Rachael Davis, R.O. Shapiro, & Zak Bunce

Songwriter, banjo-piano-uke-guitar player, nurturer, seamstress, wearer of aprons, bearer of band-aids, maker of levity, staunch adversary of bullshit…Multi-instrumentalist Rachael Davis is as renown for her expressive–and explosive–voice as she is for uniting the often disparate worlds of folk, blues, country, and pop.

Davis grew up not only in a family of musicians, but in an extended village of remarkable musicians and songwriters who nurtured and mentored her from the time she was born.

At 20, already a professional and deeply moved by traditional mountain music, blues, and ballads, Davis composed and recorded her debut album Minor League Deities, then with that, and a heart full of promise Rachael Davis headed to Boston the day after the 911 attack. There she began performing in city subways and the streets of Cambridge. Within months she had made her mark on the Boston music scene winning the prestigious Boston Music Award for Best New Singer/Songwriter.

Davis often found sanctuary in the city’s basement level record stores as well as Boston’s premier acoustic music clubs where she made fans and friends of local stage veterans Vance Gilbert, Cheryl Wheeler, Josh Ritter, and indie rock’s parade float princess, Mary Lou Lord.

“In a way, they’re all still with me today,” says Davis, “I was part of a real music community there. My story was just like theirs. We all knew we were on a path to find something and for that moment, we were all in the same place.”

Because Davis has been swayed by so many different types of music, her style is difficult to file and will not languorously rest amid broader musical genres. “My slant on acoustic music can be explained by a mixed cassette tape that my father played during my early childhood while driving in our family’s Chevy Cavalier station wagon we nicknamed Iggy. On one side of the cassette was the soundtrack for the film The Big Chill. On the other was John Hartford’s “Areoplane”.” Today Davis describes her music as ‘Motown-Banjo’.

Davis has lent her voice to countless recordings for friends, film soundtracks, and even video games, but it is her intuitive and empathetic understanding of folk music—“the music of folks” as she calls it, and her original and thoughtful songwriting voice that has earned her fans around the U.S.

Rachael Davis now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, critically acclaimed bassist Dominic John Davis with whom she performs as The Davis Duo. They have two children.

He’s a townie from the East End of Long Island; a lifelong performer with Shakespeare and rhythm tap dancing in his past and Americana music in his present; a one-time resident of Austin, TX, now combing the beaches of sunny San Diego; a Soul Singer and a Song Writer; a slow writer and a dog owner; a founding member of Odell Fox; a defensive driver, a highway regular, a ghost; a low-mood monster and a mediocre meditator; a food nut; a DylanPrineWelchBrowneYoungWaits wannabe, soon-to-be. Wait and see.

Zak Bunce has been playing music his whole life. He has been highly sought after by many Michigan bands and artists alike with his keen intellect and flexibility as a vocalist and an instrumentalist, playing everything from guitar to bass, banjo, ukulele, keys, spoons, trash cans, street signs, whatever he can get his hands on. His credits include fronting for both the rock band Bodega with Denny Richards, Chuck Light of Kung Fu Rodeo, Joe Germano, and Jack Jensen. He was also the lead vocalist and bass player of Detour Bluegrass Recording two Albums and playing all over including Kendallville and The Lincoln Theatre. He has also played with his sister Rachael Davis, The Starlight Six, Steppin’ In It, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, Josh Davis, Samantha Crawford, Hawks and Owls, Duck Soup, doug henthorn Chris Winkleman of Soul Patch and more. Zak’s spot on and powerful vocals send chills down the spine of audiences of all ages, shapes and sizes.