Biography
"Growing
up immersed in classical music, Shenandoah Davis creates heartbreaking,
spine-tingling compositions which seamlessly combine the romantic piano
swells of Debussy or Chopin with contemporary influences such as Owen
Pallett, Joanna Newsom and Arthur Russell. An avid traveler and
collaborator, she has toured the US, Japan, and Western Europe, worked
with such ensembles as the Seattle Rock Orchestra and Portland Cello
Project, and performed at some of North America's largest music
festivals (SXSW, Bumbershoot, Sasquatch) while garnering praise from
fans and critics back home for her 2008 debut " We; Camera" (Portland
Mercury called the album "dangerous-but-beautiful"; Seattle Weekly said
she played piano "flawlessly" and described her as "a special kind of
talent").
Even as all this has been swirling around her, though, Davis has
composed a follow-up, The Company We Keep (self, Aug. 2011). Fan-funded
through Kickstarter and recorded by Alex Kostelnik in Seattle
(additional recording on the road in Denver and New York), the disc is a
fiercely poetic and emotionally artful assertion of her craft. MUSICALLY,
IT'S A NATURAL PROGRESSION FROM WE; CAMERA - PULLING FROM HER INTUITIVE
SONIC LANDSCAPE, WITH ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL, RAGTIME, AND CABARET
MUSIC. HER PIANO CONTINUES TO LEAP BETWEEN RHYTHMS AND TIME SIGNATURES,
AS IF IT'S FOLLOWING THE LYRICS DOWN A WINDING FOREST TRAIL. AT THE HELM
OF IT ALL IS HER CLASSICALLY TRAINED VOICE - EQUAL PARTS WARBLY AND
POWERFULLY DIRECT - THE BREEZE WHICH TICKLES TREE LEAVES BEFORE
BILLOWING INTO SAILS.
THEMATICALLY, THOUGH, IT'S MUCH MORE NUANCED AND COMPLEX. DRIVEN, SHE
SAYS, BY -THE IDEA THAT NO ONE PERSON WILL EVER KNOW THE EXACT SAME
VERSION OF YOU AS ANYONE ELSE, BECAUSE WE ARE ALL DEFINED BY OUR
EXPERIENCES. "THE COMPANY WE KEEP" PRESENTS SNAPSHOTS OF INTENSELY
PERSONAL MOMENTS BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE. THOUGH SMALL IN SCOPE, THESE ARE
THE INTERACTIONS WHICH DEFINE AND INFLUENCE EVERY RESULTING MOMENT,
UNFOLDING OUR LIVES INTO A SERIES OF PATHS WE EITHER FOLLOW OR FORGE
WITH THOSE AROUND US.
FROM THE SARATOGA, NY, RACETRACK AND PARK WHERE SHE SPENT HER TEEN YEARS
("THE LOUDEST") TO THE HOME SHE ONCE SHARED WITH A LOVER ("SEPARATE
HOUSES"), THE SONGS ON THE COMPANY WE KEEP TIE TOGETHER THE EXPERIENCES
WHICH HAVE BROUGHT DAVIS - AND HER MUSIC - THIS FAR. THE QUESTION THE
ALBUM SEEMS TO RAISE COMES IN "THRONE", WHERE SHE SINGS, "DO YOU KEEP
TRACK OF WHERE ALL YOUR SEEDS HAVE BEEN SOWN?" UNDERSCORING THE RECORD'S
IMPRESSIVE COHESION, SHE ANSWERS FOR HERSELF IN THE FINAL TRACK. WHEN
ITS REFRAIN ("DON'T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT ME NOW") REPEATS, THE LESSON OF
THE ALBUM BECOMES CLEAR. SUCH A THING WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE - EVEN THOUGH A
PERSON MAY NOT BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT, ONCE A FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE HAS
BEEN SHARED, YOU CANNOT 'GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT [THEM].' FOR DAVIS, AT
LEAST, IT WOULD SEEM THE 'SEEDS' ARE NEVER LEFT BEHIND. FOLLOWING THE
AUGUST RELEASE OF "THE COMPANY WE KEEP", DAVIS WILL BE EMBARKING ON HER
WILDEST ADVENTURE YET - A FOUR-MONTH TOUR OF THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES
FOLLOWED BY TWO MONTHS IN NEW ZEALAND WITH CELLIST DANAH OLIVETREE AND
MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST ETHAN DEMAREST."http://shenandoahdavis.com/learn.html
up immersed in classical music, Shenandoah Davis creates heartbreaking,
spine-tingling compositions which seamlessly combine the romantic piano
swells of Debussy or Chopin with contemporary influences such as Owen
Pallett, Joanna Newsom and Arthur Russell. An avid traveler and
collaborator, she has toured the US, Japan, and Western Europe, worked
with such ensembles as the Seattle Rock Orchestra and Portland Cello
Project, and performed at some of North America's largest music
festivals (SXSW, Bumbershoot, Sasquatch) while garnering praise from
fans and critics back home for her 2008 debut " We; Camera" (Portland
Mercury called the album "dangerous-but-beautiful"; Seattle Weekly said
she played piano "flawlessly" and described her as "a special kind of
talent").
Even as all this has been swirling around her, though, Davis has
composed a follow-up, The Company We Keep (self, Aug. 2011). Fan-funded
through Kickstarter and recorded by Alex Kostelnik in Seattle
(additional recording on the road in Denver and New York), the disc is a
fiercely poetic and emotionally artful assertion of her craft. MUSICALLY,
IT'S A NATURAL PROGRESSION FROM WE; CAMERA - PULLING FROM HER INTUITIVE
SONIC LANDSCAPE, WITH ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL, RAGTIME, AND CABARET
MUSIC. HER PIANO CONTINUES TO LEAP BETWEEN RHYTHMS AND TIME SIGNATURES,
AS IF IT'S FOLLOWING THE LYRICS DOWN A WINDING FOREST TRAIL. AT THE HELM
OF IT ALL IS HER CLASSICALLY TRAINED VOICE - EQUAL PARTS WARBLY AND
POWERFULLY DIRECT - THE BREEZE WHICH TICKLES TREE LEAVES BEFORE
BILLOWING INTO SAILS.
THEMATICALLY, THOUGH, IT'S MUCH MORE NUANCED AND COMPLEX. DRIVEN, SHE
SAYS, BY -THE IDEA THAT NO ONE PERSON WILL EVER KNOW THE EXACT SAME
VERSION OF YOU AS ANYONE ELSE, BECAUSE WE ARE ALL DEFINED BY OUR
EXPERIENCES. "THE COMPANY WE KEEP" PRESENTS SNAPSHOTS OF INTENSELY
PERSONAL MOMENTS BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE. THOUGH SMALL IN SCOPE, THESE ARE
THE INTERACTIONS WHICH DEFINE AND INFLUENCE EVERY RESULTING MOMENT,
UNFOLDING OUR LIVES INTO A SERIES OF PATHS WE EITHER FOLLOW OR FORGE
WITH THOSE AROUND US.
FROM THE SARATOGA, NY, RACETRACK AND PARK WHERE SHE SPENT HER TEEN YEARS
("THE LOUDEST") TO THE HOME SHE ONCE SHARED WITH A LOVER ("SEPARATE
HOUSES"), THE SONGS ON THE COMPANY WE KEEP TIE TOGETHER THE EXPERIENCES
WHICH HAVE BROUGHT DAVIS - AND HER MUSIC - THIS FAR. THE QUESTION THE
ALBUM SEEMS TO RAISE COMES IN "THRONE", WHERE SHE SINGS, "DO YOU KEEP
TRACK OF WHERE ALL YOUR SEEDS HAVE BEEN SOWN?" UNDERSCORING THE RECORD'S
IMPRESSIVE COHESION, SHE ANSWERS FOR HERSELF IN THE FINAL TRACK. WHEN
ITS REFRAIN ("DON'T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT ME NOW") REPEATS, THE LESSON OF
THE ALBUM BECOMES CLEAR. SUCH A THING WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE - EVEN THOUGH A
PERSON MAY NOT BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT, ONCE A FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE HAS
BEEN SHARED, YOU CANNOT 'GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT [THEM].' FOR DAVIS, AT
LEAST, IT WOULD SEEM THE 'SEEDS' ARE NEVER LEFT BEHIND. FOLLOWING THE
AUGUST RELEASE OF "THE COMPANY WE KEEP", DAVIS WILL BE EMBARKING ON HER
WILDEST ADVENTURE YET - A FOUR-MONTH TOUR OF THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES
FOLLOWED BY TWO MONTHS IN NEW ZEALAND WITH CELLIST DANAH OLIVETREE AND
MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST ETHAN DEMAREST."http://shenandoahdavis.com/learn.html