Son of Dave
Son of Dave | |
|---|---|
 Benjamin Darvill as Son of Dave in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Benjamin Darvill January 4, 1967 |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1989 – present |
| Formerly of | Crash Test Dummies |
| Website | Official site |
Benjamin Darvill (born January 4, 1967), known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, based in Winnipeg. He was a member of the folk rock band Crash Test Dummies in which he played harmonica, mandolin, guitar and percussion before returning to his blues, Beat-Box and harmonica driven solo work in 2000.[1]
Darvill was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was inspired to learn the harmonica after hearing James Cotton and Sonny Terry play at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.[2] Darvill's "first claim to blues fame" was as a member of The Detonators.[3]
Darvill lived in London, England, from 1998[4] to 2021, when he returned to his hometown.[3] He began playing as Son of Dave while in London, and has recorded 11 albums and performed over 1400 shows across the world, including appearances at Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival.[3]
Son of Dave appeared on BBC television's Later...with Jools Holland in 2005, performing the song "Hellhound",[5] before recording the song a few years later on the album O3.
His 2003 album O2 has been described as a mix of "cotton-pickin' blues, vocalising beat-box, hard-breathing folk, steamy funk and even modern R&B".[6] The following album O3 was cited as "perhaps the biggest leap forward for the blues since John Lee Hooker bought his first electric guitar."[7]
Son of Dave's Shake a Bone album was recorded with Steve Albini, and positively reviewed as a album with "strong work ethic and genuine passion enthused on the record" in The Independent,[8] with "something terribly satisfying about the primitive nature of his yelps and purrs and the relentless pounding of the lo-fi drumbeat"[9] and "some catchy songs."[10]
Several Son of Dave songs have been included in film and television, including the track "Shake A Bone" from the album of the same title, which was featured on season 3 episode 11 of Breaking Bad,[11] and from the O2 album "Devil Take My Soul", which features chorus vocal by Martina Topley-Bird - was featured in the Warner Bros film, License to Wed, starring Robin Williams, and in 2016, the track "Voodoo Doll" from Shake A Bone was featured as the last song in the first episode of Preacher, an AMC series based on the comic book of the same title.[11]
In 2010, Son of Dave and his song "Revolution Town" were featured in a commercial for the search engine Bing.[12] The commercial, using a first-person perspective, shows Son of Dave using Bing and his Windows-enabled phone to travel to his own concert at the Someday Lounge in Portland, Oregon.
His 2022 album Call Me a Cab "appears to be fun-loving, old-school, New Orleans rhythm and blues" that is "all about the rhythm."[13] That album led to Son of Dave being nominated for Blues Artist of the Year at the 2022 Western Canada Music Awards.[14]
Son of Dave's 2024 release A Flat City is a "gritty, bluesy" reflection on his return to Winnipeg.[15]
Other work
Darvill has collected 45 rpm vinyl records for many years, and that led to hosting a radio program - Son of Dave's Filthy 45s - on Radio Soho from 2012 to 2021.[3] Previous to that, he wrote for The Stool Pigeon,[16] and a collection of those columns was published as We Need You Lazzarro You Lazy Greasy Bastard.
Back in Winnipeg, he has hosted a series of cabaret events entitled The Super Elite.[17]
Discography
Son of Dave
- B. Darvill's Wild West Show (1999) Kartel 019
- O1 (2000) Kartel 002
- O2 (2006) Kartel 003
- O3 (2008) Kartel 013
- Shake a Bone (2010) Kartel 023
- Blues at the Grand (2013) Kartel SOD001
- Explosive Hits (2016) Goddamn Records SOD002
- Music for Cop Shows (2017) Goddamn Records SOD003
- Call Me a Cab (2021) Goddamn Records SOD004
- Call Me King (2022) Goddamn Records SOD005
- A Flat City (2024) Goddamn Records SOD006
Crash Test Dummies
- The Ghosts That Haunt Me (1991)
- God Shuffled His Feet (1993)
- A Worm's Life (1996)
- Give Yourself a Hand (1999)
References
- ^ "Benjamin Darvill". Xtreme Musician. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ Thomas H. Green (4 April 2008). "Son of Dave: a suitcase and a harmonica". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d Small, Alan. "Son of Dave… and Winnipeg". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ "Son of Dave". NME. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ "Later.... with Jools Holland - Series 25 - Episode 4 of 9". BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
- ^ Daniel Brown (April 2007). "O2". Mondomix. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ "Son of Dave". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Nur, Yousif. "Guest Review: Son of Dave, 'Shake a Bone'". The Independent. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Cooper, Leonie. "Son of Dave Shake a Bone Review". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Doole, Kerry. "Son Of Dave - Shake A Bone". Exclaim!. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ a b "Benjamin Darvill". IMDB. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Alper, Eric. "Ex Crash Test Dummy Son Of Dave spies the 'End Of Days' with his new single". Roots Music Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Kaufman, Todd. "Former Crash Test Dummies' Benjamin Darvill (Son of Dave) brings one man show to Calgary". CityNews. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Kendle, John. "New music: Son of Dave, Megan Moroney, Miles Okazaki and Julian Prégardien, Kristian Bezuidenhout - Reviews of this week's album releases". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Wheeler, Brad. "10 reasons why you need to know about Son of Dave". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ "The Super Elite". Tourism Winnipeg. Retrieved 27 April 2026.