John Davis

Singer/songwriter/mutli-instrumentalist John Davis is best known for his work as one half of The Folk Implosion from 1993-2000. Folk Implosion scored a surprise top 40 hit in 1995 with "Natural One" from the soundtrack to the film Kids, but were mostly focused on creative experimentation across the lo-fi to hi-fi studio spectrum over the course of a discography that ran from 1994's Take A Look Inside to 2000's One Part Lullaby. During that time, John also released a string of solo albums and singles on Shrimper and other lo-fi labels in the '90's, a body of work which The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called "swoonier and moonier than the Folk Implosion," starting with 1994's Pure Night and ending with 1997's Blue Mountains.

After departing from the music world during the aughts, John began recording again in 2010, leading to the release of the album Spare Parts in 2013 on the Shrimper label. The project was co-produced by singer/songwriter Simon Joyner, and recorded by Ben Brodin, (Bright Eyes, Conner Oberst, Simon Joyner, First Aid Kit,) and Brandon Eggleston (Mountain Goats, Swans, Scout Niblet, tUnE-yArDs, Modest Mouse,) who also mixed the record. The album featured contributions from cellist and violin player Megan Siebe (Anniversaire, Simon Joyner and The Ghosts,) a trio of backing vocalists that included Laura Burhenn (Mynabirds, Bright Eyes, The Postal Service) and drummer/percussionist Jose Medeles, (Breeders, 1939 Ensemble, Portland Ore's Revival Drum Shop.)

John is playing this show to celebrate the completion of a new album recorded entirely in North Carolina, where he moved in 2013 to accept a teaching position with Durham Public Schools. The album was recorded, mixed and produced by Scott Solter, (Mountain Goats, Superchunk, Erik Friedlander, Spoon.) It features contributions from over a dozen musicians, including Peter Hughes, (Mountain Goats,) Jonathan Henderson, (Kaira Ba,) Wendy Allen, (Boxharp,) and Louis Landry, (Curtis Eller's American Circus.) The album was funded in part by a successful Kickstarter campaign and focuses on issues of food justice in ways that relate to his current work as an educator and as an active member of the Organize 2020 caucus of the NCAE, (North Carolina Association of Educators.)

The show will mix material from John's two recent albums with songs he released in the 1990's, and represents the debut of a new live lineup with a distinctly local flavor:

Peter Hughes (Mountain Goats): Electric Bass
Jonathan Henderson (Kaira Ba): Doouble Bass
Alex Lazara (Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers): Synthesizers
Rob Chamberlain (Häana, COPAL): Electronic & Acoustic Drums
Dylan Thurston (Camp Street): Acoustic Drums, Percussion.
Wendy Allen (Boxharp): Backing Vocals
Justin Blatt (Impossible Arms): Viola and violin