Don't Box Him In
by Ryan Allen, author of "Catch the Wind"
Aaron Davis is to music what Jose Oquendo or Steve Lyons was for baseball: wily, flexible, and diverse. He’ll run sound for you at seven, play solo acoustic at nine, and bring the house down electric with Boondocks or Global Review at eleven. His music: the arrangements, the lyrics, the subjects; they do not fit neatly into any one box; they're as varied as human experience, and Davis explores this richness in his songs.
His originals explore the movement to and away from home, like "The Cardinal," where his sentiments oscillate between the hills of Kentucky and the mountains and streams of Wyoming, and how these notions can be problematic at times. He also examines the paradoxical nature of American politics with a witty yet critical sensibility. This is especially evident in Davis' song, "Country."
For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, Aaron Davis is married to his music. What he does with music behind closed doors is his business, but when on the stage he belongs to us. And thank God. There is no other voice in American music quite like Aaron Davis.
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