Kris Drever - Harvest Gypsies

Kris Drever plays Harvest Gypsies.
From a live show at The Phoenix, Exeter, Devon on 9th March 2017.
(song originally written by Boo Hewerdine).

[peterdelmonte]

I’ve only recently found Kris Drever. I found several versions of this and other songs performed by him with others. I searched for a solo version and found it. Going back decades to watching Pentangle concerts waiting to hear the odd solos by Renbourn and Jansch, I’ve always much preferred solo renditions. When even one other instrument joins in, the emotion and tension of the song feels sucked out. Acoustic instruments are a part of that troubadour experience too. I have only ever owned the early acoustic Dylan albums: I’d probably have been booing at his infamous first electric performance! Much has been written about Dylan’s songwriting genius but if it’s after those first (4 I think) acoustic “LPs”, I have never heard them.
But like Nic Jones, Mr Drever raises my hairs. In fact his version of Isle of France is just about the only version of a song sung by Nic Jones that I prefer to Nic’s.
I’m sure this is a minority view but music is the most personal of tastes. I’d guess that Kris Drever’s politics accords pretty closely with mine too. There’s always somebody new to discover!