Alex Bevan
Encyclopedia
Alex Bevan is a guitarist
, singer, songwriter
, poet
, radio
personality and musical producer living in North Madison, Ohio
. He is married to Deirdre Bevan, and has a son named William Cody Bevan.
. While a student at Akron University, Bevan was introduced to his first producer, Eric Stevens, who signed him to Big Tree Records
. His first album, No Truth to Sell, was released with the single "Linda’s Song", which got some airplay. Between 1971 and 1976, Bevan performed as an opening act for such headliners as the Earl Scruggs
Review, Pure Prairie League
, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
, Jerry Jeff Walker
, Jimmy Buffett
, Livingston Taylor
, Billy Joel
and others.
Radio with a band called Alex Bevan and the Buzzard Band, featuring DJ Matt the Cat on guitar. He performed in the mid 1970s with an acoustic trio consisting of two guitars and electric bass, and opened for such acts as Seals and Crofts
, The Michael Stanley Band, The Doobie Brothers and Hall & Oates
. He soon added David Krauss from the band Tiny Alice to the group, supplying percussion and harmonica. They toured either under the name Grand River Band or Alex Bevan and Friends from 1979 until 1981, and produced the albums The Grand River Lullaby, Alex Bevan and Friends Live, and Simple Things Done Well. In the early 80's Bevan produced the direct-to-disk digital
solo album Tales of the Low Tech Troubadour Vol. 1. He played in the band Alex Bevan & Cuttlefish from 1984 through 1986. In the late 80s to early 90s, he produced the albums Best Kept Secrets, Cuttlefish Live, and Watersongs.
His latest releases include South Shore Serenade, Rules of the Road, Fall & Angels and Live at the Kent Stage. An avid producer of folk music, he has produced five recordings for the popular Put-in-Bay/Key West performer Pat Dailey, and written over one hundred radio and TV commercials. He still plays many venues, including the Hessler Street and Coventry Street Fairs in Greater Cleveland, Ohio, the Starwood Festival
, Put-In Bay, the Burning River Festival, Cain Park, and Kelleys Island
.
Bevan organized a benefit for fellow Cleveland area singer/songwriter John Bassette
on May 19, 2002 at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern in Cleveland, OH, featuring Jim Ballard, Charlie Wiener, Michael Stanley, Jim Schafer, and many others. In 2007 a tribute CD for Bassette, Been Through So Much Together: The Songs of John Bassette, was released by Skyline Productions, which featured Bevan and others. Around the same time, Bevan released a posthumous collection of previously-unreleased songs by John Bassette called Rainbow Colored Clouds. He also plays for the Roots of American Music Annual Benefit for Education.
Radio station's Sunday night live concerts from Agency Recording in 1971. He was a frequent guest artist on WMMS' Coffeebreak Concerts, and co-hosted a show with David Spero
called A Folk Special for a Sunday Afternoon. He also hosted a Saturday morning radio show on WMMS Cleveland for a short time.
In 1988 Bevan did a series of musical radio advertisements for the Cleveland Browns
. A new song each week of the season recapped the game from the week before and setup the upcoming game. Each week's song was in a different musical style.
on his first children's album, a musical fairytale with an environmental message titled Who Killed the Dragon?. This was followed by two award-winning critically acclaimed works: Magic Moments from the Children’s Nature Schoolhouse (produced for the Lake Metroparks) and All the Rivers Run (Produced for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center).
for his postscore of The Rustbelt Blues (1987), the final segment of NBC
’s American Promise documentary series.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
personality and musical producer living in North Madison, Ohio
North Madison, Ohio
North Madison is a census-designated place in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,451 at the 2000 census.-Geography:North Madison is located at ....
. He is married to Deirdre Bevan, and has a son named William Cody Bevan.
Early life
Bevan began his musical career playing the French horn at Chambers Elementary School. In 1965, while at Shaw High School in East Cleveland, he acquired a six-string classical guitar. He played local night clubs and various coffeehouses in the Cleveland area such as "La Cave" and "Faragher’s Back Room". His first position in a group was as a backup musician with Irish folk singers Gusty & Sean at Fagan's Beacon House in the Flats of Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. While a student at Akron University, Bevan was introduced to his first producer, Eric Stevens, who signed him to Big Tree Records
Big Tree Records
Big Tree Records was a record label founded by current Sony Music Entertainment chairman Doug Morris in 1970. They were best known for releases by Lobo, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Brownsville Station and British R&B group Hot Chocolate....
. His first album, No Truth to Sell, was released with the single "Linda’s Song", which got some airplay. Between 1971 and 1976, Bevan performed as an opening act for such headliners as the Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
Review, Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League, sometimes abbreviated PPL, is an American country-rock band whose roots began between 1964 and 1969 in Waverly, Ohio with Craig Fuller, George Powell, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan and John David Call. In 1970 McGrail named the band after a 19th century temperance union mentioned...
, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
, Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter, born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He attended the Westtown School in Pennsylvania...
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
and others.
Musical career
The release of the album Springboard got him some public recognition due to the local hit song Skinny Little Boy. In 1977 he performed on the air on Cleveland's WMMSWMMS
WMMS — branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, widely recognized as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout much of the history of FM broadcasting...
Radio with a band called Alex Bevan and the Buzzard Band, featuring DJ Matt the Cat on guitar. He performed in the mid 1970s with an acoustic trio consisting of two guitars and electric bass, and opened for such acts as Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
, The Michael Stanley Band, The Doobie Brothers and Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
. He soon added David Krauss from the band Tiny Alice to the group, supplying percussion and harmonica. They toured either under the name Grand River Band or Alex Bevan and Friends from 1979 until 1981, and produced the albums The Grand River Lullaby, Alex Bevan and Friends Live, and Simple Things Done Well. In the early 80's Bevan produced the direct-to-disk digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
solo album Tales of the Low Tech Troubadour Vol. 1. He played in the band Alex Bevan & Cuttlefish from 1984 through 1986. In the late 80s to early 90s, he produced the albums Best Kept Secrets, Cuttlefish Live, and Watersongs.
His latest releases include South Shore Serenade, Rules of the Road, Fall & Angels and Live at the Kent Stage. An avid producer of folk music, he has produced five recordings for the popular Put-in-Bay/Key West performer Pat Dailey, and written over one hundred radio and TV commercials. He still plays many venues, including the Hessler Street and Coventry Street Fairs in Greater Cleveland, Ohio, the Starwood Festival
Starwood Festival
The Starwood Festival is a seven-day Neo-Pagan, New Age, multi-cultural and world music festival presented in mid- to late July. Approximately 1,500 people attend including staff, speakers and entertainers. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops on a variety of subjects...
, Put-In Bay, the Burning River Festival, Cain Park, and Kelleys Island
Kelleys Island, Ohio
Kelleys Island is both a village in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and the island which it fully occupies in Lake Erie. Originally known as Island Number 6 and later Cunningham Island, it was renamed in 1840 for brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who were largely responsible for cultivatating the...
.
Bevan organized a benefit for fellow Cleveland area singer/songwriter John Bassette
John Bassette
John Bassette was a folk singer/songwriter, poet and cable television personality in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, United States, area. He was born in Hampton, Virginia, USA.- Musical career :...
on May 19, 2002 at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern in Cleveland, OH, featuring Jim Ballard, Charlie Wiener, Michael Stanley, Jim Schafer, and many others. In 2007 a tribute CD for Bassette, Been Through So Much Together: The Songs of John Bassette, was released by Skyline Productions, which featured Bevan and others. Around the same time, Bevan released a posthumous collection of previously-unreleased songs by John Bassette called Rainbow Colored Clouds. He also plays for the Roots of American Music Annual Benefit for Education.
Radio
Bevan appeared on the premiere broadcast of Cleveland's WNCRWGAR-FM
WGAR-FM — branded 99.5 WGAR — is a commercial radio station in Cleveland, Ohio with a country music format. Studios are located at 6200 Oak Tree Boulevard off of Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio along with other local Clear Channel stations, and its transmitter is located in Parma.- WGAR:The...
Radio station's Sunday night live concerts from Agency Recording in 1971. He was a frequent guest artist on WMMS' Coffeebreak Concerts, and co-hosted a show with David Spero
David Spero
David Spero was a "rock-radio pioneer" in the 1970s and is a "high-profile" music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.-Radio DJ:...
called A Folk Special for a Sunday Afternoon. He also hosted a Saturday morning radio show on WMMS Cleveland for a short time.
In 1988 Bevan did a series of musical radio advertisements for the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. A new song each week of the season recapped the game from the week before and setup the upcoming game. Each week's song was in a different musical style.
Children's programs
Bevan collaborated with David YoungDavid Young (musician)
David Young is an American musician. Two of his albums, Renaissance and Solace, have been nominated for Grammy Awards. He is known for his ability to play two recorders simultaneously. He was also a member of the new age duo Celestial Winds with harpist Lisa Franco.- Life and career :Young started...
on his first children's album, a musical fairytale with an environmental message titled Who Killed the Dragon?. This was followed by two award-winning critically acclaimed works: Magic Moments from the Children’s Nature Schoolhouse (produced for the Lake Metroparks) and All the Rivers Run (Produced for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center).
Skinny Pickles
Bevan and his wife run a company producing a line of home-grown gourmet pickles called "Skinny Pickles".Awards
Bevan won an Emmy awardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his postscore of The Rustbelt Blues (1987), the final segment of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
’s American Promise documentary series.
Discography
- No Truth to Sell (1971) Big Tree Records
- Springboard (1976) Fiddler's Wynde (CD reissued by Little Fish Records)
- The Grand River Lullaby (1978) Fiddler's Wynde (CD reissued by Little Fish Records)
- Alex Bevan and Friends Live: Come for to See You...Come for to Sing! (1980)
- Simple Things Done Well (1981) Fiddler's Wynde
- Tales of the Low Tech Troubadour Vol. 1
- Best Kept Secrets (1985)
- Cuttlefish Live
- Watersongs (1998) Fiddler's Wynde
- Homework (CD - October 31, 2000) Fiddler's Wynde
- Sweetwater Pete (January 23, 2006) Fiddler's Wynde
- Invitation (February 26, 2008) Fiddler's Wynde
- Who Killed the Dragon? (with David Young)
- Magic Moments from the Children’s Nature Schoolhouse - Lake Metroparks
- D.A.T.'s The Way It's Done! (1992) Fiddler's Wynde Music - Cassette
- All the Rivers Run - Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center
- South Shore Serenade (March 26, 1998) Fiddler's Wynde
- Rules of the Road (March 26, 1998) Fiddler's Wynde
- Live at the Kent Stage: Dancing With the Muse (November 18, 2008) Little Fish Records
- Connected to the Web (February 24, 2004) Fiddler's Wynde
- Fall & Angels (2008) Little Fish Records
- A Tribute to the Great Lakes (with Pat Dailey & Murdock) (2006) Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence
Also appears on
- The Pride of Cleveland: WMMS FM 101 - Various (1980) (CD release 2002 Esquire Records)
- Raw Bars - Pat Dailey (with Macaw) (1994) Olympia Records Inc.
- Shorelines - Pat Dailey - Olympia Records
- Pat Dailey Live 'N' Kickin (2000) Olympia Records Inc.
- Woodchoppers Ball - Various (2007) Divine Wind Records
- Been Through So Much Together: The Songs of John Bassette - Various (2007) Skyline Productions / Little Fish Records
- ...In Blue - Mike Calzone (2007) Little Fish Records
Filmography
Bevan performs in the TV special The Return of the Cuyahoga (2008) - Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc., America’s River Communities, Inc., and WVIZ/PBS ideastreamMedia appearances
- WNCX Morning Show: April 6, 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0dITCRteM
- Cain Park 1991 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNl6evMN20s