Culture
Ben Davis Jr. to Bring New Tunes to Casa Oct. 18
By: Emily Votaw
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Everyone knows that the purest of musical knowledge can only be obtained from calling a radio station after hearing a mystifying, and by it’s nature, ephemeral, tune and demanding to speak to the DJ.
Such an instance occurred late one night to Jackson, OH’s Ben Davis Jr. while listening to WOUB’s Crossing Boundaries, hosted by Bryan Gibson.
“I called around 10 p.m. at night or a little earlier and I was driving home from a show, and heard a song on the radio, and I thought, ‘that has to be Todd Snider,’ so I called and Bryan (Gibson) answered and he said ‘That’s Todd Snider with Hard Working Americans — and that blew my mind,” said Davis in an interview with WOUB, a few days before he debuts a brand new band and brand new songs at Casa Cantina on Thursday, October 18.
Davis was already a fan of Todd Snider, and this instance served as his induction into what could be considered jam band fandom, which isn’t such a bad thing to catch. Before long, Davis was attending a Dead & Company show, where he further began to understand “what that scene is all about.” He said that these influences have coalesced to influence his forthcoming album, which is due out spring of 2019. It will be his first since the 2016 EP Leaving Cincinnati.
“(Hearing Hard Working Americans) totally changed everything,” said Davis. He was inspired to change up the line-up of his band numerous times, until settling it into it’s current form, which features Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies’ Eddie Ashworth. “I think we finally dialed it in. We can still be alternative country, but also kind of jam out a little bit and pay more attention to what the guitars are doing in the songs.”
Listen to WOUB’s entire interview with Ben Davis Jr., embedded above.