Joshua Davis exudes down-to-earth demeanor, mix of originals and ‘The Voice’ faves at Grand Rapids show

Davis and his all-star band of friends delivered a reserved yet poignant concert Friday in the “gorgeous” setting of Fountain Street Church. (Review, photo gallery, video)

 

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Amid all the star-studded hoopla, hype and glitz associated with a prime-time network show such as “The Voice,” Michigan’s native son, Joshua Davis, stood out among the contestants with his appealingly raspy vocals, down-to-earth demeanor and rootsy song choices.

But for a sincere and compassionate singer-songwriter who’s passionately toiled as a musician across the state for 15 years, “being in control of the ship” again after his high-profile TV run means he can go back to performing and creating the Americana and folk songs that have long set him apart – the music with which he’s most comfortable.

“It’s good to be doing my own thing again and being back where I belong,” he said. “Nobody is who they are on television, really. Everybody’s got so much more to themselves. It’s hard in these little sound bites to show who you are.”

Davis proved Friday night in his long-awaited “homecoming” show at Grand Rapids’ Fountain Street Church that there’s certainly far more to this Earthwork Music artist than television sound bites, arranged duets and showy pop contrivances.

Performing with longtime friends and top-drawer musicians Dominic John Davis on bass, Mike Lynch on keyboards, Geoff Lewis on drums and Brad Phillips on violin and mandolin, Davis gave his Grand Rapids fans not only a deep-cuts journey through his own insightful material and that of his band, Steppin’ In It, but a smattering of greatest hits from “The Voice”: favorites that he performed on the show, including “Fields of Gold,” “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “In My Life” and “I Shall Be Released,” all of which showcased his newly polished vocal versatility and range.

Appropriately, he kicked off the night with his own, Detroit-inspired, blue-collar tribute, “The Workingman’s Hymn,” which he played during the NBC show’s finale.

But more than that, the sweet and reserved two-set, nearly two-hour concert for an audience of 600 on Friday spotlighted the Joshua Davis that Michigan fans have long known and loved. This earthy Joshua Davis entertains with self-effacing humor, a gracious attitude and stories about growing up in the Great Lakes State and his commitment to building community.

Indeed, some proceeds from Friday night’s show will support On Stage 4 Kids, an organization Davis co-founded that brings music and musicians into public schools, with 50 percent of proceeds from sales of Davis’ “Miracle of Birds” CD going to On The Ground, which works for sustainable community development in farming regions across the world.

(He even – for the first time – performed a poignant verse he penned earlier on Friday for a song project, “Take Down Your Flag,” spearheaded by fellow singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey. The tune is aimed at paying tribute to the victims of the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, with Mulvey encouraging other artists, from Ani DiFranco to Grand Rapids’ own Ralston Bowles to Davis, to contribute their own verses. Mulvey is hosting an online concert of sorts on Sunday through concertwindow.com to raise money for the victims. Get details online at concertwindow.com.)

More than anything, perhaps, the concert displayed the sheer joy that comes from playing with close friends on stage, a group Davis more than once described fondly as an “incredible band.” The band performed rootsy folk music tinged with soul, country, blues and rock, from The Band-inspired “The Ghost of Richard Manuel” to a passionate rendering of Woody Guthrie’s “Greenback Dollar.”

SPECIAL SPACE, INSIGHTFUL SONGS

Because of its cavernous size, mixing sound in a venue such as Fountain Street Church can be a challenge, and the quality of that sound can vary widely depending on where one is setting. But when it was dialed in, Davis’ voice resonated quite handsomely from that impressive altar/stage.

Davis said he was “absolutely awestruck” to play the historic church, his fourth Michigan concert in four days. Earlier in the day, during an interview on Local Spins on WYCE, Davis had raved about the ambience and importance of Fountain Street Church, where Steppin’ In It had played once before. (Listen to a Local Spins interview with Davis here.)

PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE with Joshua Davis (July 10, 2015)

“There’s something really special about the space. The history, the legacy of amazing music and not just music, but it was a central gathering point for the civil rights movement,” he said. “I feel like it’s the right time to be playing that space. We just won a huge civil rights victory in the Supreme Court last week and feeling the civil rights and just feeling that … It’s a gorgeous space.”

And if Davis spent what seemed an inordinate amount of time tuning his guitars while chatting amiably between songs, it fit his congenial and endearing personality: It was pure Josh, from talking about time spent in his native Upper Peninsula to asking bandmate Dominic John Davis to replace a broken string on his acoustic guitar to re-starting a song after forgetting the lyrics because he wanted to get it right.

“This is what happens when you’re on a show where you’re singing other people’s music. You forget the words to your own songs,” he quipped.

Mostly, those words penned by Davis for songs such as “Over the Wall and Gone,” “House of Princes” and “Triple A,” were powerful and inspirational. (View an exclusive video below of his solo performance of “Over the Wall and Gone” during Local Spins on WYCE earlier on Friday.)

As Davis put it, playing these songs “at a place like this is a joy for me.”

So when the band returned for its encore to play “I Shall Be Released” – the uplifting, redemptive, signature Bob Dylan tune that really launched Davis’ success on “The Voice” – it came off as the ideal way to end the evening and the perfect song for his voice, his band, his audience, his outlook and the venue.

JOSHUA DAVIS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANTHONY NORKUS
(Local Spins on WYCE photos by Anna Sink)

VIDEO: Joshua Davis, “Over the Wall and Gone”

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