The Cravens
Original and Traditional American Music
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                                     Tim, Oliver, and Kim Craven
 
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                                 Oliver Bates Craven 
 
"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"
                                      - Robert Browning
 
There's no need to worry. Tim, Kimberley and Oliver Craven and Matt Burkholder and Andy Thacker are on the way!  Starting in Ephrata, Lancaster County  Pennsylvania the group will play anywhere and everywhere and has!  Writing songs in a relentless humorous and occasionally baleful manner they play creative folk, bluegrass and traditional American music. Tim's bluegrass voice reminds people who have watched Ralph Stanley of the master himself and the lyrics of his and son Oliver's songs are truly in the creative folk and blues tradition. Oliver and Matt's musical harmonies and Kimberley's firm hand on the acoustic bass make The Cravens an exciting group.  The band respects and enjoys the traditional but also realizes that they need to put Tim's degree in Creative Writing to good use after playing all over the nation and being a Lutheran pastor for 21 years. Oliver's lifetime of playing and improvising also needs to bust out now that he's 23. Oliver also plays with Adrienne Young, grammy nominated songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee, who was voted one of the top five songwriters in Nashville in 2007 and is active in the important sustainable agriculture and local food movement.
The Cravens
Creative Folk , Blues 
Bluegrass 
Traditional American Music
 
 "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
                                                                                        -Martin Luther King Jr.
 

"You can be in my dream if I can be in yours." - Bob Dylan


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Gospel Music

The Cravens also sing and play Gospel music in a truly authentic and genuine style. 
                  Spencer Bates Craven
 
 
 "I wanted to start a one man band, but I couldn't find a lead singer."
                                       -Connor Craven 

 

"Old Yankee Town" by Tim Craven

Here are theimage lyrics to this beautiful waltz by Tim Craven:

The people are all movin' to that new Sunny Belt/Where the heat don't cost nothin' and the sun is heartfelt/ As I walk through the rain in this cold Northern town/ The tall tattered buildings are tumblin' down 

Chorus:  Singin' "Go, go where your heart tells you to/ Where the money is good and the people are true/ But as long as the snow lays its cold blanket down/ I'll be home in this Old Yankee Town."

There's dust on the Bible in that old Jersey town/Where the porches are bigger than the bull that goes 'round/ By the old men restin' at the corner saloon/ Singin' up to that cool August moon     Chorus

In old charcoal Pittsburgh they're closin' the mills/ They got less demand for American steel/ 'Cause the mills are as old as the family and friends/ Who are just to damn stubborn to adjust to the trends      Chorus

At the far edge of town while the Church choir sings/ A boy and his girlfriend are packin' their things/ A weathered old face from the wet window stares/ To the chair that has been there for years

Chorus: Singin', "Go, go where your heart tells you to/ Where the money is good and the people are true/ But as long as the snow lays its cold blanket down/ I'll be home in this Old Yankee Town/ I'll be home in this Old Yankee Town."

copyright Tim Craven 1981, 2002

 Matt Burkholder plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass
                  ....and who knows what else....
 
 
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Don't wait any longer!

Don't delay!

Your life is stressful enough. It's time you put it all aside and listen to some music that will touch your soul and probably make you laugh a little too!