Draven's Official Blog

GUILFEST 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:14:00 +0000

Ok tribe.

Its busy busy busy here and I dont have time to stop. All fit and healthy. Just lots to do. So I have been very lazy and just copied and pasted this news from Our press release!

Sorry! xxx

GuilFest 2010 returns to Guildford Stoke Park on 16th, 17th and 18th July in Surrey.

DRAVEN are officially confirmed for MAIN STAGE on fri 16th (at aprox 3pm tbc) to join a line up including Hadouken, Orbital, the legendary Hawkwind and the mighty Status Quo with loads more acts still to be confirmed. But thats just the main 2 stages so far. Dont forget about all the other stages including the infamous Rock Sound Stage.

If you are planning to head to GuilFest 2010 for Draven day or any other day or even the whole weekend then read below.

To thank the tribe for all your love and loyalty Draven have a *cheaper ticket deal* for you. (We have even dropped the booking fee!)

NOTE: The cheap ticket deal is only available when purchasing tickets from us and in advance! THEY WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR!

Compare the ticket prices from other stockists:

*WEEKEND TICKETS:

ADULT WEEKEND CAMPING £110.00 Draven price - £100 - save £10

ADULT WEEKEND £100.00 Draven price - £90 - save £10

CHILD WEEKEND WITH CAMPING £60.00 Draven price - £55 - save £5

CHILD WEEKEND £50.00 Draven price - £45 - save £5

*SINGLE DAY TICKETS:

ADULT FRIDAY £40.00 Draven price - £35 - save £5

CHILD FRIDAY £30.00 Draven price - £27 - save £3

ADULT SATURDAY £45.00 Draven price - £40 - save £5

CHILD SATURDAY £30.00 Draven price - £27 - save £3

ADULT SUNDAY £45.00 Draven price - £40 - save £5

CHILD SUNDAY £30.00 Draven price - £27 - save £3

Contact us here at or contact info@cnrrecords.com and let us know what you need.

March on...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:18:00 +0000

Its March

Everyone here has been recovering from chest infections and other lergy with the help of secret magic filipino potions and tonics.

We enjoyed the company of CNR School Of Rock - Guitar students very much indeed as we were involved in a live jam workshop on the weekend just passed. An awsome bunch of rockers who will no doubt contribute to the next generation of rock stars!

We have some radio coming up and we start with delta fm this week. Interviews and live radio performances heading your way. More details as and when they come in.

We are currently in the middle of a massive project! Well, we are moving studio so everything is a complete mess at the mo.

The 02 Academy shows were awesome and there is more to come. In the mean time we are confirming summer festival apearances and hopefully as soon as we have settled into the new studios we can continue working on all the new material we have for the Far-East market and other releases. (thank you as ever, for your amazing patience!)

So a very busy few weeks on their way but with lots of rocking to be done! Hang on in there.

Jim xxx

DRAVEN @ 02 Academy2 Islington in support of LOS BASTARDOS

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:14:00 +0000

DRAVEN will be opening for LOS BASTARDOS @ 02 Academy2 Islington on Monday 8th feb.

More details to come....

More from the 02...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:13:00 +0000

Good afternoon tribesters!

More for your eyeballs...

http://stokieboy.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/stryper-gig-review/

See ya'll soon.

Jim xx

02 shows

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:29:00 +0000

Hey tribe.

For those who wanna see.....

http://www.deadbysunrise.co.uk/blog/2010/01/25/stryper-o2-academy-islington-24012010/

Some cool photos here also. Feel free to leave some nice comments.

Jim xx

Earn ya strypes!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:37:00 +0000

Draven @ 02 Academy Islington was fantastic.

We opened for Stryper and those guys are crazy! The house was near enough full and we put in a powerful and enjoyable opening set which was recieved lovingly by Stryper's crowd.

Thanks guys.

More to come...

xxx

Last min support show

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:49:00 +0000

This sunday 24th Jan DRAVEN open for US rockers Stryper (pioneering rock with Gold and Platinum records) live from the 02 Academy Islington 16 Parkfield Street, London, N1 0PS.

Doors at 7pm.

This is a last minute support slot but promises to be a great kick start at full volume to the new year.

More to come guys.

Keep in touch.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:34:00 +0000

HAPPY NEW YEAR TRIBE!

Welcome to 2010!

Cant believe I'm saying that but it is here.

Well last year summed up briefly started with the launch of the debut album EDEN which sold out in under 24 hours from all the major stockists and was critically aclaimed on its release. The launch show in London was also sold out.

A welcome return to the live scene meant opening Guilfest 09 for Motorhead and Joe Bonamassa followed by some great festival performances and the triumphant return of Draven's FREAKFEST!

Those were the highlights.

This year is set to be an extremely busy one.

We are currently working with the footage from Freakfest for possible dvd release among other things. Far Eastern and European tours are looking very likely indeed and a Japanese release would call for brand new material to be added to the project so we have been busy on the creative front aswell.

There are also rumours of certain support tours with "established acts!"

More on this when info is confirmed. We have also been very busy with session work for some very cool acts that are on their way to your ear drums but again more on this when the time is right.

We are also involved with some movie projects which is a lot of fun.

Have to get to the studio now.

Happy new year all.

See ya soon.

xxx

Freaks....

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:28:00 +0000

Hey tribe

We have confirmed The Goldtones and Laura Colegate for support on Freakfest 09> Both brilliant and diverse acts and full of vibe and freshness.

So we are in for a real variety of a rock show.

I have mentioned in an earlier forum post that we may be losing our forum due to the amount of non users and hackers involved. Well it still looks that way. It is the era of the facebook, myspace, twitter etc after all.

We have confirmed an appearance at a Give reviewer event in our home town of Woking around the Christmas period so more info on that soon. But it will be different and fun.

I would also like to take this moment to thank Hiwatt for believing and their endorsement. These amps rock hard and we are currently vibing high on the biggest fattest sound ever.

www.hiwatt.co.uk for some big fat sounds.

Ok, enuf ho-ing as the say.

Chat soon.
Jim xx

More Freak news!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Hey all.

Im very happy to announce that the excellent FLAME TO FIRE will join us at Freakfest with an "accoustic" set. I say "accoustic" using " because they are the only band I know that still manage to shake your brain without without all the gimmicks! Proper musicians that.

Means a lot to us guys as we came from the same circuit and have remained close friends ever since.

Cant wait. It's gonna be a fantastic event.

More soonxxx

Supp September?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Hey tribe

I know it's been to long since we last danced. Had a little trip to greece and re charged the batteries!

Well I hope you are all looking foward to news about Freakfest. We are all really happy to have it back again. It has been way too long!

Our producer Kevin Shirley is doing his annual charity bike ride this month on the 10th from Moscow to St.Petersburg. If you wanna follow or donate visit: www.justgiving.com/kevthecave/

Good luck Kevin!

Must run, have a mini festival to organise!

Back soon...

Jim xx

Here it is...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Welcome to August.

We have been thinkning for the past few days and after several discussions and a few enquirees, plans have now been put in place to bring back the much loved Freakfest!

More discussions will be had and meetings will be arranged but in the mean time, we plan to take over the town (Woking town square) on the night before Halloween - Fri 30th Oct 09 to herald the return of FREAKFEST.

The local authorities have penciled an allocated slot on the calender. There will be a silly amount of "paper work" to submit to meet all the health and safety issues etc. But you can watch the news updates for more confirmation.

Freakfest has always held a special place in our hearts and many of yours. For those of you that don't know, we take over the town one night a year on Halloween weekend and ROCK HARD! The strange and the beautiful are all welcome. It was always been on our own terms and we invited many of our friends to come and play and experience the mini fest.

So fingers crossed it all goes to plan.

Jimxx

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:46:00 +0000

Well it's been a few weeks since I blogged here and we have had a busy few days looking into budgets and finances and all the stuff which is really to boring to blog about! Hence why no blogs!

But apart from that and some exploding amps and melting computers, we are currently in negotiations for overseas licensing and touring which will probably mean additional tracks being added here and there as special extras. More on this soon but we have been gearing to put down some new track ideas.

More news concerning support tours, national and international touring and any new recordings will be on it's way as soon as anything is confirmed.

We will also be looking into finally cutting together the footage of the making of EDEN into a "behind the scenes" rockumentary for possible release. So it's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Enjoy the sun!

Jim xx

ello Guildford!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Well Guilfest 09 is over for us! It was great fun and the show went extremely well.

Although it started in true rock n roll fashion with Franks amp blowing up before he had played a single note!

We made do with a back up amp (that sounded more Eric Clapton than Franky Draven!) but we got the job done and thank you for being such a great crowd, and there were hundreds of you!

Our friends Flame To Fire also did an amazing job and we enjoyed there show greatly. There were some fantastic bands that we got to watch and chill with this year. But For me and I think the rest of the guys, Joe Bonamassa topped it all off in legendary fashion.

I must say thanks to his band Bogie Bowles (drums), Carmine Rojas (bass), Rick Melick (keys) for being really fun to hang with back stage. An awesome band who delivered an astonishing performance for the wonderful Joe Bonamassa.

More meetings about Japan and Europian tours this week with more news coming soon.

Im off to the shower.

Jim xx

Monday....

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:46:00 +0000

Well it's been a hectic few days.

Several meetings have taken place concerning release and promotion in the far-east and Japan aswell as through out Europe. More on this to come.

We have a live accoustic session and interview going out tonight on 96.4fm The Eagle radio at 10.15 in the pm!

www.964eagle.co.uk to stream live.

We "open" Guilfest on Friday at 12.45pm at the Rock Sound Cave! So we are coming home and we expext some sweaty sun-kissed friendly faces to join the party.

Other news... UberYogi, our awesome web master, has left these green shores for Australia! But fear not. He remains the UberYogi and will join us from the other side of the planet!

My thoughts today are with a little buddy of mine who is having an operation. He is the greatest kid on earth and my prayers are with him.

See you Friday peeps.

xxx

ANVIL

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:33:00 +0000

I just had the ultimate emotional experience while watching the DVD of ANVIL:The story of Anvil.

This is a moving tale of the real life struggle of two guys trying to make their dream of rock stardom come true.

The band released some early metal albums that influenced guys like Metallica at the beggining of their career. But as those bands went on to super stardom, Anvil never got the break they deserved. They are still out there now, trying to look for that break, 30 years later.

It's scary because I could relate to some of their situations very closely indeed. The rough edge of the music industry sword! But the movie is a triumphant tale of sticking to your guns and keeping the faith.

I highly recommend this movie. Go get it now.

Jim xx

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:51:00 +0000

Happy Father's day all.

I'm taking time out today to chill with my pops! But straight back into the "Blitz" tomorrow.

Rehearsals on Monday, Some interviews and performances for radio on tuesday, Meetings on Wednesday, sessions on Thurday and Friiday, performances at a charity concert on Saturday which takes us right up to Sunday again!

In the meantime a good buddy of mine is over from New Zealand for a couple of weeks so I wanna catch up. May have to drag him along!

Enjoy your Sunday.

Jim xx

Rumours

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Hey tribe.

There has been a rumour going round that we are touring with The Answer and/or Iron Maiden in the near future!

As much as I would love to say YEP, this hasn't been confirmed to date. Although communication with both camps has been made.

If anything like this is confirmed, you will be the first to know. Just thought I would clear that up as I have received a number of emails about the subject.

We are planning tours and supports so keep it tuned to dravenofficial.com and all will be revealed shortly.

Be groovy

Jim xx

David Carradine

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Today I found out about the death of film star David Carradine. Most famous for his leading role as the Shaolin monk "Kwai Chang Caine" in 70s tv sho "Kung Fu." This was a much loved and inspirational show at the time and still is. (It was originally a concept by Bruce Lee that was "taken over" by the studio and Carradine won the role as chinese actors were not very popular at the time!!!)

Carradine will be known more recently for his role as Bill in "Kill Bill."

Thank you David for many years of great entertainment and motivation. May it be well with you, where ever you fly.

xx

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Dear all.

Still busy bees here. It does appear that we may indeed be performing a second show at this years Guilfest. It would be one of the accoustic peformances we have spoken about. More info on this very soon. But it would be a very chilled out festival like vibe.

Talks still going on with movie companies about soundtrack projects. Again, not wanting to jump the gun, more info once confirmed.

We are currently discussing ideas about a tour that would be something fun and different. It would be happening over the summer months. It's summer now so best get a move on.

Hang in there.

We are still yours.

Jim xx

The best of June!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:28:00 +0000

...and so it's June!

To sum up the last month, we have released EDEN to critical acclaim and been truely honoured by the great reviews it has received. The album sold out in under 24 hours from HMV, Amazon and Play. Some stores are still having trouble coping with the demand! Our launch show was a fantastic and electrifying night.

We have been confirmed as the official "opener" for guilfest 09 ahead of Joe Bonamassa, Brian Wilson and Motorhead.

Kevin Shirley (our producer) and his wife received their new baby girl and named her "Eden!"

We have received several offers to work on film soundtracks and are currently waiting to confirm support slots, promotional tours, festival appearances and charity show appearances as well as some accoustic performances.

So it has definately been a busy few weeks. But it's getting busier still. Lots of play lists and radio/magazine interviews still coming in and did somebody mention Freakfest? Well, lets wait and see. Slowely but surely as they say!

Try and find time to just sit in a field and watch faces appear in the clouds! Summer is upon us.

Jim xx

Cave baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:34:00 +0000

We received the news today that Kevin Shirley (producer of EDEN) and his beautiful wife received the gift of their wonderful new baby girl yesterday morning at 8.48am. They have named their little angel..........Eden!

Love to all the family from all of us.

Stripped down for fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:18:00 +0000

This week will be a fun one. We are heading into the studio with our beautiful friend Katie Sharma as we start rehearsals for another bunch of accoustic shows over the summer. news of these in the gig section shortly. Katie will once again be adding her wonderful piano playing to our stripped down set for several festival and charity show appearances.

It's always awesome to hear your music arranged in completely different ways. The possibilities are endless.

We are all very excited by the mailing list and forum competitions. The fan meets and jams will be great fun.

Good luck and look foward to hanging soon.

Jim xx

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:05:00 +0000

Just back from a session at the gym and straight into the office for some promotional projects.

We have been approached for some film soundtrack work. We are no strangers to this field as we have done many projects like this in the past and it is always a lot of fun. Nothing is confirmed as yet but as soon as it is I will let you all know what to look out for.

Nothing "Hollywood" just yet, but good solid British film projects. Let's see how it pans out.

Keep your eyes wide shut!

Jim xx

RADIO DRA VEN continued!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Hey Tribe.

The Manchester Rock Radio show we did will be aired later tonight (check Twitter for details) and I will confirm the BBC show asap. It was a great trip up north and we wish to thank Everyone involved for making it great fun.

I found out that a friend of mine does not have a brain tumour as originally thought, which is great news, but does infact have Epilepsy! Prayers of thanks and hope go out to them an their family.

It just makes you think, there is more to life than rock n roll, but rock n roll should be the soundtrack to all of it. Thats its place and a very important one.

Don't forget to live peeps.

Until next time

Be groovy.

Jim xx