Josi Davis

Josi Davis is an award-winning songwriter, vocalist and dynamic multi-instrumentalist originally hailing from the D.C./Baltimore area where she began performing at an early age, finding outlets for her wild theatrical nature and imaginary characters in anything from family pageants to an appearance as a young Puck at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre. Her studies in music and theater were exceptional and intense, greatly influencing her art, along with some entertaining but questionable life choices and many a reality check. In short, Josi Davis took the hard road. Her one constant: Songwriting. 

"...a powerful and distinctive vocalist and a songwriter whose appreciation for all manners of musical styles is evident in her work. Some call Davis a practitioner of "nouveau cabaret," and that certainly provides a sonic indicator." (Rick Koster, The Day) 

Josi's perception of the world and her experiences, her fun-loving and genuinely heart-felt disposition, her fondness for mischief and a series of inevitable misadventures evolved into a rivetingly intimate and continuously ripening show of songs and (mostly) true stories called The Evolution of Love. The soundtrack was released in 2013 to great acclaim as a live in-studio album of original work, nominated "Best Album" in the 2014 Connecticut Music Awards, and lauded as "one of the most powerful live experiences of the season." 

Love/Rain is singer-songwriter Josi’s beautifully produced second release, written and produced in collaboration with producer, arranger and composer Louis Anthony deLise, whose credits include a Billboard #1 with Patti LaBelle, and hits with William DeVaughn and cult dance club favorite, John Gibbs. Love/Rain is a monumental collection of six new songs that bear all in a journey of perseverance, the gambles of wearing your heart on your sleeve and the rich rewards that come with waiting out the storm. Love/Rain, if you see it displayed on its hauntingly stark and beautiful CD cover, is the fraction “LOVE” over “RAIN”.  Production of Love/Rain started nearly two years ago, a fragile moment in the heart of its creator, as she came to terms with watching a loved one drown in addictions and struggled every day with the consequences. 

 “Life is a struggle.  It’s supposed to be.  Our challenges show us we have the strength to be here, to grow, to rebuild.  Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, or that a good cry can’t make you feel better,” Davis reasons.  Those tears are the “Rain” she speaks of in the beautifully cinematic opening track.  “Love should be the only drug.  Sometimes that means self-love, having a little more compassion for yourself – and a few laughs about it.” 

“The songs are jazz-infused, cinematic, theatrical …  Listening to them is like an event, or like watching a film.  The songs are simply captivating… the vocals from Davis are just superb.  They are heartfelt and expressive; a little bit Liza Minelli and a little Barbra Streisand.  She’s not just singing, she’s telling a story.” – (Soundwaves Magazine) 

Themes from Davis’ own journey always play an important role in her songs and performances.  “Music is powerfully vicarious – an understanding of some deep truth and a song to relate it to, words to express something important when we can’t seem to find the right ones.  I believe in expression, and I believe in honesty,” proffers Davis, “If some experience or observation of mine put to song serves even one person trying to make sense of their own world, I’ve made a difference in mine.” 

We know to expect genuine emotion from Josi Davis’ performances.  She says her studies in theater “offer a little protection from the intensity, but the aim is still to tell the truth, every time.”  Anyone who has seen Josi in action has experienced how she captures a room and how we, as its momentary inhabitants, come willfully along on her journey. 

"[Josi Davis'] voice can exhibit Joni Mitchell's smoky fragility, Phoebe Snow's full bodied barroom belt, and Ann Wilson's rock-and-roll wail. Occasionally, they come out all at once..." (Grace Magazine). 

Her voice is captivating and unmistakeable, her performances indulging and flavor-full; a tapas fare of life's truths and love's pizzazz.