Alex Bevan (born 1950) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, poet, radio personality, and music producer.
Bevan began his musical career playing the French horn with his teacher Ruffier at Chambers Elementary School. In 1965, while at Shaw High School in East Cleveland, he acquired a six-string classical guitar. He played local night clubs and various coffeehouses in the Cleveland area such as "La Cave" and "Faragher's Back Room". His first position in a group was as a backup musician with Irish folk singers Gusty & Sean at Fagan's Beacon House in the Flats of Cleveland, Ohio. While a student at the University of Akron, Bevan was introduced to his first producer, Eric Stevens, who signed him to Big Tree Records. His first album, No Truth to Sell, was released in 1971 along with the single "Linda's Song" b/w "Brady Street Hotel", which got some airplay. Between 1971 and 1979, Bevan performed as an opening act for such headliners as the Earl Scruggs Review, Pure Prairie League, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, The Clash, Bo Diddley, Livingston Taylor, Billy Joel and others.
The release of the album Springboard got him some public recognition due to the local hit song Skinny Little Boy. In 1977 he performed on the air on Cleveland's WMMS Radio with a band called Alex Bevan and the Buzzard Band, featuring DJ Matt the Cat on guitar. [1] He performed in the mid-1970s with an acoustic trio consisting of two guitars and electric bass, and opened for such acts as Seals and Crofts, The Michael Stanley Band, The Doobie Brothers and Hall & Oates. He soon added David Krauss from the band Tiny Alice to the group, supplying percussion and harmonica. They toured either under the name Grand River Band or Alex Bevan and Friends from 1979 until 1981, and produced the albums The Grand River Lullaby, Alex Bevan and Friends Live, and Simple Things Done Well. In the early 80's Bevan produced the direct-to-disk digital solo album Tales of the Low Tech Troubadour Vol. 1. He played in the band Alex Bevan & Cuttlefish from 1984 through 1986. In the late 80s to early 90s, he produced the albums Best Kept Secrets, Cuttlefish Live, and Watersongs.
His latest releases include South Shore Serenade, Rules of the Road, Fall & Angels and Live at the Kent Stage. An avid producer of folk music, he has produced five recordings for the popular Put-in-Bay/Key West performer Pat Dailey, and written over one hundred radio and TV commercials. He still plays many venues, including the Hessler Street and Coventry Street Fairs in Greater Cleveland, Ohio, the Starwood Festival, Put-In Bay, the Burning River Festival, Cain Park, and Kelleys Island.
Bevan organized a benefit for fellow Cleveland area singer-songwriter John Bassette on 19 May 2002 at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern in Cleveland, OH, featuring Jim Ballard, Charlie Wiener, Michael Stanley, Jim Schafer, and many others. [2] In 2007 a tribute CD for Bassette, Been Through So Much Together: The Songs of John Bassette, was released by Skylyne Records, which featured Bevan and others. The tribute album was produced by Akron Songwriter and Producer and Bevan pal, Jim Ballard. Around the same time, Bevan released a posthumous collection of previously-unreleased songs by John Bassette called Rainbow Colored Clouds. He also plays for the Roots of American Music Annual Benefit for Education.
Bevan appeared on the premiere broadcast of Cleveland's WNCR Radio station's Sunday night live concerts from Agency Recording in 1971. He was a frequent guest artist on WMMS' Coffeebreak Concerts, and co-hosted a show with David Spero called A Folk Special for a Sunday Afternoon. He also hosted a Saturday morning radio show on WMMS Cleveland for a short time. [3]
In 1988 Bevan did a series of musical radio advertisements for the Cleveland Browns. A new song each week of the season recapped the game from the week before and set up the upcoming game. Each week's song was in a different musical style.
Bevan collaborated with David Young on his first children's album, a musical fairytale with an environmental message titled Who Killed the Dragon?. This was followed by two award-winning critically acclaimed works: Magic Moments from the Children's Nature Schoolhouse (produced for the Lake Metroparks) and All the Rivers Run (Produced for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center).
Bevan and his wife Deidre reside in North Madison, Ohio. Bevan has a son, with a different wife named William Cody Bevan. The couple owned and operated two businesses: a line of home-grown gourmet pickles called Skinny Pickles [4] and Stone Dragon Bakery. Those businesses are now closed.
Bevan won an Emmy award for his postscore of The Rustbelt Blues (1987), the final segment of NBC’s American Promise documentary series.
Bevan performs in the TV special The Return of the Cuyahoga (2008) – Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc., America's River Communities, Inc., and WVIZ/PBS ideastream [5]
Rush is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on March 18, 1974, in Canada by Moon Records, the group's own label, before it was released internationally by Mercury Records later that year. Recorded five years after the band's formation, this first release shows much of the hard rock sound typical of many of the popular rock bands emerging earlier in the decade. Rush were fans of such bands as Led Zeppelin, Yes and Cream, and these influences can be heard in most of the songs on the album.
Alexander James Harvey was a Scottish rock and blues musician. Although his career spanned almost three decades, he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.
The Jazz Butcher was the alias of British singer/songwriter Pat Fish. It also served as the name of the band, though adjuncts were frequently used to distinguish between Fish’s persona and band itself
Michael Stanley was an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio and television personality. As a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band (MSB), and Michael Stanley and the Resonators (MS&R) his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland, Ohio, and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna and drummer Ted McKenna, their music was a blend of glam rock, blues rock and hard rock, with cabaret elements. Their stage performances incorporated theatrical elements. The band were popular in continental Europe, and influential in Australia, most notably on AC/DC and on the young Nick Cave and his first band The Boys Next Door.
"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, Document. It was released as the album's second single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and later reaching No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart on its re-release in December 1991.
WNCX is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, featuring a classic rock format known as "98.5 WNCX". Owned by Audacy, Inc., WNCX serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio as a co-flagship station for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network and the Cleveland affiliate for Little Steven's Underground Garage.
WHK is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, carrying a talk format known as "AM 1420 The Answer". Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region as an affiliate for the Salem Radio Network. WHK's studios are currently located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while the transmitter site resides in neighboring Seven Hills.
WMMS is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, commonly identified as "The Buzzard". Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout its history, the station has also drawn controversy for unusually aggressive tactics both on and off the air. Owned by iHeartMedia, and broadcasting a mix of active rock and hot talk, WMMS is currently the flagship station for Rover's Morning Glory, the FM flagship for the Cavaliers AudioVerse and Cleveland Guardians Radio Network, the Cleveland affiliate for The House of Hair with Dee Snider and the home of radio personality Alan Cox.
WGAR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and features a country music format. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohio as the local affiliate for The Bobby Bones Show. WGAR-FM's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District and the transmitter is in nearby Parma.
The Agora Theatre and Ballroom is a music venue located in Cleveland, Ohio, founded by Henry "Hank" LoConti Sr. The Agora name was used by two other Cleveland venues in succession, the latter of which was damaged by fire in 1984. The current Agora venue, known as such since 1986, first opened in 1913 as the Metropolitan Theatre.
"Working Man" is a song by Canadian rock band Rush from their self-titled debut album. In an interview on the Rolling Stone YouTube channel, bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee said that "Working Man" is his favorite song to play live. "Working Man" became a favourite among Rush fans; the guitar solo appeared on Guitar World magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos list.
John Bassette was a folk singer/songwriter, poet and cable television personality in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, United States, area. He was born in Hampton, Virginia, USA.
Live from Agora was the fourth and final album from the Dwight Twilley Band, recorded live in October 1976 and released in 2009 on Gigatone Records. The album consists of a recording of a live performance of the band at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio, which had been taped for broadcast on Cleveland radio station WMMS.
The Maxwell Show was a hot talk radio show which aired weekday afternoons on Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM). The show began in April 2004, and over the next five years, grew to become the Cleveland radio market's #1 afternoon program in several key demographics. However, relations between show host Maxwell and WMMS owner Clear Channel steadily grew strained, and in November 2009 the show was cancelled.
David Spero, a rock-radio pioneer in the 1970s is a high-profile music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.
Lawrence James Travagliante—better known by his on-air moniker Kid Leo—serves as both General Manager and afternoon disc jockey on Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius XM Radio. He first began in radio in 1973 at noted Cleveland rock station WMMS. During his 16-year tenure, WMMS was consistently one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country. In 1988 he left to work as an executive at Columbia Records, where he served until 2002. Since 2004, Travagliante has been involved with Underground Garage. He also currently operates his own consultancy, LJT Entertainment.
WMMS-HD2 is a digital subchannel of WMMS, a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and features programming from the Black Information Network. Owned by iHeartMedia, WMMS-HD2 serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohio. Using the proprietary technology HD Radio for its main digital transmission, WMMS-HD2 is rebroadcast over low-power analog Cleveland translator W256BT (99.1 FM), and streams online via iHeartRadio. WMMS-HD2's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District, while the WMMS-HD2 and W256BT transmitters reside in Seven Hills and Parma, respectively.
The Agora, Cleveland 1978 is a live album by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, released in December 2014 and was the second official release through the Bruce Springsteen Archives.
Patrick Coleman McAvinue is an American fiddler, combining in his music aspects of bluegrass, swing, and Celtic music. He is also a private music educator. He is the IBMA's 2017 Fiddle Player of the Year.