Our Favorite Idol – Shenandoah Davis
June 11th, 2008
It begins as a plinking piano, almost too shy to carry on and is followed by a unique voice just on the verge of cracking, but hangs on the precipice – never quite falling off. The sound expands with new layerings of that voice, making it stronger, broadening the knife’s edge, and becoming a solid foundation when shored up by classical strings and further layerings of piano. Even with a solid footing, the music still teeters somewhere between folk, classical and ragtime.
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In spite of all this imbalance, Shenandoah Davis’ current release Our Favorite Idols (A home-recorded collection of gothic ballads, lackadaisical sea shanties and dreamy wanderings) is remarkably stable and confident. The album opens with a flittering song, Maligros, which -not surprisingly at this point – juxtaposes a story of last hope against a dancing piano melody. Davis then moves like rain into the title track, Our Favorite Idols, which takes on a much more dramatic and classical feel. Here among the piano, cello and punctuating click of finger cymbals, is where the strikingly haunting quality of her voice is most evident. Sneaking in behind your conscious thought like a slowly leaking window, and pooling itself there to later echo over and over. The album continues through peaks and valleys. Songs that sound like they should either be the soundtrack to a animated silent film or a VW commercial – (and I mean this in the highest regard – think Pink Moon by Nick Drake.)
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Shenandoah is currently working on a new collection of songs and will be playing an album release show, July 17th at the Columbia City Theater, accompanied by a full band. Supporting Shenandoah will be Nick Jaina and Molly Rose. I’ve seen Davis play solo once before and it was captivating. I can’t wait to see what this night has in store.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Seattle Subsonic » Shenandoah Davis @ Columbia City Theatre A Northwest Music Blog said:
[...] more on Shenandoah, check out the post here Posted by Kevin leDoux | Filed in Recommended [...]
June 13th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Sean Corey said:
Shenandoah is a rare jewel, and I’m most excited to hear the lyrical content of her upcoming LP.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:38 am
LB said:
I like this. An obvious influence is Regina Spektor, but she’s (Shenandoah) a bit more haunting and quirky, it seems.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Seattle Subsonic » Shenandoah Davis @ Comet A Northwest Music Blog said:
[...] September 16th, 2008 Sunday, October 12, 20087:00 pmshenandoah Davis begins as a plinking piano, almost too shy to carry on and is followed by a unique voice just on the verge of cracking, but hangs on the precipice – never quite falling off. The sound expands with new layerings of that voice, making it stronger, broadening the knife’s edge, and becoming a solid foundation when shored up by classical strings and further layerings of piano. Even with a solid footing, the music still teeters somewhere between folk, classical and ragtime. . Check out a full review here [...]
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Seattle Subsonic » Sea Shanties Fill Georgtown’s MIX Lounge. Sat, Sept, 27th : A Local Seattle Music Blog said:
[...] . One of our favorites, Shenandoah Davis, will be bringing her collection of gothic ballads and lackidaisical sea shantys into this industrial scene. A marvelously talented singer-songwriter with a voice like driven rain. Perfect for the edgy Seattle gallery. Check here for a full writeup on Shenandoah. [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Seattle Subsonic » Shenandoah Davis and Danbert Nobacon (formerly of Chumbawumba.. really) @ the Mix Lounge : A Local Seattle Music Blog said:
[...] . One of our favorites, Shenandoah Davis, will be bringing her collection of gothic ballads and lackidaisical sea shantys into this industrial scene. A marvelously talented singer-songwriter with a voice like driven rain. Perfect for the edgy Seattle gallery. Check here for a full writeup on Shenandoah. [...]