along with her husband Ben Beveridge, a singer and songwriter in his own right, and her brother-in-law on drums.

Another brother-in-law runs the sound and her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter lends a hand on stage.

"It's a tight little entourage that we've got there," said Danvers.

Danvers and Beveridge bring this show to the Cochrane RancheHouse on Jan. 22, mixing a whole host of genres, running the gamut from country to pop.

Danvers cites a wide range of artists as influences, including Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, The Bee Gees and Neil Diamond.

If that seems like an unusual mix of artists, Danvers is glad to hear it.

"I think that you can hear a little bit of all of those musical artists and the music that I like in what I play," she said. "It's really great for me to hear that it's an interesting mix of influences, because that means my music that I create has got a unique spin on it, which is what I go for."

Beveridge, on the other hand, leans a bit more traditional in his music according to Danvers.

"[He] leans towards cowboy and western swing. For me, I have a really big issue with commitment and it comes through when I try to describe my music. It's country-folk with a classic rock/pop twist," she said.

The family influence on Danvers' and Beveridges' show doesn't end at the personnel — for Danvers, at least, taking events from her life is a big part of her music.

Advertisement

"I can be inspired by somebody in my life or an event that I see or an event that I hear from somebody else. It's really how the situation affects me. When I was first dating my husband — it's going to sound cheesy, but I got a lot of inspiration out of the beginning of that relationship and what it developed into," she said.

Their daughter even became a source of inspiration before she was born, as Danvers got the songwriting bug at random times during her pregnancy.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and I heard these lyrics and I heard this music and I knew I had to record it. She must have been influencing me somehow," said Danvers.

This family connection on tour has made going on the road all that much easier, although they have begun to split their tours up to get more time at home for their daughter.

Danvers describes her and her husband as two solo artists working together, since they have such divergent styles. A duet album will be in the works for them someday, she said, but the benefit of touring as a family remains important.

"Having somebody who completely understands not only the business, but the demands of it and what it all involves, the schedule, the musician lingo, it's so nice having a partner that's into the same thing. The fact that we get to do it together makes it so much better," she said.

Maria Danvers and Ben Beveridge will perform at the Cochrane RancheHouse with opening act The Doll Sisters on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Grand Saddlery & Western Wear, or by calling 403-932-6686.
- Cochrane Times

A good crowd turned out to the Plaza Theatre last week to hear the extraordinary sounds of Southwest performers Ben Beveridge and Maria Danvers.
Beveridge has been acclaimed as one of the best fiddlers to emerge from Saskatchewan and the show in Shaunavon Nov. 8 featured an inspired variety of musical genres ranging from traditional country and old time to bluegrass and celtic.
“I’m always glad to perform in the area, see old friends, and catch up with people we haven’t seen for a while,” Beveridge told The Standard. “It’s always exciting to visit and show everyone what we are working on, and the music we're playing. I look forward to coming back again soon.”
In fact, Sunday’s performance marked the second time this year that the duo has staged a concert at the local theatre.
“It was an awesome show,” said Bree Goldstein Allen of the Plaza Theatre. “I had really good feedback from the public for their first concert, and so when they were putting together another tour, and approached me about doing a concert at the Plaza, I jumped at the chance.”
“Even though he is young, Ben is very well known in the area for his talent,” she added. “And he’s a Southwest boy, so it’s nice to be able to help support him.”
Beveridge, who ranches and runs a business in Maple Creek, certainly has an impressive resume.
He has twice been named the Saskatchewan Grand Champion Fiddle Player, is a perennial competitor at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship, and in 2005 was an inaugural recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Celebration of the Arts Pin, in recognition of a significant contribution to the arts in Saskatchewan.
Beveridge has been playing in bands since he was thirteen.
A classically trained musician, he has played with a wide variety of groups.
In addition to his stage work, Ben's skill as a studio musician is also widely regarded and has been utilized by many other recording artists.
In 1994 he recorded his first album “Serves Me Right.” He released the album “The Parlour Sessions” in 2005, and is currently at work on several new albums. He is scheduled to release a new recording early in the New Year.
Beveridge’s skills with the violin are well chronicled, but he also plays the guitar, bass, mandolin, and percussion as well as writing and arranging music.
After being featured in the spotlight with appearances far and wide such as Canada’s Cowboy Festival, “Billy Bob’s” club in Texas, the SCMA Award Show, Saskatoon’s All-Star Pro Rodeo, CBC's Stuart McLean at the Vinyl Café, Cowboys Heroes and Friends, and the CCMA Awards, Ben continues to perform with some of the best performers in the business.
Over the past few years Ben has been privileged to tour with artists such as David Wilkie & Cowboy Celtic, Reese Klaiber, Tammy Gislason, Ben Crane, and many more. He has also appeared on the newest recordings of those performers and others including Jake Peters, Jim Reader, and Mike Burns, and has toured extensively across North America and the U.K.
But Beveridge wasn’t the only talented musician to take the stage in Shaunavon last Sunday.
Maria Danvers, who just happens to be Beveridge's wife, is an equally talented performer and she also delighted local audiences with her own incredible musical abilities.
Danvers is a singer/songwriter who grew up the oldest of eight kids, the daughter of a grain farmer outside of Fox Valley.
Shortly after graduating from high school, she moved to Calgary, spent time working with a music management team, put a band together and began touring.
She has toured to locations as far north as Whitehorse, Yukon to as far south as Florida.
Danvers only recently returned to the stage after taking a songwriting/family-making hiatus for a few of years.
In April 2007, she married Beveridge and in May 2008 the couple’s daughter Cameron Elizabeth was born.
“I am truly enjoying this musical trip, sometimes taken in baby steps, sometimes in leaps and bounds,” said Danvers. “I can’t wait to see where my journeys will take me.”
Danvers released her first CD “As Long As Theres You” earlier this year.
The couple is in the midst of a tour that will take them across Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The musicians will be back in the Southwest next month for a concert at Spring Valley Guest Ranch at Ravenscrag on December 18.
Members of the touring band also include Clark Schaufele, David Barber and Beveridge Ben’s brother Aspen Beveridge (drummer/vocals) .
The musical endeavour, in fact, is mammoth family undertaking for Beveridge as Ben’s sister Rebecca serves as a performer/ business manager and brother Grieg operates the sound equipment. Ben’s parents also join the team on the road to offer their support , and the family atmosphere is further enhanced with the addition of 18-month old Cameron, who also travels with the group. - Shaunavon Standard

“Living so close to the land really created an appreciation for simple things,” said Saskatchewan singer/songwriter Maria Danvers on her musical inspirations.

Danvers is currently promoting her debut 12-track CD, As Long As There’s You, and she is headed to Cochrane Jan. 22 at the RancheHouse at 7 p.m.

Not alone in her musical quest, Danvers is joined by her husband, Ben Beveridge, who sports a reputation as one of the finest fiddle players to emerge from Saskatchewan in recent years.

Beveridge, a classically trained fiddler, has twice been named the Saskatchewan Grand Champion Fiddle Player and has had the opportunity to share the stage and record with many players in the Canadian music scene — including Brad Paisley, Ian Tyson and Paul Brandt.

Beveridge has two albums under his own name, Serves Me Right (1994) and The Parlour Sessions (2005). He not only plays the fiddle, but is a singer that plays many different instruments, a composer, a writer, an engineer and a producer.

The tour began in May 2009 and continues until the end of January 2010, although they’re taking the months of February and March off to begin work on a new album.
And Danvers is also expecting the birth of their second child in the month of March.

Danvers, who defines herself as a “country-folk artist with a classic rock-pop twist” is successfully fusing her own style with that of her husband’s “western-swing cowboy music” flavor.

In this concert series, which has covered considerable Alberta and Saskatchewan ground this month, Beveridge and Danvers each front a set and perform the last set as a duet.

Tickets are available at Grand Saddlery & Western Wear at (403) 932-6686. - Cochrane Eagle