Bob Rashid
A black and white photo of the five-member group Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins taken in 2000.
Marques Bovre, center, and the band the Evil Twins back in 2000.
On a February morning 10 years ago, Madison lost a true original. That’s when singer, songwriter, friend to many, and devoted family man Marques Bovre passed away. He handled his two-year journey with a cancerous brain tumor with courage, intelligence, wonder, humor, respect and irreverence; the same kinds of things his songs explored and revealed in life.
On June 4, Bovre’s songs will come alive once more in the hands of his 25-year-old son Quintin and two of Bovre’s longtime bandmates from the Evil Twins, Doug Meisner and Eric Dummer. The special celebration of Bovre’s irrepressible spirit and creativity will take place from 2-5 p.m. at The Mill in Bovre’s hometown of Paoli.
Bovre’s music continues to be enjoyed by an international crowd of fans on the YouTube channel that Quintin created and maintains, Marques Bovre Music Hub. “He was an amazing poet,” says Quintin who, in a recent phone conversation, was able to rattle off verses from his father’s songs with ease. Although he wasn’t interested in music growing up, Quintin started learning his father’s music as a teenager, shortly after Marques’ passing. He reckons there’s about 200 tunes in Marques’ catalog. “I’d say I know half the songs.”
Expect some deep cuts but lots of favorites, too, like the Midwest anthem “Flyover Land'' and the joyful “I Like Girls (Who Like Gyrls).” For the uninitiated, Bovre’s music is lush and crunchy guitar rock ’n roll. You like hooks? Marques was a master. There will be lots of dancing on June 4, but don’t forget to listen carefully to his wordplay. Marques Bovre writes like Bob Dylan, if Bob Dylan had a sense of humor.
Evil Twins bandmate, bass player Doug Meisner, first met Marques when they were boys sitting in the pews of the small Zwingli United Church of Christ chapel in Paoli. They began the Evil Twins in the mid-1980s. “I miss him constantly,” says Meisner. “I’m just so grateful for the music.”
When it came to songwriting, Meisner says Marques thought in complete sentences and would arrive at rehearsals with fully formed ideas. “I was always impressed with his resolve. He seemed very confident with what he was getting out. He wasn’t timid.”
Music and family were Marques’ life, a life he lived in peace whether facing pain or pleasure; themes that are explored throughout his writing career. Even prior to his cancer diagnosis, Bovre was gripped with a severe form of arthritis from a very young age. On the pain scale, “he lived an 8-out-of-10 every day,” says his wife, Tracy, adding that pain never slowed him down as a stay-at-home father or as a working musician.
Tracy, who met Marques at the Club de Wash where she was working as a bouncer, is excited to hear her late husband’s music played live again, especially by their son. “I love seeing Quintin come into his own as a musician,” she says. “And I love keeping Marques’ music alive.”
