Live by Nathan Davis

The Journey

"I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost

Nathan Davis has been doing things the hard way since day one. Born in the Sandhills of North Carolina, Davis began his career as many struggling musicians do, playing in small town bars and practicing in whatever garage was available at the time. In his late teens, Davis hopped a train to St. Louis, MO, and after a very successful (albeit short) run as the frontman for punk band The End, moved back to the South. But his amazing life experience had only begun.

Quickly finding himself uninspired by his surroundings, Davis soon left the warm Southern swamps of Louisiana and Mississippi, wandering for months across the country, finally settling down in the cold hell of Alaska for almost 3 years before returning to the Carolinas. Many days along the way were spent on the sides of highways and on street corners around the country. Many nights were spent in homeless shelters and under overpasses, but Davis always had his guitar. He found his inspiration for his emotional, gut-wrenching lyrics not only from his life but from the lives of others he met along the way. He draws inspiration from the work of the musicians that came before him, not just in the music these people made, but from their lives and the similar roads they had traveled. Nathan Davis' music comes from a place deep inside him and his songs prove that the best artists are the ones who truly feel what they create. His hasn't exactly been a smooth journey, but good things and great talent never come easily.

The Result: His Work and Discography

After he returned to the Carolinas in 2000, Nathan Davis began a long, arduous search for the right musicians to back him up on songs he had written about his own life. Davis released his first live album, The Holly Show, in the summer of 2000. Immediately following his first album's release, Davis began working with a 17-year-old fan and self-taught producer named Grant Walker to produce his first studio album, Out Of My Skin, released in 2002. Although Davis and Walker recorded the entire album in Walker's kitchen and shower stall, the album quickly caught on after word of mouth and some local airplay, and eventually became the best selling album by a local artist that Davis's hometown Sam Goody music store had or has since carried.

Still touring as a solo act, Davis searched for a band to back him up on the road. While touring the country in support of Out Of My Skin, Davis caught the attention of legendary, Grammy-nominated producer John Custer (DAG, Cry of Love, Corrosion of Conformity) in 2003. The two men instantly clicked, and decided to take on the task of recording a professional album. Their endeavor doubled and in the process of recording the studio album Revolution Lane, they recorded and produced Nathan Davis Live! with the help of longtime Davis friend and engineer Chad Stites, keyboardist John Henry Trinko and bassist Jeff Crawford (both of Chapel Hill, NC's SpencerAcuff) and many of Davis' fans at the Six String Music Hall in Cary, NC. The resulting recording, released as "Nathan Davis Live" in June 2005, is one of the most stunning works to ever result from a completely independent artist with a small budget.

What's Next

Revolution Lane, the Custer-produced and long-awaited studio album, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2006. The full-length album features cameos from local professional artists including John Custer on guitar, legendary guitarist Woody Weatherman (Corrosion of Conformity), saxophonist Lee Johnson (Big Bertha Band), violinist Bill Ayerbe (a first-chair symphony concert master in the Fayetteville Symphony), and local bass prodigy Derek Arnold. There is also a full-length DVD in the works, featuring electrifying live performances by Davis and his band and an in-depth look at the life and times that inspired the music.

The Reviews

"The re-emergence of melody, songwriting and performance, in the age of blathering hip hop thugs and gyrating pre-pubescent video whores, is most desperately welcome. Nathan Davis returns us to a time when purported musicians actually played and wrote music instead of sampling the abilities of others and claiming it as one's own. This is a man who writes and performs his own singular musical vision. He can claim a perspective few have seen and he can present its case with a talent and a passion only few are capable of. This is a survivor telling his tale in Technicolor terms. This is a rare meeting of experience and art." --John Custer, producer

Davis is a fascinatingly deep & dark, and painfully honest artist, a phenomenally passionate singer...a songwriter's songwriter......The entire CD is packed full of some of the most unbridled and talented songwriting imaginable. You can visualize his feet erupting as Nathan's intense vocal desperation rips straight up from his toes ...... Nathan's weathered and tan vocals share an urgency that equals his burning, percussive guitar work...transporting his audience into the 'Nabyss' known as 'Nathan Davis ALIVE at the Six String. --Annette Warner, A. Warner Entertainment.

"I hadn't heard of Nathan Davis until I caught the tail-end of his performance by chance at the

local Border's Books. I go there for the books, and I find the live music pleasant, but I was

completely blown away by Nathan and his band mates' accompaniment. I bought his CD and am even more impressed." --David Richard, Internet

"Take all the anger, addiction, despair, revelation, love, and redemption that can possibly be packed into the human heart over a lifetime, pour it into gospel piano and raw guitar, lead it with a vocal that can growl, rasp, plead, and roar, and this is the result." --Jennifer Layton, Indie-Music.com

Postscript

Tragically, Nathan Davis died suddenly on August 22, 2006. We lost a friend, a talented musician, a father, a son, and a terrific guy. What we did not lose was the music. The new CD, Revolution Lane, will be released as soon as producer John Custer (www.johncuster.com)finishes with it, probably sometime early in 2007.

See www.nathan-davis.com for more information.

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