Morningsiders, Kate Davis

Morningsiders are a folk/pop duo featuring the songwriting pair of Magnus Ferguson (vocals/guitar) and Reid Jenkins (vocals/fiddle). Appearing as both a duo and full band, Morningsiders draw on an Americana folk foundation while also veering into the worlds of pop, rock, and jazz.

Based in New York City, Magnus and Reid formed the group in 2012 as sophomores at Columbia University. The band's debut live music video, "Empress," quickly went viral around campus, and soon after, Morningsiders opened for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at Columbia's 2013 spring concert.

In May 2014, the group released their first two singles, "Empress" (studio version) and "Welcome Rain," the first of which was broadcast nationwide in Starbucks' Mother's Day commercial featuring a voice over by Oprah Winfrey.

This winter, Morningsiders will be releasing their first full-length studio release, while simultaneously performing up and down the East Coast.


The music of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Kate Davis has been turning heads in New York's music scene since 2012. Whether she's crooning rootsy ballads or plucking bright riffs from her bass, the gutsy songstress from Portland, Oregon, puts a fresh spin on the standards and brings a canonical sensibility to her own lush tracks.

Lauded by MTV as one of 2014's "15 Fresh Females Who Will Rule Pop," Kate grew up with an instrument in her arms and a head full of inventive lyrics. Her lifelong training makes for smart, warm pop that's as musically nuanced as it is addictive. If you put a mid-career Jenny Lewis album in a room with Regina Spektor's coloring, Joanna Newsom's lyric poetry, and a dose of Tina Fey's sharp wit -- then added a couple decades of rigorous musical education and a shift dress -- Kate Davis might come strolling out.

Vivid, nostalgic melodies materialize out of Kate's musical arrangements, her songbird voice complimented by a rich rock 'n' roll bass-line. Alternating between achingly soulful and flippantly funny, Kate's songwriting combines ranging sonic textures with an anecdotal knack. Her lyrics are novel and rhapsodic, cutting through the clichés and trivia of pop parlance to deliver something honest and truly perceptive. She's performed at such illustrious venues as The Kennedy Center, The Bowery Ballroom, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall -- as well as pretty much every noteworthy club in NYC.

Recently, Kate has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Alison Krauss, Josh Groban, Ben Folds, Sara Bareilles, and Renee Fleming. Her accolades include a Robert Allen Award from the ASCAP Foundation, and her arts advocacy work includes a presentation at TEDx Portland and participation in the 2010 National Arts Policy Roundtable.

Kate became a New York transplant in 2009, when she enrolled at Manhattan School of Music. There, she met guitarist Gabe Schnider and drummer Conor Szymanski, with whom she collaborated to develop her signature genre-defying sound. The trio continues to pair contagious melodies with crafted musical arrangements and to tell the kind of emotionally resonant stories you'll remember long after the song is over.