Folk musician and songwriter Kris Drever to appear at The Apex

Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter Kris Drever is probably best known as a singer and guitarist with the pioneering folk trio Lau and they are due to appear at The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, next month.

A leading light on the UK roots scene for well over a decade, his solo work began in earnest in 2006 with the release of the album “Black Water”, and he had already impressed audiences across the world via his work with Kate Rusby, Karine Polwart and Eddie Reader.

Since the release of his acclaimed 2020 album “Where The World Is Thin”, Kris has won “Album of The Year” at the Scots Trad Music Award 2021 and won a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Song, which takes the total to seven – he’s previously won Best Newcomer, Best Group and Folk Singer of the Year.

2023 sees Kris tour with his band (for the first time outside of his work with Lau) in support of his new single “Catterline” and new album “The Best Of”.

The expansive (36 track) compilation album features new songs (“Catterline”, “Punchbag” and “Dust In Light”), key songs from Drever’s solo albums (“Black Water”, “Mark The Hard Earth”, “If Wishes Were Horses” and “Where The World Is Thin”) and choice cuts from his recordings with Aidan O’Rourke and Martin Green as Lau.

“The Best Of” album features many guest performances from over 17 years of recordings including Boo Hewerdine, Eddi Reader, Kate Rusby, Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), John McCusker and Joan As Police Woman.

Kris explains” “Collaboration has always been at the heart of my enjoyment of music. I love the freedom of heading out on my own; I love the challenge of trying to realise full arrangements with just a guitar and a vocal but, for me, nothing comes close to building those invisible cathedrals with my comrades. The excitement of real musical dialogue is overwhelming: the knowledge that something is happening in front of me that can’t ever be exactly replicated is fascinating and frankly, even after all these years as a musician, miraculous.”

Describing his new band, Kris says: “For the last few years, I’ve been working with a really special group of musicians, mostly in the studio or for various TV and online performances – although we have made it out into the light very occasionally for gigs.

“Louis Abbott is a multi-instrumentalist (drums, guitars, keys) and vocalist who is best known as the front man of Scottish Indie collective Admiral Fallow; Euan Burton is my long time co-producer and absolutely stellar double bassist; and Rachel Lightbody is a highly prized Jazz singer who also excels in her work as a backing vocal artist.”

The anticipation for his first Kris Drever Band tour shines through. “We’ve found a route into songs from across my back catalogue, and in many cases opened them up in ways that I could never have figured out on my own. The upshot of all this is that it’s time to take this fresh sound and retrospective collection on the road. It’s time now to share these wonderful people and the experiences they create with as wide an audience as possible, because they’re fabulous.”

The Kris Drever band is at The Apex on Wednesday, June 14, at 7.30pm. Visit the websitewww.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more information or to book tickets.