Rising Stars: Meet DAVIS88

Today we’d like to introduce you to DAVIS88.

Hi DAVIS88, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers. 
I grew up in a small city town where everything we did was play sports. Unfortunately, kids were not encouraged to take up arts or music the same way we were other things. Everything we knew revolved around the next season. That all changed for me when I graduated high school and went off to college. I had to find something to replace the sports I played. I felt a bit lost without them. I had always loved music and would incorporate it in anyway I could into my day-to-day life. I found a way to put music into the sports or activities I played, the jobs I worked, and daily drives to school. So, freshman year at Wingate University, I decided to sign up for a guitar class and a piano class. I did not make it very long. The stringent piano class format and the uptight instructor almost turned me off to learning music before I even began. My guitar class went a little better, but ultimately, I discontinued that as well. So, discouraged but not willing to quit, I turned to YouTube videos and online guides to learn guitar and piano basics. Through these videos, I was able to learn how to play songs that I knew and grew up listening to. This was exciting and fun, so I made it my new hobby. 

Home one weekend from school, I ran into an old family friend named Glenn Fox who also happened to be a music teacher. We talked and I told him my new hobbies and he invited me to come jam at his home studio. So, I did. At some point, he encouraged me to try to sing along to a song I was playing. Things just snowballed from there. I was learning songs, taking vocal lessons with Glenn, and eventually began trying to write my own songs. I dabbled in other instruments like drums and harmonica also. I wanted to know how all the major parts of a rock band worked. 

So, I kept learning everything I could while finishing school and even got a chance to record some scratch demos for a few original songs I wrote. It was clear this was my passion, and I had to find a way to keep pursuing it. I went to open mics, played a few shows at my hometown bar in Rockingham, NC, and continued to learn from my friend Glenn. 

Eventually, Glenn helped me find some connections in Nashville, TN and I was able to go record a few professional demos at a studio on Music Row. This was the coolest thing I had experienced so far in my short music career. It just lit a fire, and I had to keep going. 

While in Graduate School. I continued to travel out to Nashville to learn more about the business and record songs when I could get a little budget together. It felt like I was working on building a balance between a safe career and a music career. Each will feed the other. My safe career will allow me to pay bills and live a healthy life. My music career will allow me a satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that I don’t get from my other career. 

I have continued this balance ever since. I work a regular job and travel often for music. I’ve released 3 charting songs to radio and released two eps and several singles. I just released my newest song, “Gunz Blazin” last month, and I have an entire album’s worth of material I will be putting out in 2024. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Unfortunately, it has not been a smooth road. The music business is very difficult to get into and succeed in. The most difficult part is there’s no guide. There is no blueprint or set path to a career in music. It is arguably easier to find your way as a lawyer or a medical doctor than it is to find your way in music. In most careers, you can attend a program, earn a degree, get a post-graduate education or internship/clinical, and eventually find your way in your profession. Even if it is a 10+ year endeavor… you can see a start and a finish. There is no such thing in music. You have to break in any way you can and carve out your own path. There is no standard timeline. Some musicians get discovered “on the street,” some on social media, some by luck and circumstance. You just have no way of knowing what might work. The only thing to do is to keep trying new things and keep knocking down doors and finding opportunities. Nobody is going to hand you an opportunity just because you are relatively good. You have to go out and get it. I am a believer that hard work beats talent every time. So, an average songwriter with an incredible work ethic has a better chance than an incredibly talented one, who doesn’t want to work nearly as hard for it. More specifically, struggles I have faced could be similar to others in their careers. Keeping up with social media is a challenge. Artists want to create, not run a post daily to Instagram. However, we have to accept that is how you communicate and market your music or products to the world. 

Time management is another struggle. Devoting time to your craft and taking the time to plan and market your music is a challenge. Finding balance in what you do is tricky, but it can be done. 

Lastly, staying motivated is a struggle sometimes. When you think you’ve got a break or an opportunity and then it goes away, it can be difficult to stay motivated. I feel like you just have to remember why you chose to do what you do in any profession… and confirm that is still true. If it is true, you will always find a way to stay motivated and get back in the game. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a songwriter and musician from Rockingham, North Carolina. I am now based out of Raleigh and travel to Nashville, TN to work on music. I make rock n’ roll music. I make music with attitude. Growing up in Richmond County, North Carolina I was exposed to it all. Rap Rock County Blues and Pop. I try to incorporate a little bit of everything into what I do. 

I am a musician; however, my strongest suit is likely the songwriting. Writing lyrics and melodies seems to come a bit easier to me than playing instruments. But I love doing both. 

In Music, I am most proud of my body of work. I have some great songs and killer videos to accompany them. Like any artist I want to get my music exposed to as many people as will listen. 

In life, I am most proud of my family. I’m proud of their values and who they are as people. 

What sets me apart from others is that I am going to make the kind of music I want to make… whether 10 people here it or 10 million people hear it. It will be music that I like not an attempt to copy what’s popular or “of the moment”. 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something surprising about me might be that I have two degrees. I have my undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters in Sport management. If they judge based on my music and brand, they might not have expected I went that route. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.davis88music.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davis88music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@davis88music
• SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1UozbDf14MO5HO1hMGAoYK
• Other: Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/davis88/1551823299 TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@davis88music

Image Credits
Logen Christopher
DAVIS88