Solo Career
Davis was born and raised in the Dallas, Texas area. He has spent his life performing on stage and touring with bluegrass, country, and rock acts from all over the world.
wHiTe wAter was a group formed by Davis in 1997. Sam Bush, Marty Stuart, Stuart Duncan, and Roy Huskey Jr. are among those who appear on the group's only release, No Gold On The Highway.
I'm Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down was released in 2003 on FGM Records. The title track is a duet featuring fellow Texan and former roommate Jon Randall. "Tell Me Son" from the record features Billy Bob Thornton and Tommy Shaw. Other musicians on the record include Sam Bush, David Grier, John Jorgenson, Rob Ickes, Glen Duncan, and Earl Scruggs.
This World Ain't No Child followed in 2004 on FGM Records. Once again, Sam Bush appears on fiddle, mandolin, and slide mandolin. As this CD was recorded while Davis was a member of Bush's band, members Byron House and Chris Brown also contributed. John Cowan and Béla Fleck, who, with Bush, were part of the New Grass Revival, also contribute to the record. Additional musical assistance is contributed by Ickes, Jorgenson, Shaw, and Thornton, among others.
Over the years, Davis has had his songs recorded by various country and bluegrass artists, including country star Tim McGraw ("Ain't No Angels"), Grasstowne ("Love You Don't Know"), Jo-El Sonnier ("Can't Give My Heart Away"), Billy Bob Thornton ("Always Countin'", "Beautiful Door"), Hometown News ("All The Time"), and Tony Trischka ("I'm Singing Harmony").
Davis is often cited as the creator of the “double-down up” flatpicking technique. In fact it is known by many professional musicians especially those who attend the Steve Kaufman Flatpicking camp that he learned it from a fellow musician from the Caribbean . He has been a columnist for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine since 1996 and is currently Takamine’s main guitar clinician, conducting dozens of music store clinics for Takamine Guitars each year. He has taught at Steve Kaufman’s Flatpick Camp, Nashcamp, Camp Bluegrass, the St. Louis Flatpick Weekend, the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend, and more.
He has also produced four instructional DVDs for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, "Flatpick Jam", Volumes 1, 2, & 3 and a book/DVD/CD course called "Flatpicking the Blues". Additionally, he has produced several instructional courses for Mel Bay Publications, including the "Blue Book of Speedpicking", and a series of instructional Ear Training Cds.
He is the musical ambassador for Coffee Fool, a coffee company that is sponsoring both The Boxmasters tour and the Styx tours in 2008. At the 2008 NAMM trade show in Los Angeles, California, Davis and his band were asked to open for John Mayer and Phil Keaggy, and they received a standing ovation.
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