Local Spins checks in with Jack White bassist and childhood buddy Dominic John Davis as the ‘No Name’ tour prepares to play GLC Live at 20 Monroe. Plus, see what iconic albums have impacted Davis the most.
‘Always On Their Toes’: Jack White and Dominic John Davis on stage Sunday at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre. (Photo/David James Swanson)
SCROLL DOWN FOR DOMINIC DAVIS’ ‘THREE ALBUMS THAT CHANGED MY WORLD’
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Spontaneity and unpredictability have long been part of Jack White’s DNA.
And because bassist, music director and childhood buddy Dominic John Davis has long been part of the Detroit-bred rocker’s musical adventure, that mercurial tendency rules his nightly ritual, too.
“It’s special because it’s really different every night,” Davis told Local Spins in an interview from Chicago last week, just before White returned to his home state for shows in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Unleashing Never-Before-Played Songs: Jack White (Photo/David James Swanson)
“So, he’s playing songs we’ve never played or he’s making up songs, or he’s playing them so differently, you can’t even tell what they are when they start. Really, it’s just because he’s learned that’s a better show for him and that’s how he has to do it.
“You’ve got to be really on your toes. I’m watching him just constantly. But that’s kind of how I play. … Music doesn’t scare me. I kind of love it.”
So even when White on the spur of the moment decided to dive into Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” during the band’s Toronto tour stop — a song the band hadn’t discussed playing and a tune Davis and White hadn’t played since high school — it came off without a hitch.
“It was great,” Davis said. “The crowd went nuts, but they had no clue what a tightrope it is. But we did it and (Detroit organist) Bobby (Emmett) and I were singing backgrounds and everything.”
For Detroit native Davis, who now makes his home in Nashville, the whirlwind global touring behind White’s latest album, “No Name,” began shortly after that collection was quickly recorded and released in July.
Davis — a producer who also performs with his wife, Rachael Davis, and the Michigan band Steppin’ In It — said White was so excited about “No Name” that it led to booking “super last-minute” shows and touring that forced a hold on other projects. The tour has taken them across the world, including Japan, where Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder sat in with the band and Davis’ family joined him for a working vacation of sorts.
A MID-APRIL MICHIGAN HOMECOMING
Being back in Michigan, of course, always ignites special feelings for White and his bandmates. The band played two shows over the weekend at Masonic Temple Theatre and plays a sold-out show at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in Grand Rapids at 8 p.m. Tuesday. (Details, resale tickets here.)
“Just playing in Michigan — being around all this family and a lot of old friends and bandmates — (there’s) stuff that just sort of comes out on stage,” Davis Said. “You kind of know who you’re playing for.”
Session Work, Producing: Davis has plenty of that under his belt. (Photo/David James Swanson)
This leg of touring wraps up in late May, giving Davis “a little bit of time off this summer” and possibly allowing him to get back to some producing and session work. Davis produced the Michigan Rattlers’ award-winning new album, “Waving From a Sea,” has worked in the past with another Michigan favorite, Greensky Bluegrass (among others), and appears on The Rebel Eves’ new record as well as superstar Pharrell Williams’ surprise new release, “Virginia: Black Yacht Rock Vol. 1 City of Limitless Access.”
It’s all part of a robust career that’s put Davis in the thick of landmark artists, recordings and performances.
“It’s a long game,” he conceded. “I try to let (young artists) know there’s no magic bullet. Be a little realistic, I think, and know that it’s a long game and it’s such a weird business.
“If you had to get another job that’s not in the artistic field, it seems like you’re a failure. I’ve driven for Lyft and Uber. I’ve done all these things over the years. It doesn’t mean you’re not a valued artist … just because you have to do something to make ends meet for a couple of months or something.”
He added: “I’ve always tried to be very professional and keep things at sort of a national level no matter where I was. I think The Crane Wives (from Grand Rapids) are a really good example. Because their records were so good when there we on that level (early on), they kind of blew up now.”
Local Spins also asked Davis for a fresh list of “Albums That Changed His World” — recordings that shaped and influenced his career. Here are his picks.
1. Muddy Waters, “The Chess Box” (1989) – Growing up I was really into ’60s and ’70s rock and started digging back deeper and deeper. I was looking to find where some of those bands were coming from from and stumbled on Muddy and Howlin’ Wolf. These early Muddy Waters recordings were so simple: just electric slide guitar and upright bass. That sparseness really let me hear what was happening, particularly with Big Crawford’s slap bass. Something about that simplicity let me know that’s all you needed to tell a story in song.
2. John Prine, “John Prine” (1971) – I remember picking up a really wrecked LP of this for 50 cents at John King Books in downtown Detroit. Sometimes you’d see a record over and over again and something about it following you around makes you want to take a chance on it. I wasn’t really into folk music, but I did love the acoustic end of some of my favorite rock bands. Again, John Prine’s music was so simple, but was so easily accessible to me. He draws you right in with his characters & stories.
3. Tribe Called Quest, “Midnight Marauders” (1993) – This record was one of the first new CDs I ever bought. I bought it and the Vaughan Brothers’ “Family Style,” which basically sums up my musical upbringing. There was a real buzz with Tribe at my high school both because they were a phenomenon, but also because of the prevalence of Ron Carter’s bass. He had also gone to my high school, so these early Tribe Called Quest records got passed around the Music Department. That era of hip hop was great because through the use of samples you were almost getting a double influence. I loved Tribe. but also got into a lot of jazz records they were sampling.
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