Atwood Magazine is excited to announce a new partnership series, The Tour Manager’s Guide, a podcast by Danny Carissimi featuring various musicians and industry professionals as they talk about their life and career. The third of this series features Kev Jones from Bear’s Den.
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A note to everyone: My podcast title is changing to Sugar High. It’s a vague Empire Records reference. I’m changing it because too many people thought I was just interviewing tour managers and that was annoying.
Hello everyone. Danny here. My most recent episode is part of a two-part dive into London-based folk band, Bear’s Den. This week’s episode is with the band’s co-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Kev Jones. Kev is one of my favorite people in the world. He’s lived a rather insane life and it was a pleasure to get it on tape. We recorded in his tour bus in Austin for like 3 hours and that was edited down to 35 minutes. Besides pushing Bear’s Den to an admirable amount of success, Kev started Communion Music Group with Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons.
Communion started as a club night at Notting Hill Arts Club in London. It was a space for kids to show up and play. That’s it. It just so happens that the kids showing up were Marcus Mumford, The Vaccines, Laura Marling, Matthew and the Atlas, Bastille, and a variety of other lions of the UK music scene. It’s pretty amazing because if you’re fortunate enough to know these people and are in London you get to hang out with like all of the cool bands ever. It’s the most unique and interesting group of people I’ve ever met.
Did I mention Kev was in his 30s at this time and homeless? Yeah, homeless. Kev didn’t realize what he wanted to do until he was 30 and the band didn’t start til he was 33. I find his perception of success and desire to live a “bespoke life” as he calls it, intensely inspiring.
So yeah, if you don’t feel like you are where you’re supposed to be, listen to this. Things can change. Kev was homeless and now headlines 7,000 capacity rooms in London.
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:: Red Earth & Pouring Rain – Bear’s Den ::
