Oliver Craven
Oliver Craven has spent his life making music. In the last several years, much of that has happened on stage as a band member for country music luminary Sierra Ferrell. His fiddle, his guitar and his voice, along with original song contributions and even the occasional two-step dance, have made him a prominent fixture at Ferrell’s right hand.
Craven’s musical journey began long before that, however. A classical violinist and son of a folk-singing preacher, his first gig came around the age of five on fiddle as a member of the family band. Out of the back of a station wagon and onto the stages of banquet halls and local fairs, songs from deep within the American country music canon were played, and it was there that the seed of a dream was planted—his life was never going to be without a song.
Today, the tenured performer has played legendary stages from The Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry, to Red Rocks and Wrigley Field. He has shared the stage with such influences as Willie Nelson and The Wood Brothers, and icons like Mumford and Sons, and Post Malone. But be it for a crowd of 50 or 50,000, watching and hearing Craven perform gives you the sense that he has always played for the sake of the music. So very obviously at home with an instrument in his hand, for him, it seems music is not just a craft, but a necessity.
In the studio, Craven has lent his distinct, powerful voice and diverse talents to projects both original and in support of others. As a founding member of The Stray Birds, work with producers Larry Campbell (Levon Helm) and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive) lead to four original studio records. His songs have also been cut by others including Sierra Ferrell and Billy Strings, and have been found in film soundtracks like that of The Hunger Games. Craven’s abilities as a multi-instrumentalist have earned his welcome as a player and a singer in many Nashville studios for the decade he has called the city home.
All of this, and still never yet a solo record—but the wait for that is nearly over. His forthcoming debut album, produced by Kai Welch, features what feels inarguably like Craven’s best material to date. Recorded live to tape in Nashville, the songwriting is at once both playful and reverent. The music captured is a collection of spirited, soulful and nuanced performances by Craven and what are clearly some of the best musicians he has come to know. The long-awaited release of original music, uniquely his own, is a statement from an artist who has had much to say for a long time, and has finally found the way to express it himself.