Nashville, Tennessee
58 Years Old
Singer-Songwriter

writer profile >

"It Can Be Sweeter Lost In The Dream..."

BIOGRAPHY

Gary Davis Has Been Performing, Writing, Recording And Producing Music Professionally For More Than 40 Years. His Life-Long Musical Journey Began On The East Coast Of Virginia Before He Was Even A Teenager. At The Age Of Twelve, He And A Couple Of Friends Scraped Together What Musical Equipment They Could Find In A Day And Time, Unlike Today, When It Was Not So Easy To Come By, And Formed Their Very First Band Together, Literally In One Of Their Parent's Garages. The Year Was 1964. They Practiced And Practiced Until They Felt Confident Enough To Go In Search Of A "Gig". With A Repertoire Of About A Dozen Songs They Actually Got One At A Local Teen Club. They Were Paid $15...They Were, That Night, Kings Of The World. They Continued As A Band For A Year Or So However "Gigs" Were Not So Plentiful In Those Times And The Other Members Of The Group Began To Drift Away Into Other Teenage Things. For Gary However, The Fire Had Been Lit. He Found Several Other School Mates Who Were Forming A Band And Joined Up With Them And After Rehearsing For What Seemed Like An Endless Waste Of Energy To Gary, They Began Playing Saturday Mornings At A Local Movie Theater As A Prelude To The Movie. A Few Gigs At Teen Clubs In The Area Were Soon Added. However, In Typical Fashion, For The Others, Interest In The Band Began To Wane. Gary Wasted Little Time In Moving On. A Year Or So Later, Having Learned To Play The Trumpet As Well As The Guitar, Gary Tried His Hand At Playing Horn In A Couple Of Popular East Coast Dance Bands. The Frivolity Of The Dance Music Scene However Provided Little Outlet For His Creative Juices And That Portion Of His Musical "Legacy" Soon Became History. Shortly Thereafter He And Another "Local Boy", Danny Flowers, Began To Jam And Write A Tune Here And There Together And Gary Seemed To Find His Calling. Danny Flowers Eventually Moved To Nashville A Few Years Before Gary And Wrote Hits For Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Don Williams And Eric Clapton's, "Tulsa Time".

With The Experience He Had Gained In The Bands He Had Been With, Gary's Confidence Of Being On A Stage Grew And He Felt Comfortable In Taking The Lead Himself. With Guitar In Hand He Set Off To Begin A Stint As A Guitarist And Singer/Songwriter On The Folk Coffeehouse Circuit Of The East Coast And Northeast. He Had Begun Writing His Own Songs At The Age Of 14 And Now Felt Confident Enough To Expose Them In Public. He Chose An Ideal Arena To Begin Perfecting His Craft. He Was Well Received In Folk Music Circles And Eventually Found Himself Making Friends With And Doing Shows As An Opening Act For A Number Of The Folk And Blues Legends Of That Time Including, Tom Rush, Dave Van Ronk, Buffy St. Marie, Bill Staines, Keith Sykes, Fraser & Debolt, Tim Buckley, Lightin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Gordon Lightfoot, Jesse Winchester And The Reverend Gary Davis. Always A Rock & Roller At Heart Though, It Was The Unconstrained Avenues And Side-Streets Of Rock & Roll That Led Him To Join One Of Montreal's Premier Rock Bands In 1971...The Haunted. The Group Had Been Around Since 1965 And Had A Huge Following In Both Canada And The Northeastern Part Of The U.S. It Was Also During This Time That His First Book, A Collection Of Essays, Prose And Poetry, Between Court And King, Was Published. Gary's Tenure With The Haunted Would Be Short Lived However, As A Series Of Legal Matters, Law Suits And Simply Good Ol' Fashioned, In-Band Rivalries Effectively Shut The Band Down. He Headed Off To Fill Slots As A Sideman With A Number Of Multi-Hit, Internationally Renown Artists Such As Jeremy Spencer Of Fleetwood Mac, Mitch Ryder, Edward Bear And Mashmakan. His Second Book, Back To Where It All Began, Was Published In 1972, The Same Year His First Commercial Recording Was Released. Crazy Lady, An Original Song, Was Released On The Montreal Based Soundbox72 Label.

In 1977 Gary Moved To Nashville, Tennessee Where He Continued To Hone His Skills As A Songwriter And Began Working As A Back-Up Guitarist/Bassist. His First Gig There Was With A Singer Named, Ruby Wright, The Daughter Of Country Music Legends Kitty Wells And Johnny Wright. Eventually He Would Go On To Vastly Broadened The List Of Artists He Would Work With Until It Would Almost Look Like A Who's Who Of Country And Pop Music Of That Era. Some Of Them Were; Hoyt Axton, B.J. Thomas, Lee Greenwood, George Strait, Johnny Russell, Con Hunley, Leon Everette, Gene Watson, Kris Kristofferson, Tanya Tucker, Ray Stevens, Carl Perkins, Lynn Anderson, Ferlin Husky, Billy Swan, Skeeter Davis, Faron Young, Steve Wariner, Merle Haggard, Jim Stafford, Lane Brody, Razzy Bailey, John Conlee, The Jordanaires, Terri Gibbs, Johnny Lee, Earl Thomas Conley And Many, Many Others. 1981 Thru 1983 Found Him Working As A Band Member And Occasional Music Director For Three Nationally Syndicated Television Shows Produced In Nashville; The Late-Night Talk Fare, "Nightlife", Hosted By Nashville Songwriting Legend, Jerry Foster, The Country Music Showcase, "Hitchcock's Roundup", Hosted By Veteran Country Artist, Stan Hitchcock, And The Gospel Formatted, "Sing Out America". This Television Experience Eventually Led To Gary Becoming A Member Of The Team That Launched CMTV (CMT), The Country Music Television Network. While At CMTV He Worked In The Production Of Over 100 Music Videos, Appearing In Several Of Them Himself For Artists Such As Brenda Lee, Mickey Gilley, George Strait, Mel Tillis, Robin Lee, Earl Thomas Conley, Gene Watson, Lee Greenwood And Merle Haggard. As Mentioned Above, In The Early 70's Gary Had Recorded And Released Several Regional Recordings In The Montreal, Toronto And Northeastern U.S. Areas, However It Wasn't Until 1983 That He Released His First National Solo Recording, A Single Entitled, Cried All Night Over You. The Record Fared Quite Well On The East Coast With Radio Stations From Jacksonville, Florida To New York Giving It Considerable Airplay. In 1984, At The Urging Of Many Friends And Supporters, And Taking A Lead From The Regional Success Of His Recording, "Cried All Night Over You", Gary Formed His Own Pop/Rock Band, "Davis Deluxe". The Group Scored Critical Success In The Mid 80's, Releasing A Half A Dozen Highly Acclaimed Recordings, Including, "When The Lights Go Down", (If I Had Been An) "L.A. Baby/Hollywood Kid", "Half A Heart Away" And, The Song That Nashville Music Critic, Robert K. Oermann Would Review As Being, "...The Best Rock-A-Ballad I Have Ever Heard By A Nashville Band.", "One Of A Kind". From The Many Friends And Fellow Players He Had Met Through His Many Years In The Music Business, Gary Was Able To Fill The Ranks Of Davis Deluxe With An Alternating All-Star Line-Up Of Famed Nashville Super Session Players, Including, Steve Logan, Kenny Buttrey, Jimmy Johnson, Bucky Barrett, Steve Carmen, Mike Smoot, Jim Kirby and Others. (A Gathering Who Have Amassed Over 300 Gold And Platinum Albums Between Them.) The Band Continued On Into The Mid 90's However Gary's Disillusionment With The Nashville Music Scene Brought About His Departure From Nashville In The Late 80's. He Moved To Florida And Eventually To New Orleans Where He Continued To Write, Produce And Often Resurrect Davis Deluxe For Shows At The House Of Blues, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Music Festivals And Mardi Gras Festivities, Returning To Nashville For Brief Recording Projects. He Has Recently Returned To Nashville And Resumed Pursuing A Writing Career There After A Three Year Hiatus Living And Cruising Aboard His Sailboat. In Short, At This Particular Time In His Life, Gary Davis Is A Writer, A Composer, An Author, A Guitarist, A Part-Time Producer And Full Time Philosopher. But, Most Importantly, Perhaps More Than Ever, Gary Davis Still Believes The Business Of Music Is Never More Important Than The Music Itself.

LEVEL

professional

GENRES

Singer/Songwriter, Pop, Easy Listening

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Davis Deluxe Music, independent publishing company

Contact

Management: DDM Enterprises
Publishing: Davis Deluxe Music
Music Supervisor: GaryWayneDavis.Com
Booking: 615-656-3421
Administrative: Backstage@DavisDeluxeMusic.Com

P.R.O.

ASCAP

INSTRUMENTS

bass / acoustic guitar / electric guitar / piano / trumpet / vocals

DAY JOB

Life

I AM INTERESTED IN

in co writing online
in co writing in person
in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv

I WRITE:

For a living

I Also Write:
by myself
with others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

>>

Legends: Bobby Braddock

In Nashville, most successful songwriters have a fairly short run. On hit, one year, two years, five years. Occasionally, we get one whose career approaches the length of a real career or, more often, one who has a few years success, then slips into oblivion, only to emerge again for another brief era of hit-making.

>>

Legends: Rickie Lee Jones

She speaks softly, not unlike the way she sings --soft, soulful passages, almost like secrets to the closest of friends --punctuated by bursts of exaltation. It's much like the span of emotion in her work, and in her new record, Balm in Gilead, which veers from the pure, naked heartbreak of "Bonfires" to the elation of "Old Enough," to the beautiful "Wild Girl," which celebrates the 21st birthday of her daughter, while simultaneously reflecting on the unchained fervor of her own wild days.

>>

Legends: Robert Earl Keen

As singer/songwriters go, Robert Earl Keen doesn't seem like the kind of artist who could honestly be accused of sloth. But despite a catalog choked with characters and conversations pulled from a colorful life, he makes that very claim on "Something That I Do," a track where he brags of his ability to not let work get in the way of an otherwise pleasant afternoon.

>>

Townes Van Zandt: Facets, Faults & Fractures

It's 10 o'clock at night on an abandoned Music Row. The year is 1985. In a third-floor office in an old house that serves as the offices for the Oak Ridge Boys' Silverline/Goldline Music Publishing, Steve Earle brings the chair he's leaning back in down hard, flipping his hair out of his eyes for emphasis.