Jon Davis

English translation by Debora Berghuijs.

Let’s take a singer/songwriter, give him an acoustic guitar, let him sing beautiful sensitive songs and give some string players a supporting role. Then which name comes to mind? Exactly, Nick Drake. This is also the case on the MySpace site of this singer/songwriter from Montreal. “James Taylor meets Nick Drake and Coldplay on a warm sunny beach with cold water crashing hard against the shore” is written on this website. In my opinion the only comparison that makes sense, is the one with James Taylor (Ok, in “if it gets you down” the sound might hint at Coldplay). Without saying that Jon Davis is a clone of James Taylor, you can say that his voice and in a certain way his music sometimes has something of James Taylor. Is this bad? No, because the CD “Golden Hue” is a record that should be heard. As a matter of fact this debut album is very strong. Davis has by nature a rather high vocal sound and has, because of this use of the falsetto voice, a very high range. In the lower registers his voice has sometimes some vocal impurity but that is more charming than disturbing. The basis of his songs is made on either the guitar or the piano. This basic variation gives something refreshing to the CD. Next to that Davis is capable of writing really beautiful songs. The almost six minute long opening song “Nocturnal Rainbow” is simply phenomenal. It has a good built up and the end of the song, with its accompaniment of an up swelling violin and cello is heavenly beautiful. The loosely played jazzy “Rebirth” is of a similar standard. The beauty of the song in combination with the beautiful instrumentation shows an amazing writing talent. “The morning light” were Davis is accompanied by the piano, even shows signs of classical influences. The other songs that deserve to be named are the very nice “Silver tree” that develops from strange guitar chords into an amazingly pretty refrain and the more quiet “sweeter girl” with which he finished his album. The other songs range from good to very good but are less striking because of the amazing compositions we have just named.

A big compliment should go to producer Bill Garret who has given this CD an unrealistically beautiful and warm sound. Every instrument sounds fantastic. This is great material for audio fanatics like myself. I don’t believe I have heard in this last year a CD where the percussion and Drums sound as good as they do in this album. So all together a really good debut album from this Canadian who we (and not only James Taylor fans) should keep an eye out for. Only… should we start saying that the new Nick Drake has stood up?

The original Dutch text can be found at this link: http://www.altcountryforum.nl/2009/08/05/jon-davis-golden-hue/ - Johan Schoenmakers for www.altcountryforum.nl (Netherlands)

“Jon Davis is one of my favorite performers. He is eclectic, passionate, uniquely multi-talented yet vulnerable and unassuming. He delivers with quiet confidence, yet possesses bold and raw passion.” - Holly Fleming, The Yellowdoor

"It's not often you encounter a musician that can write, sing and play really well. Jon Davis does all three now and is poised to become an artist of consequence in the very near future." - Bill Garrett, Borealis Records

"It's not often you encounter a musician that can write, sing and play really well. Jon Davis does all three now and is poised to become an artist of consequence in the very near future." - Bill Garrett, Borealis Records

“Here’s a nod to a new Canadian singing talent; Montreal’s Jon Davis is generating buzz for his Indie/Folk/Rock. He’s also trained in Classical and Jazz…” - CTV News @ Six

"How can this be anything but beautiful?" he asks, of Beautiful Snow. “Jon Davis composes refractory music that draws us into finding personal angles of entry. His voice is insistent, yet vulnerable, tenaciously following a wisp of emotion until it is delivered in a bright package to the listener. - Paul Corby, CKLN Radio

“…If you like James Taylor, I think you will absolutely love Jon Davis. Very, very nice voice... very, very fine album by a Montrealer.” - Pierre Landry, CBC Radio One (Daybreak)

“…If you like James Taylor, I think you will absolutely love Jon Davis. Very, very nice voice... very, very fine album by a Montrealer.” - Pierre Landry, CBC Radio One (Daybreak)

"Jon Davis' musical chops and training are of the highest caliber, they have to be to get your foot in the door in this industry. I urge other presenters to get this guy on their stage in any capacity available." - Matt Large, Hello Darlin' Productions / The Wintergreen Concert Series

"Jon Davis is by far one of the most talented singer-songwriters to emerge since Van Morrison.” - Alex Boicel, BET Jazz (Artistic Dir. Cayenne Jazz Festival)

"Jon Davis is by far one of the most talented singer-songwriters to emerge since Van Morrison.” - Alex Boicel, BET Jazz (Artistic Dir. Cayenne Jazz Festival)

THE CHRONICLE HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 (NOVA SCOTIA)

E6 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 ARTS & LIFE

(Photo)
Montreal singer-songwriter Jon Davis performs at the RBC Multicultural Festival in Halifax on July 1 at 7p.m.

BRAIN INJURY INSPIRED PERFORMER

Montreal singer-songwriter used traumatic experience for first album

By ANDREA NEMETZ
Entertainment Reporter

Getting knocked unconscious was the best thing that could have happened to Jon Davis.
But when it happened nearly five years ago it sent the Montreal singer-songwriter into a dark, depressed place.
Davis, now 33, had just graduated with a master’s degree in classical singing from McGill University and was on his way to hear a band when he fell and hit his head on the pavement. He ended up with a traumatic brain injury and had to spend six months in bed, not allowed to move.
Even playing the guitar would leave him feeling dizzy.
“I felt like I had four to six beers in me at all times,” said Davis, by phone from Montreal.
“I went back to living with my parents. I couldn’t work…. It was very frightening. I couldn’t move too much because I was told if I generated too much blood flow to my brain, which was bruised, I could end up with permanent brain damage. I had post-concussion syndrome like a lot of football and hockey players, like Eric Lindros and Sidney Crosby…. I had to lie around doing nothing and it was very depressing… and it was pretty scary because I was not sure if I was going to recover.
“The crazy thing, though, is if I hadn’t had the brain injury, I wouldn’t have an album, or at least not an album so soon.” He says, noting he’d wanted to be a singer-songwriter since he was 13 and wanted to make an album since he was 19.
Davis, who performs at the RBC Multicultural Festival in Halifax on July 1 at 7 p.m., had been toying with the idea of a musical theatre career before the accident.
He was about to star in the musical Till We Meet Again – he’d done a tour of Ontario with the musical the previous year – but was told he couldn’t do musical theatre without risking further injury.
While he was recovering, he wrote “tons of music and poetry,” including a lot of sad songs. Those songs became Golden Hue, which was released in 2009.
Among its 12 tracks is Traumatic Head Injury, a groovy upbeat tune with lyrics including “All by myself trying to pass the time, stuck in the shell of an idle mind… once I’m back in health I’ll be kicking overtime.”
Davis chose Traumatic Head Injury over the medical term Traumatic Brain Injury for the title “because it’s more metaphorical.”
He says he really needed to get the song out. “It was like my theme song during the period when I was recovering. I always said to myself, ‘When I get better, I’ll play it onstage and laugh at where I was.’ And I totally rocked out on it.”
The bilingual Davis loves writing songs and creating music. “Melodies come easily, writing words is always a major headache,” he says without irony.
His writing is influenced by his years studying classical music. In high school, he was told that with his high baritone voice he could be an opera singer. He even studied classical music at the Franz Schubert Institut in Austria on scholarship in the summer of 2007.
But pop/folk proved to be more his style and his music has drawn comparisons to James Taylor. “Joni Mitchell was a huge influence; she was my idol for a while. And I love Nick Drake.”
He also enjoys listening to Feist and the Fleet Foxes. But he says he thinks like a classical composer, having studied Schubert, Schumann, Debussy, Brahms and Beethoven.
“The interesting thing about the classical art song is it’s very free form. It’s very unstructured compared to pop with a chorus and a bridge…. My songs tend to have a beginning-to-end arc rather than a verse and chorus.”
Davis, who plays guitar and piano and does his own arranging, is looking forward to making his next album.
“Like a lot of people, I feel like I can make a better album now.”
He’s never played in Halifax before, though he has a Nova Scotia connection. His father, Allan, grew up in Tatamagouche, Clochester Co.
For the multicultural festival he’ll perform an hour-long acoustic set accompanying himself on guitar and keyboard with Matthew Tomlinson on percussion and backup vocals.

FESTIVAL FACTS
WHERE: Halifax Seaport
WHEN: Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
World music and dance: Programming begins at 5 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday on mainstage and in the lounge.
Children’s pavilion: Performances and workshops beginning at 11 a.m.” Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Exhibition pavilion: Artifacts from cultural groups; merchandise for sale, including handmade crafts and artwork. Featuring Taiwanese, Jewish, Chinese, German, Russian, Tamil, Zimbabwean, Iranian, Turkish, Islamic, Ghanaian and African cra - THE CHRONICLE HERALD WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 (NOVA SCOTIA)