Rebecca Davis

These days, too many kids want to talk about growing up in a musical family in small town America. They started playing something when they were 5 and that’s what they’ve done since. Well, that’s true. Rebecca Davis grew up in suburban Ohio, and her mother is a piano teacher. Rebecca started learning piano when she was 6. She grew up listening exclusively to classical music and her mother’s vinyl collection made up of artists such as Kansas, The Beatles, and Carol King, and Creedence Clearwater Revival As Rebecca approached adolescence, she completely stopped listening to what she had been, and started listening to rock, pop-rock and folk-pop. This is reflected in the songs she helped write for her high school band, Angels Have Wings. Lyrically, the band attempted to pull all of their themes from literature. They played shows anywhere they could find them, and ended up at one point opening for a round of rap artists. Though, more often they played with artists such as The Letter Black, Me In Motion, and Eleventyseven. Through all of this, Rebecca grew weary of the undefined nature of the project. Shortly after, they recorded an EP. Realizing that the band had picked mostly songs she had written, Rebecca decided to pursue music as a solo artist and songwriter. She started to focus more on the lyrics of the art she was taking in, and her influences shifted to that of poetic, thoughtful lyricists—whatever the genre of music. This influence is reflected in lyrics such as “Like the sting of a closing wound It hurts to reach behind my eyes” (“Monsters”), “Quiet hearts can find a way, to beat in the night together” (Stars), and “My dear, get your head out of the clouds. What is it you expect to find there?”(“Clouds”). As she matured in lyric writing, she also matured musically and soon became fascinated by the scales and harmonies in Celtic, Eastern European Folk, and Russian music. This has become a great influence in her writing, especially in the jaunty Eastern European timbre of “1933”, the romantic-era Russian character of “Stars”, and the Celtic-inspired melodies of “Yours to Keep”. She spent the rest of her high school years writing primarily alone, trying to improve herself. She got her fill of performing filling in whenever a friend needed a bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, or just had the urge for a mandolin. Now she has decided to move out of that solitary space and share some of the fruits of her labors. Rebecca is currently studying songwriting in Memphis, Tennessee, and is preparing to record an EP this summer. I play music because I have too much to say, and I get tired of talking to myself.