Benjamin Darvill

About Benjamin Darvill

Benjamin Darvill (born January 4, 1967), known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, based in Winnipeg. He was a member of the folk rock band Crash Test Dummies in which he played harmonica, mandolin, guitar and percussion before returning to his blues, Beat-Box and harmonica driven solo work in 2000. Darvill was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was inspired to learn the harmonica after hearing James Cotton and Sonny Terry play at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Darvill's "first claim to blues fame" was as a member of The Detonators. Darvill lived in London, England, from 1998 to 2021, when he returned to his hometown. He began playing as Son of Dave while in London, and has recorded 11 albums and performed over 1400 shows across the world, including appearances at Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Son of Dave appeared on BBC television's Later...with Jools Holland in 2005, performing the song "Hellhound", before recording the song a few years later on the album O3. His 2003 album O2 has been described as a mix of "cotton-pickin' blues, vocalising beat-box, hard-breathing folk, steamy funk and even modern R&B".