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Beverley Craven tells the Courier how serious illness inspired her to revive her career
LIKE all the best singer-songwriters, Beverley Craven has drawn on personal experiences to pen fresh material for her new tour and album.
The past few years have not been easy, but as she prepares for her concert at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on Thursday, October 30, she is armed with the support of a loving family, a collection of thought-provoking new songs and a band of experienced musicians.
In 2005, Beverley was diagnosed with breast cancer. The devastating news forced her to re-evaluate her life and, as the mother of three young daughters, she was thrown into turmoil as she prepared for life-saving treatment.
But, having emerged safely from those dark days, she was given the all-clear two years ago, but has regular MRI scans and is positive and looking to the future.
"I think, without soun-ding too poetic, having a brush with death has made me feel more alive," she says. "In many ways it has been a positive thing, it has given me a new lease of life. My manager said he was quite expecting me to write a song about it but I said no, I haven't got the vibe for it at all.
"Then two songs came almost back to back. One, called Rainbows, is about the fact that you don't get rainbows if it doesn't rain. Without Me is a song I wrote for the kids, but it's not a negative song – if I wrote 'woe is me', depressing songs, I wouldn't sing them. There are other people in a worse situation than me."
Beverley's upcoming tour – it begins in Worcestershire the night before she plays Halifax – will give her chance to air her outpourings to appreciative audiences who perhaps remember her best for her haunting Top 3 single Promise Me, released in the early 1990s.
Her self-titled debut album sold more than 750,000 copies in the UK and stayed in the UK album charts for more than a year, subsequently selling nearly two million copies worldwide.
Having received three Brit Award nominations in 1992, she took to the stage at the awards ceremony, eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her first daughter, Mollie, now 16, to receive her best newcomer gong.
Songs old and new will feature at the Halifax concert, which comes at the end of national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Beverley said of the six-date tour, a preview of next year's major tour coinciding with the delayed release of her new album Close To Home: "I would like it to be a rebirth. I feel because the girls are that much older, they don't need me 24/7 like they did when they were babies, and when it was a huge wrench to leave them.
"And my husband, songwriter and musician Colin Campsie, will be at home."
She says that her daughters – Mollie and younger sisters Brenna and Connie – don't allow her to dance at home. "They make me stop," she says. "I used to be quite a mover in my day but I obviously don't have today's moves!"
Beverley, now 45, was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, although she has Yorkshire roots – her father came from Leeds, and she grew up in Hertfordshire.
She still has relatives in the Yorkshire Dales – the clue is in the surname – and an aunt will be coming to Halifax to see her in concert.
Beverley is looking forward to visiting Halifax for the first time and is keen to know what the Victoria Theatre is like. She manages to find time to attend concerts of other artists and is full of praise for songstress Elkie Brooks: "She is such a professional. She really presents a show well," she says.
After recovering from breast cancer, Beverley took part in the 2006 Playtex MoonWalk in London, now an annual cash-raiser.
It was dreamed up by US entrepreneur Nina Barough, who had breast cancer, and in 1996 13 women power-walked the New York Marathon in their bras to raise money to combat the disease.
In 1998 a Walk the Walk team entered the London marathon, but Nina decided to create a special walk for the cause.
Two years ago Beverley and a host of other celebrities, including members of the cast of Calendar Girls, TV presenter Lorraine Kelly and Flog It! antiques show host Paul Martin, joined women from all over the country in Hyde Park, walking from midnight to 7am to raise cash for breast cancer campaigns. And earlier this year, 15,000 women – and men – braved a chilly night in their bras, raising about 6 million to make a significant contribution in the battle against breast cancer and improve the quality of life for patients.
Registration for the 2009 event opened last week – details are available on the Walk the Walk charity website.
Tickets are still available for Beverley Craven at the Victoria Theatre (19.50 and 21.50) on 01422 351158.
She still has relatives in the Yorkshire Dales – the clue is in the surname – and an aunt will be coming to Halifax to see her in concert.
Beverley is looking forward to visiting Halifax for the first time and is keen to know what the Victoria Theatre is like. She manages to find time to attend concerts of other artists and is full of praise for songstress Elkie Brooks: “She is such a professional. She really presents a show well,” she says.
l Tickets are still available for Beverley Craven at the Victoria Theatre (19.50 and 21.50) on 01422 351158.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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