HB Beverly, located in the Grand Strand area of Myrtle Beach, SC is primarily known in Jimmy Buffett's fan circles, but has his own original songs which start in that genre, and expand into Country, Bluegrass, Folk/Rock, Rockabilly, and Jersey-style Rock.
H.B. Beverly's determination to be respected for his own written songs led him into the studio in 1998 with old friend David
Williams producing, what turned out to be a
two-year blood, sweat and tears project that
many people including H. B. himself, didn't
think would ever be released.
Lots of problems were encountered during
the recording of the project - accidental
erasure of three songs, flooding of the
studio resulting in equipment damage,
financial backing issues, lightning striking
the hard drives containing most of the
songs, and on and on.
To everyone involved, the project seemed
cursed from the start. Even when completed, the first pressing of the CD was mixed poorly by his label Digi-Tone Records, and was
rejected for not being up to industry
standards.
Jim Price, nominated for a Grammy
award in 1999 for his mixing of a Doc
Watson album, was called in to re-mix the project. He remixed all 13
songs and greatly improved the sound.
H. B.'s "Home Sweet Home" CD has continued to sell steadily by word-of-mouth, and through his performances, and enjoys airplay in nine states in America, and in foreign markets including Holland, Ireland, Germany and England.
H. B. Beverly & Friends "Home Sweet
Home" was a true labor of love project with
over 25 of the finest hand-picked musicians
East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia
offers, and the CD will surely be considered
as a collectible in the future because of those who participated, like bluegrass legend Wyatt Rice, who was up for Bluegrass Musician of the Year when HB's Cd came out. He is also the brother of multi-award winning Tony Rice.
Not only does the CD showcase his
writing and arranging skills but his virtual
ease with performing Rock, R&B, Country/Rock, and Bluegrass styles all which are present on this CD. In addition, he has several newer songs from 2004, whcih were recorded with long time sidekick Don Eanes in his home studio in Johnson City, TN. These songs are probably his best and are represented here in "The Way", and "I'll Be Coming Home" which is a beautiful soldier's prayer to his true love back home.
I play live as much as humanly possible in any venue that has live entertaiment. I live to play as it is truely the only time I'm totally happy with myself (need therapy!) My biggest thrill was opening solo for CHICAGO in 1995 in Camden, NJ before 25,000 people. Not one person booed this southern cracker, and that's when I knew I was a good entertainer.
My biggest writing influences are James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jim Croce. There are of course more to be mentioned, but they would all fall into the great Americana writers category, like the ones mentioned above.
I play through a Mackie stereo 8 channel power amp, and feed that into Peavey Pro15 speakers. This seems to adequately handle most situations that I play in. I play a 1994 Taylor 410, which was the first series in that make to feature built in Fishman pickups. And finally, I blow only Special 20 harmonicas from Hohner, which feature plastic reed combs so I won't rip my lips off, and stick it in a Lee Oscar neck-mounted harmonica rack.
Many thanks to all my fans who have come here looking to download my original music. I hope they're good enough to stay in your collection for the rest of your life, and serve you well along the way!