... 100% pure blues
uy Davis has an instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’, and his ‘all’ is the Blues. The routes, and roots, of his blues are as diverse as the music form itself — it can be soulful, moaning out a people’s cry, or playful and bouncy as a hay-ride.
e's a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. But most importantly, Guy Davis is a bluesman. The blues permeates every corner of Davis' creativity. Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.
uy can tell you stories of his great-grandparents and his grandparents, they’re days as track linemen, and of their interactions with the infamous KKK. He can also tell you that as a child raised in middle-class New York suburbs as the son of actors/writers Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, the only cotton he’s picked is his underwear up off the floor.
is musical influences are as varied as the days. He enjoyed such great blues musicians as Blind Willie McTell (and his way of story telling), Skip James, Manse Lipscomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, and Buddy Guy, among others. It was through Taj Mahal that he found his way to the old time blues. He also loved such diverse musicians as Fats Waller and Harry Belafonte. Guy's writing and storytelling have been influenced by Zora Neale Hurston, Garrison Keillor, and by the late Laura Davis (his one hundred and five year-old grandmother).
is creative roots run deep. Though raised in the New York City area, he grew up hearing accounts of life in the rural south from his parents and especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and watching other musicians. One night on a train from Boston to New York he picked up finger picking from a nine-fingered guitar player.
uy’s performances explode with passion and rhythm, and display his breadth as a composer and powerhouse performer. Guy pays tribute to the blues masters, and then moves nimbly towards his own powerful originals — solidifying Davis' position as one of the most important blues artists of our time.
his was a tantalizing evening of live performance music that we won't soon forget
Praises for his performances:
