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Robin Wagner: How long
have you been doing this? I heard you say something about 1989.
David Davis:
Since fall of '84, about 14 years.
That's a long time.
What keeps it new and interesting?
For the first 10 years
we were predominantly pretty much the same and you know that can be good
and bad. We've had different people comin' in when I say that. But with
new people you get new ideas and new ways of doing things. New ways of
interpreting things that you've recorded in the past. Just tryin' to stay
true to it [the music] to a certain extent. It's easy to keep it fresh
if you're excited about what you're doin' and tryin' to be an artist, it's
easy to keep it fresh.
It seems the Warrior
River Boys are more popular now than ever.
Well I hope so! In 14 years we've been comin'
up in the Northeast since '88 or '89. Well, you know, I live in northern
Alabama, and people was tellin' me that Baltimore and Pennsylvania were
the bluegrass capitals. And I just thought, "That's gotta be crazy."
DC/Baltimore is the
only place that has a full-time bluegrass radio station in the county.
When I came up here I said, "Well it has to
be in the South." When I started traveling and playing I saw that it was
correct. The Northeast has more saturated good shows all year long than
any region or state and the Northeast gives us an opportunity to come here
year after year and work new places and older places. Though we work out
in California, the Northeast has been and continues to be our bread and
butter.
What's in your CD player
right now?
[Laughs] Allman Brothers!
Love you for that!
I've always wanted to have someone ask, "What
are your two favorite instrumentals?" and I would say, "Blue Grass Breakdown"
and "Jessica" [more laughs]. I like different kinds of music. I saw the
Marshall Tucker Band recently and I'm into them. Bluegrass-wise I'm into
Bill, the foundation of his music is what I've always wanted the foundation
of our music to be, and when I say foundation I mean rhythmically I wanted
it to be Monroe, and all that means is pushin' the beat and stayin' on
top of it. Ralph does it with his mountain music, but I wanted our foundation
to be somethin' like Bill at times. You know through 14 years some of the
music we've recorded has got more edge than others, but it was always,
I thought, ultra-traditional, but I like to infuse ingredients of a little
Bill, a little mountain style, a little Flatt & Scruggs, a little Martin.
I just wanted it to be real, because if it can be real then people will
hang with you if they think you're real. I hope it [the music] comes out
that way, because it can sustain an audience and hopefully an audience
will grow.
How would you characterize
the kind of bluegrass you play? What I hear has a "swing" to it.
A lot of people say what we do is real traditional
music and I would say that's definitely what I'm into-- "Monroe Music."
Is he your idol?
Well he's one of 'em. I'm into the Stanley
Brothers, and Ralph Stanley would come a close second.
Where are you from?
I'm from northern Alabama. I'm from Louvin
Brothers country. You know, I live a little south of where they're from.
I was always into their music, their harmonies.
The Louvins are amazing.
I think they was the greatest duet ever. They
worked that brother thing. It was awesome. I know a lot of their family
and they came from musical family roots and the church. Roots was Sacred
Harp, fa-so-la singin.' I talked to Charlie when I started playin' and
we used to visit church where they were from, and I knew a lot of his people.
He said, "You know where we got our music from." I took that to mean church
upbringing and sacred harp music.
A historical society
in Alabama just sent me some info and a recording about Marge Sullivan
and church singing.
I'm glad. She called me recently and there's
someone doing a book on the Sullivan Family.
Their story is great. Marge left home at 12
to travel with the church after her father died.
Did you see that PBS show on them? It was
engrossing. It's as good a biographical thing I ever saw. They film them
at home and on the road. They are real! I didn't realize that Miss Marge
left home to travel before she met Enoch. She's a blaster! [While singing
gospel with a traveling evangelist woman, Miss Marge met Enoch, the son
of a preacher.]
There're so few women
in bluegrass who don't sound like blowup dolls. She's got such a powerful,
honest voice.
I know what you're saying, I agree. She's
a blaster. It'd be hard even for a man to drown her out.
Did you grow up singing
in church?
Yeah, my dad played and sang, and I learned
to sing in church. I learned to play, and my dad learned me bluegrass songs.
Did you start out on
mandolin?
No, I started playing mandolin when I was
21. I'm 37 now. I started playing guitar. My dad's older brother, Cleo
Davis, was the first Blue Grass Boy. So naturally I was into Monroe early
and listened to those records. He [my uncle] was a big thing to me. But
I grew up singing in church, my dad's a good singer. In the beginning we
played with a lot of good singers and pickers. Charlie Cline worked with
us on mandolin for four years. I learned a lot from Charlie, and he learned
from Bill. There's a lot of good musicians in my beginning that I learned
from.
Are you traveling a
lot? I saw you at Ralph's fest in Virginia and your list of dates took
you to the West Coast and Canada.
We've had a lot of dates this year. Seems
like things are rollin' real well. The last 13 years, Ray Davis [WAMU-Baltimore
DJ], him and Ralph go way way back. He recorded the Stanleys in the 60's,
has been a lot of help to me about relating to audiences and being an entertainer.
I feel that Ray Davis has been a positive influence on me. He's impressed
on me to be myself, because if you're not, the audience will recognize
that and it's over at that point. He said, "Ralph is real." If you can
be real the people will accept that and I'm tryin' to be real. I can see
a better acceptance over the last few years.
Who's your stylist?
Who puts your clothes together?
Well, we don't really have anybody.
You've got a really
great style. I'm a clothing designer.
[Pleading] Help us, help us! It's tough to
figure. To fit the clothing with the music, and make it look appropriate.
You have a very distinct
style.
I've lost 20 pounds. That helped.
How'd you do that on
the road?
I stopped eatin' sugar.
That must have been hard. I tell you what.
. . I frequent Subway [laughs]. I enjoy that and you see a lot of them
on the road. Maybe we can get a sponsorship!
I'll be sure to send
them a copy. Thanks so much for talking with me. I'd also like to thank
Harry Grant for making this possible.
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