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Showing posts with label Guy Davis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guy Davis. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
NO.1!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Guy Davis Feeling The Love!!
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Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Guy Davis Signs With M.C. Records
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mark Pucci Media Artists Nominated for the 2012 Living Blues Awards
Mark Pucci Media
MARK PUCCI MEDIA CONGRATULATES ITS ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE 2012 LIVING BLUES AWARDS READER’S POLL
Blues Artist of the Year (Male) – Johnny Rawls
Best Blues Album of 2011 (New Recordings) – Johnny Rawls, Memphis Still Got Soul
Blues Artist of the Year (Female) – Rory Block
Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar) – Duke Robillard
Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboards) –
Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne
Best Blues DVD of 2011 – Guy Davis,
Guitar Artistry of Guy Davis: Teller of Tales
All ballots must be received by July 10, 2012. Vote for one choice only in each category. All ballots must have valid contact details. Only one ballot per person is allowed. To vote, follow this link and click on the VOTE button: http://www.livingblues.com/.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Things About Coming My Way - Guy Davis
Guy Davis (born May 12, 1952) is an American blues guitarist and banjo player, actor, and musician. He is the son of actors Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis
Davis says his blues music is inspired by the southern speech of his grandmother. 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. His first exposure to the blues was at a summer camp in Vermont run by Pete Seeger's brother John Seeger, where he learned how to play the 5-string banjo.
For the past decade, Davis has concentrated much of his efforts on writing, recording, and performing music. In the fall of 1995, he released his Red House records debut Stomp Down Rider, an album that captured Davis in a stunning live performance. The album landed on top lists all over the country, including in the Boston Globe and Pulse magazine.
Davis' next album, Call Down the Thunder, paid tribute to the blues masters, but leaned more heavily towards his own powerful originals. It too was named a top ten album of the year in the Boston Globe and Pulse, and Acoustic Guitar called it one of the “thirty essential CDs from a new generation of performers”.
Davis' third Red House disc, You Don't Know My Mind, which includes backing vocals by Olu Dara, explodes with passion and rhythm, and displays Davis' breadth as a composer and powerhouse performer. It was chosen as ‘Blues Album of the Year’ by the Association For Independent Music (formerly NAIRD). The San Francisco Chronicle gave the CD four stars, adding, "Davis' tough, timeless vocals blow through your brain like a Mississippi dust devil."
Charles M. Young summed up Davis' own take on the blues best when he wrote his review in Playboy magazine, "Davis reminds you that the blues started as dance music. This is blues made for humming along, stomping your foot, feeling righteous in the face of oppression and expressing gratitude to your baby for greasing your skillet."
Davis’ fourth album was, Butt Naked Free, the first of all of the albums since that have been produced by John Platania, former guitarist for Van Morrison. In addition to John on electric guitar, it includes musician friends such as Levon Helm (The Band), multi-instrumentalist, Tommy “T-Bone” Wolk (Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Band), drummer Gary Burke (Joe Jackson), and acoustic bassist, Mark Murphy (Walt Michael & Co., Vanaver Caravan). The musicians all performed “Waitin’ On the Cards to Fall” from this album on the Conan O’Brien show.
Of the fifth album, Give In Kind, music critic Dave Marsh wrote, “Davis never loses sight of the blues as good time music, the original forum for dancing on top of one's sorrows. Joy made more exquisite, of course, by the sorrow from which it springs.”
It was this album that caught the ear of Ian Anderson, founder and lead singer of Jethro Tull, who invited Davis to open for them during the summer of 2003. He wrote in his invitation, “Folk Blues (Sonny Terry, J.B. Lenoir) is where I started. Hearing Guy is like coming home again.”
Many notables in the entertainment world who call themselves Davis fans include Jackson Browne, Maya Angelou, and Jessica Lange, who had Davis perform his cover version of the Bob Dylan song, “What’s a Sweetheart Like You (Doing in a Dump Like This)” for a special fundraiser she and her husband Sam Shepard organized for Tibetan monks in Minnesota.
Chocolate to the Bone, Davis’ sixth album, followed, with more accolades and acclaim including a W.C. Handy award nomination for “Best Acoustic Blues Album”. Davis has been nominated for nine ‘Handy Awards’ over the years including for “Best Traditional Blues Album”, “Best Blues Song” (“Waiting On the Cards to Fall”) and as “Best Acoustic Blues Artist” two times. His latest album, Legacy, was picked as one of the Best CDs of the Year by National Public Radio (NPR), and the lead track on it, “Uncle Tom’s Dead” was chosen as one of the Best Songs of the Year. This of course is ironic as FCC rules won’t allow it to be played on the air, but it’s a fitting tribute nonetheless. The only other artist on both lists was Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys fame.
The cover for this album was drawn by noted comic book artist and graphic illustrator, Guy Davis. The tongue-in-cheek cartoon strip that is included in the liner notes, is a collaboration between the two men. A winery in California completes the triumvirate as it is headed by a man also named Guy Davis (http://www.davisfamilyvineyards.com). He created a limited edition wine in their honor with the label artwork done by illustrator Guy.
Davis has contributed songs on a host of tribute and compilation albums, including collections on bluesmen Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, for Putumayo Records collections including, From Mali to Memphis and the children’s album called, Sing Along With Putumayo, for tradition-based rockers like the Grateful Dead, songwriters like Nick Lowe, and for Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday CD called, A Nod to Bob, even on a Windham Hill collection of choral music, and alongside performers like Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Bruce Springsteen for a collection of songs written by his friend, legendary folksinger, ‘Uncle’ Pete Seeger, called, Where Have All the Flowers Gone.
However, easily the proudest recording project he’s been involved with is the one produced by his friend Larry Long, called I Will Be Your Friend: Songs and Activities for Young Peacemakers, in which Davis contributed the title track. It's a CD collection of enriching songs combined together with a teacher’s aid kit to help teach diversity and understanding. It is all part of the national “Teaching Tolerance” (www.tolerance.org) campaign and continues to be distributed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and sent to every public school in the country to help combat hatred.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Guy Davis Set to Appear on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" Show Tomorrow, April 19
BLUES SINGER-SONGWRITER GUY DAVIS TO
APPEAR ON NPR’S
“TALK OF THE NATION” SHOW, TOMORROW, APRIL 19
WASHINGTON, DC – Blues singer-songwriter Guy Davis, whose new “audio play” 2-CD set, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues, continues to generate critical acclaim and major radio airplay, will be a special LIVE guest tomorrow, April 19, on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” program. Davis will perform two songs and will be interviewed by “Talk of the Nation” guest host and ABC-TV News reporter, John Donvan. “Talk of the Nation” is NPR’s live call-in talk show broadcast on over 330 member stations to over 3 million listeners each week Monday through Thursday from 2:00-4:00 PM Eastern Time. The Guy Davis live segment is scheduled for the 3:40-4:00 PM time slot. For more information on the show and to find out the time and station in your market, go to www.npr.org/talkofthenation. Davis, who’s been dubbed “The Ambassador of the Blues,” recently returned from performing a number of shows in Greenland and is set to tour extensively in Europe from late April through May.
Released on his own Smokeydoke Records label, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues, marks the debut on disc for the production Guy Davis has performed off and on since 1994, and he celebrated its release with a special run of performances of the one-man play in February at the famed Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The album features a number of Guy Davis original compositions, as well as songs by such blues icons as Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Big Bill Broonzy. The album is a “road story” in the truest sense. Guy Davis performs the stories and songs in character as “Fishy Waters,” who traveled throughout the south meeting a host of vivid characters and creating a lasting impression that is at times humorous and playful, at others mysterious and sometimes intensely powerful.
“Story telling is the most ancient, most powerful magic of the universe,” says Guy Davis, son of acclaimed actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. “I grew up in a house full of story tellers. I met many more through the years but family members such as my grandpa Marshall (my mom’s dad) and my father were among the very best. My grandpa was famous for his rascally tales and jokes but every once in a while he’d tell about the time his mom killed and cooked his pet chicken and he didn’t realize it until after he had eaten it! My dad could tell a story over and over and make it fun every time. All these factors came together in my life and were helpful to me in writing The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues.”
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sirius XM to Air World Premiere Radio Special on New Guy Davis CD, "The ADVENTURES OF FISHY WATERS: IN BED WITH THE BLUES
SIRIUS XM’S B.B. KING’S BLUESVILLE CHANNEL
TO PRESENT WORLD PREMIERE OF NEW
GUY DAVIS CD,
THE ADVENTURES OF FISHY WATERS: IN BED WITH THE BLUES, IN ITS ENTIRETY ON SPECIAL, AIRING FEB. 15, 18 AND 19
SPECIAL INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE GUY DAVIS INTERVIEW WITH CHANNEL HOST, BILL WAX
WASHINGTON, DC – Sirius XM will air a special world premiere of the new Guy Davis CD, The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues, to be played in its entirety, with multiple airings on February 15,18 and 19 as part of a show that includes an exclusive interview with the acclaimed blues singer/songwriter. The special will air on B.B. King’s Bluesville Channel and is hosted by Bill Wax, “Proprietor of Low-Fi's Bar and Pool Hall,” who talked with Guy Davis about the making of this unique new “audio play” album, which is being released nationally February 21 on his Smokeydoke Records label.
Here is the schedule of the airtimes for the Guy Davis Sirius XM special:
Wednesday, February 15 at 1 PM Eastern Time
Saturday, February 18 at Midnight Eastern Time
Sunday, Feb. 19 at 3 PM Eastern Time
The airing of the special coincides with the upcoming performances of Guy’s one-man play on which the album is based at the historic Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, February 16-26. For more information on the play’s performances, go to www.CrossroadsTheatreCompany.org.
The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed with the Blues marks the debut on disc for the production Guy Davis has performed off and on since 1994, and he’ll also perform a 10-15 minute segment from the play as part of his regular tour date shows. The new CD features a number of Guy Davis original compositions, as well as songs by such blues icons as Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Big Bill Broonzy. The album is a “road story” in the truest sense. Guy Davis performs the stories and songs in character as “Fishy Waters,” who traveled throughout the south meeting a host of vivid characters and creating a lasting impression that is at times humorous and playful, at others mysterious and sometimes intensely powerful.
“Story telling is the most ancient, most powerful magic of the universe,” says Guy Davis, son of acclaimed actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. “I grew up in a house full of story tellers. I met many more through the years but family members such as my grandpa Marshall (my mom’s dad) and my father were among the very best. My grandpa was famous for his rascally tales and jokes but every once in a while he’d tell about the time his mom killed and cooked his pet chicken and he didn’t realize it until after he had eaten it! My dad could tell a story over and over and make it fun every time. All these factors came together in my life and were helpful to me in writing The Adventures Of Fishy Waters: In Bed With The Blues.”
In addition to being a recipient of the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award,” Guy Davis has been nominated for 10 Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation. Over the years, his albums have drawn critical praise and honors from such media outlets as National Public Radio, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle and Acoustic Guitar magazine. Among his many career highlights include performing at Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden (leading Steve Earle, Warren Haynes, and the SNL Band in Pete's “False From True,” a song Guy recorded for the Seeger tribute album, Where Have All the Flowers Gone). Also on that show were Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and a “Who's Who” of the folk world. Guy's also opened for the legendary Jethro Tull, with Ian Anderson joining him onstage every night.
Davis has recently been dubbed “The Ambassador of the Blues” following performances in 2011 in Greenland, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands (the first-ever shows sponsored by the Ministry of Culture on those enchanted islands), Denmark and Spain.
Guy Davis is managed by Thom Wolke Management and booked by Piedmont Talent. For more information, visit www.guydavis.com.
Upcoming Guy Davis Tour Dates
3/1 - Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
3/2 - One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME
3/3 - Northwest Park Nature Center, Windsor, CT
3/5 - Blue Note, New York, NY
3/7 & 8 - Children's shows at schools in London, Ontario
3/10 - Avalon Theatre, Easton, MD
3/16 - Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, NJ
3/17 - World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA - daytime children's/family show at 11:30am
3/18 – Tupelo Music Hall – White River Junction, VT
3/23 - Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Old Saybrook, CT
3/24 - Fitzgerald Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
3/31 - Colonial Theatre, Idaho Falls, ID
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