NEW COUNTRY ARTIST VISITS 95.1 WFLE
By: Carolyn Schwartz
Starting today. It could be a theme for all of us. For Davey T it’s the first cut on his newest album - and the album’s title. "It’s about being a better person," Davey said.
Davey was at WFLE July 16, promoting his music. An interview and the playing of three of the songs on the album introduced him to the local listening audience. Until seven years ago, he had never played an instrument or sang a song for any audience. "I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket," said Davey T.
Why the transformation - or perhaps more importantly how? A college student at the University of Kentucky, Davey had been considering a major but wasn’t certain of his course. A bodybuilder who enjoyed working out, he drifted toward kineseology simply because his friends told him it would be a natural fit. However, when Davey moved in with a friend who seemed to have abandoned his guitar, his fate was sealed as was his direction in life. He picked up the guitar, strummed at the strings and followed the urge to correctly play the instrument. "I loved it [playing the guitar]," said Davey who quickly learned what many might consider a difficult skill. Thus began an intense regimen for Davey to learn all that he could. That push also led him to Nashville.
"I love country music," Davey said. Influences growing up were varied. In high school he listened to a melting pot of everything as teenagers are apt to do. Subtle influences from the stations and music his parents preferred made inroads of which he may not have even been aware. "It’s not cool to listen to what your parents listen to," Davey said.
Considering all other elements of a music career, Davey decided that his voice and sound were more closely aligned with country music. "And country music is the easiest genre [to break into] because there are more country music stations," said Davey. And that was important because Davey had already mapped out what he wanted to do with his life.
Davey mastered the guitar and nine other instruments. He read at length about how to increase his vocal range. He listened to other vocalists who had a similar voice to find the best vocal style for himself. That interest led to songwriting and more study. "There’s a formula for songwriting," Davey said. "You want a song to flow well from verse to chorus." With the aid of what Davey termed "good songwriters" in Nashville who helped him, he writes most of his own songs. "Every lyric has meaning for me. It says something. They are really me, what’s inside me," Davey said. Listen to "Starting Today or "Job Well Done" and you hear the life experiences that he has woven into his songs.
Considering the layers of the music world today, Davey realized after his move to Nashville five years ago that he didn’t have the money to rent a recording studio, at least not often or for long. "I thought it would be smarter to have my own recording studio," Davey said. So the artist maxed out his credit cards, bought $20,000 worth of recording equipment and set out to learn that end of the business. Describing the experience "as a headache" since he was blindly undertaking another skill, Davey finally "figured out" the process and began to learn how to get a publishing deal. Two years ago Davey quit his day job and became a staff songwriter, allowing himself a further glimpse into the music world.
Now this recording artist is on a mission - one that will get his name and music on the air waves around the nation. Although he had done two albums, Davey classified them as non-commerical. The sound just wouldn’t work for radio. "Starting Today," however, was specifically produced for radio.
The stop in Flemingsburg last week was his fourth week of making contact with small country music stations within a 250-mile radius of Nashville. He’s already covered western and middle Tennessee and a portion of southern Kentucky. "This is what Loretta Lynn did. She and Mooney drove from station to station," Davey said. The hope is that Davey’s music will become popular at the grassroots level. He currently records with a small, independent label. It takes a great deal of money and name recognition or an endorsement from a country music star to get large radio stations to play newer artists and their music.
"There’s no one who works harder than I do, but it’s worth it," said Davey for whom music is an escape from the real world. And Davey T hopes that his hard work will mean that in three to five years he is one of the biggest acts in country music.
