Denver’s music returns to Dunedin

Bevan Gardiner performs in Take Me Home: The Music & Life of John Denver. Photo: supplied.
Bevan Gardiner performs in Take Me Home: The Music & Life of John Denver. Photo: supplied.
Dunedin singer and musician Bevan Gardiner, star of the tribute show Take Me Home: The Music & Life of John Denver, is preparing to bring the production to a New Zealand audience again. Shane Gilchrist asks him a few questions...

Q What attracted you to John Denver’s music?

A At the height of his popularity during the 1970s, he was certainly one of the best song-writers around. His songs have such staying power and the fact that people still know his songs today is a good indication that they are timeless. John Denver has been overlooked as an incredible songwriter. Often people just think of Thank God I’m A Country Boy and Country Roads and the soppier love songs. But if you delve deeper, he had a great command of lyrics and an incredible skill of getting his message across in his songs. I believe a lot of his best songs were the ones that were never the popular chart-topping hits ... Denver was writing about issues that were truly ahead of his time, such as the effect we were having on the environment, and war. Those issues are still relevant, if not more so, today.

Bevan Gardiner and Georgie Daniell work on Here We Are. Photo: Melanie Peters.
Bevan Gardiner and Georgie Daniell work on Here We Are. Photo: Melanie Peters.

 

Q Is your show an attempt to remind people of Denver’s talent?

A The show celebrates his music and showcases his talent. I’m not trying to be him; we are simply putting the show on to celebrate his music and for fans to come along and get a sense of John Denver in concert through live music and through the audio-visual footage, as if they are experiencing John talking to them on stage.

Q Can you provide a few details about the show?

A We cover a range of hits, from his earlier days through to the later material prior to his death. We felt it was important to cover his entire career. As the show has exclusive footage of John covering his personal life as well as activism and music, we thought it important to add all those songs that represented what he was going through at those times in his life.

Q How do you approach the challenge of performing Denver’s material?

A I never go on stage and try to be him;  no-one should ever need to do that. I go on as myself, but in the back of my mind I get into the songs as deeply as I can so to relate to the audience’s emotions. This naturally happens because he was one of my first inspirations to play music so I’m genuinely transported back to that place. When I perform these John Denver songs, it’s deeply ingrained.

Q How has the concept of Take Me Home: The Music & Life of John Denver evolved?

A It really started back with Dennis Brown, the promoter and producer of the show, who is a fan of John’s music. Dennis has developed a great relationship with the official management of John Denver and they are so supportive of us. Dennis had been thinking of producing a show like this for a long time and then he read an article about me in the Otago Daily Times, about my trip to Aspen, Colorado, for the 10th annual John Denver tribute week. Then it all fell into place and the rest, as they say, is history.

Q Do you see an end to your Denver project? Do you have other plans?

A When we’re not touring the show around Australia and New Zealand, I continue to perform my own music locally in Dunedin. I also teach music, which I am passionate about and want to pursue more of. 

 

See it

Take Me Home: The Music & Life of John Denver will be performed at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin, on May 4.

• Here We Are, by Bevan Gardiner and Georgie Daniell, was released on April 21 through The Warehouse. It will also be available at the Take Me Home performance.

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