Fiona Bevan

Aside from being one talented musician, Fiona Bevan is simply a lovely person to chat to. Despite suffering from jet lag from her recent flight to Australia, Fiona remained bubbly and upbeat, albeit the early morning swim helped wake her up.
“I feel like that’s the best thing to try and get over jet lag,” she says. “But it’s just gorgeous to be here, because it’s really really rainy in England and it’s just so warm here … and I saw a parrot, so that was amazing.”
Fiona’s excitement can mostly be attributed to this being her first time in Australia, as well as her love for travelling to new places.
“For me it’s just brilliant to see all these different places when we’re gigging, it’s just so exciting because every single place looks different and I just love getting to meet people,” Fiona says. “But that’s the fun part for me. I just love doing the occasional tourist thing, but I think I’ve kind of got the best job in the world.”
This passion has also presented itself in Fiona’s new album Talk to Strangers, which she says was inspired by hearing people’s stories and secrets – though her quirky form of folk-pop isn’t just attributed to her inspiration received from strangers. Fiona actually grew up in a musical household and was brought up singing along to Fred Astaire films, The Sound of Music and Cole Porter.
“We were brought up singing a lot together in the house and the whole family would just burst into song every now and then and do harmonies … So I’ve grown up in a house that sounds completely crazy,” Fiona adds with a laugh.
Fair to say life growing up for Fiona was a little bit like the musicals that she watched, but thankfully it all led her to the sunny shores of Australia playing alongside Busby Marou on their national tour.
Almost by fate, Fiona had fallen in love with the band’s sound well before she was set to play as their supporter and had actually been listening to them for around a year.
“When this came up and I was going over and playing with them it just rocked my world because I love their bluesy folky country music, and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun,” Fiona says.
As for whether she’s nervous about performing in front of Australian crowds for the first time, Fiona seemed to shrug it off, admitting that all you can really do is be yourself.
“Hopefully people would have heard some of my stuff online or maybe it’ll be a total surprise and that will be lovely as well. Either way I hope it works out,” she says.
And how could it not work out, with Fiona’s welcoming personality and honest approach to music.
“When I’m doing a gig I actually forget about the crowd and it’s just me and about sharing it with everyone,” she says. “It’s not about the ‘everybody look at me’ aspect. It’s not like I want to be a celebrity or anything, I just love making music and sharing it with people and feeling that in the room.”
When&Where: The Bridge, Castlemaine – November 20 & Beav’s Bar, Geelong – November 23
By Amanda Sherring, Photo by Mike Massaro