Daughters of Davis

"A very entertaining and enjoyable acoustic duo, high quality, very popular with our audience"

- Peter Chegwyn, Wickham Festival Organiser


“Talented duo that are blessed with 2 great voices.”

- Jay Kerr, Vice president of Ditto Music


“Side from the fact you were musically brilliant tonight you were actually two of the nicest people to talk to, it was truly a pleasure to have you play for us tonight, thankyou for playing with us”

- Scott, Derby

“You both rocked tonight. Voice’s of angels. Hope to catch you play again. Great sound. Have a great tour”

- Richard, Bridgewater

“Thanks ever so much for making time to play at my session yesterday. You were immense. I hope it was as enjoyable for you as it was for me.”

- Partick, Edinbrugh

“Just heard you ladies sing in Birmingham and enjoyed every minute of it!!!”

- Habiba, Birmingham

“Just wanted to say thanks a mil for an awesome night in Carlisle Starbucks. You guys were an absolute blessing! From before the start to finish, your laughter, banter, music voices, stories and attitude was amazing and uplifting!”

- Jason, Carlisle

“Thank you so much for playing at our conference today. It has been a real treat having you.”

- Angela, Director of King’s Daughters, Cheltenham

- Many

http://lads.myspace.com/Embeds/SongEmbed/SongEmbed.swf?songId=76562864&referer=http://daughtersofdavis.tumblr.com/press&host=www.myspace.com&remoteHost=10.56.128.52 - Meridian FM

There is no doubt the gorgeous sisters that make up acoustic soul/folk duo, Daughters of Davis, have the talent, determination and inspirational attitude to make their dreams come true.

The whole evening at The Barley Mow was one to remember for many years to come. An evening that weaved a musical spell over it’s audience with support from Ben Farrant – whose guitar skills were ridiculously complicated and stunning, Jonny Bell – who warmed the room with his homely folk music and Rob Warman – whose relaxed conversational acoustic set and powerful emotive vocal range served as a delicious hors d’oeuvre. A perfect moment for the M27s to step in with a light-hearted cover set that got the room moving and salivating for the final climax of the evening, Daughters of Davis.

The duo were in the middle of their own spontaneous UK tour in their VW camper, but appeared as beautifully fresh and calm as a pair who had slept in a 5 star hotel.



Fern Davis was on lead vocal and her sister, Adrienne Davis rocking her acoustic guitar while taking the reigns for the vocal sporadically throughout.

Daughters of Davis harmonised their vocals in a way that would revive drifting spirits and any lost souls for miles. An experience elevated by their natural affinity to music, modest attitude and compelling passion to share it with the world.

Once the pub lights were out, the afterparty at Jonny Bell’s house around the corner commenced. A night of guitar grabbing acoustic mash-ups by those who could play, sing-alongs from anyone that couldn’t and random mattress jumping from those that just felt like it!



Daughters of Davis also treated us to more of their material with vocals that pierced through our drunken hearts like cupids dart. A room full of musical minds coming together and a moment that has earned a prime spot in my own personal ‘best memories’ mind album. Snippets of which were captured by Daughters of Davis on video and available on their own personal blog on Facebook (www.facebook.com/daughtersofdavis).

Sisters, Fern and Adrienne, are both enchanting performers with a true affinity and family connection that is inspiring and enjoyable to watch. Daughters of Davis are a scrumptious find and a magical entity of musical talent just waiting for their inevitable moment in the spotlight. - Jennifer Le Roux

28 Mar. 2012
2 Sisters, 60's Soul/Folk & Incredible Passion… Meet Daughters Of Davis…

Daughters Of Davis are a Folk/Soul duo comprised of 2 sisters, Adrienne and Fern Davis.

They seem to have appeared overnight but nothing could be further from the truth. The Davis sisters have been hard at work writing and making music for some time now… As a matter of fact, the passion that lies within the Winchester (UK) based siblings has ignited an unquenchable fire that has caused them to quit their jobs and go on the road with an aim to play in every major city in the UK.

They have also released a single titled ‘Where Do We Go’ which is available as a free download and sounds like what would happen if you blended the spark of Florence And The Machine with the flare of Philippa Hanna and the soulful sound of Adele.

Adrienne and Fern have also recorded an album titled ‘To The Water’ which is due for release on 7th May 2012 so be sure to look out for that which will hopefully be more of the same as what can be heard on ‘Where Do We Go’.

With Adrienne wow-ing audiences with her “sweet and booming” vocals and acoustic guitar playing and Fern adding her rich, 60’s soul-like vocals and providing the rhythms with percussion, Daughters Of Davis have come up with something quite unique and special… A little bit of soul with a new-folk twist and enough fiery passion to set even the most water drenched logs on the windiest of nights ablaze with the sound of great music. - M-Brio Music

“I don’t think I could ever get bored with these girls. Once again, as well as being accomplished musicians and singer/songwriters, I found Adrienne and Fern to be friendly and easy to approach. I also think I may be, just a little bit, in LOVE! You can check the girls out” - Lucy Onions

Daughters Of Davis - To The Water

STYLE: R&B
RATING
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 124674-19109
LABEL: Forerunner 0610373985349
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
This product is currently not available from Cross Rhythms Direct


Reviewed by Tony Cummings

It's not easy to be British and white and sing soul music convincingly but these two sisters from Winchester pull it off admirably. Their approach to the soul genre nimbly sidesteps the pitfalls of the blue eyed soul subgenre so there are no cover versions of old classics, no parping horn sections and no over reliance on production trickery. Instead, producer Andy Baker has given Adrienne and Fern stripped down accompaniments, sometimes with just an acoustic guitar and a shaker to underscore the rich dynamics of the two sisters' voices. Currently my favourites are the opener "Where Do We Go" and the joyful "Take My Soul" (a line from which provides the title to this album). Clearly Adrienne and Fern Davis are highly gifted songwriters as well as singers and with their hard gigging work ethic they deserve to establish themselves in the mainstream as a top act.



Product Description
Daughters Of Davis are two sisters, Adrienne and Fern Davis, who write music with an acoustic soul/folk vibe, a fresh and innovative sound that plays with harmony and counterpart melodies.

Tony Cummings of Cross Rhythms sums up this album: “It’s not easy to be British and white and sing soul music convincingly but these two sisters from Winchester pull it off admirably. Their approach to the soul genre nimbly sidesteps the pitfalls of the blue eyed soul subgenre so there are no cover versions of old classics, no parping horn sections and no over reliance on production trickery. Instead, producer Andy Baker has given Adrienne and Fern stripped down accompaniments, sometimes with just an acoustic guitar and a shaker to underscore the rich dynamics of the two sisters’ voices. Currently my favourites are the opener Where Do We Go and the joyful Take My Soul (a line from which provides the title to this album). Clearly Adrienne and Fern Davis are highly gifted songwriters as well as singers and with their hard gigging work ethic they deserve to establish themselves in the mainstream as a top act.” - Cross Rhythms

Tony Cummings met up with Winchester's soul sisters DAUGHTERS OF DAVIS

Daughters Of Davis

Two sisters from Winchester are currently doing something most musicians have, at one time, dreamed of doing but found, when it came to the crunch, they weren't daring enough to undertake, namely getting in a van and setting off to wherever their whim and sat nav takes them. Acoustic soul duo Daughters Of Davis are on their second phase of a multi-gig tour of Britain which means playing in pubs, clubs, coffee houses, shopping centres, schools and, if nothing else can be found, busking on the streets. Not only are Adrienne and Fern Davis successfully performing to tens of thousands of people they are selling sufficient copies of their second album 'To The Water' to make the whole adventure possible.

Stopping off from their mile-burning jaunt long enough to call in to the Cross Rhythms studio, the vivacious young ladies fielded some of my questions. I began by asking how they first caught the music bug. Explained Adrienne, "Even as children we were singing at home. We've got an older sister, Danielle, as well. We used to sing together when we were younger. She's a teacher now." Fern quipped, "One day we'll persuade her to join Daughters Of Davis."

So how do two white middle class girls end up singing soul music? Explained Fern, "Our parents don't play music but from a young age they played us old soul music. Their taste in music's been great to grow up with. It gave us an ambition to want to do music after hearing all the classics and the greats from people like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Ben E King."

So what about their spiritual roots? "Our parents are both Christians and that's how we were brought up," explained Adrienne. "But it was quite a bit of a journey and we've had the faith to step out and pursue our music. That came from our faith in God, really. That's definitely the roots of our music."

When Fern was at college she and her sister cut their teeth in a local soul funk band. She remembered, "They had a few names, but one of the last names was Grand Revolution. They were a Winchester-based band and they lasted a few years and would gig around the south. We all went to university and then went our different ways, but that was a lot of fun. And it got Adrienne and I used to writing songs and singing before an audience."


When Grand Revolution came to an end in 2005 Daughters Of Davis began to do occasional gigs. It was a struggle, as Fern explained. "Adrienne was juggling an occupational therapy job and also doing music and I was doing a Fine Art degree and we were doing music in the evenings. It was heavy going. We even shot a film at one point and we were trying to get all these things done. But it was brilliant this year to absolutely focus on and completely concentrate on music."

By 2010 the Daughters were daring to dream about committing themselves full time to music. Two things were needed, an album and a van, and the sisters began saving for all they were worth. With a second hand van they soon had it packed, not only with clothes and sleeping bags, but albums. Explained Adrienne, "The album we recorded (called simply 'Daughters Of Davis' and recorded in Winchester's Valley Studios) was just stripped down versions of some of our songs - little more than a demo really. But touring over the year we actually were running out of copies. We were getting to the end of the tour because things were getting really difficult money-wise and it was kind of a struggle being in the van and things. . ." Fern added with understatement, "It was getting colder as well. . ."

Months of living off economy porridge and 17p soup interspersed with bouts of busking the petrol money to the next town were beginning to take their toll. Then at the crucial moment the hard gigging duo met up with Resound Media, the Sheffield-based Christian media company run by producer Andy Baker. With Resound's help plans for the Daughter Of Davis' 'To The Water' album quickly took shape with the duo deciding to record six songs from 'Daughters Of Davis' and six newly minted numbers. The album featured a wide variety of arrangements. Said Fern, "There are some songs which are just a guitar and even just a shaker and that's it, and there are some songs with a full drum kit, bass and electric guitar and things. There's a mix, really, on the album and we're quite happy to keep it that way. I think some of the stripped back tracks could get radio play, depending on the radio station, and if you're feeling lively then some of the other ones with a band. I think 'Take My Soul' could be a good one on the radio."

The album's title 'To The Water' is actually taken from the lyric of "Take My Soul". The spiritual overtones of the title are quite intentional. Said Fern, "The song is about a fresh start. We wrote it as we left to go on our second tour. We write from a place which is from experience, so there's not one part of our life that is necessarily Christian or following faith, it's sort of interwoven in all of our life and all of our experience, so when we write it's from that whole pool of experience."

Has all the touring led the Daughters Of Davis to road fatigue? Fern was emphatic in her response, "No, definitely not. We love touring, it's the funnest thing. We're gigging most nights and England is just amazing. It's great to tour England and the UK. There's so much to see and we're really enjoying seeing it bit by bit and meeting the people. We've just met some really great people in the country that have really been good to us and really restored our faith in good people in England. We've been to Ireland and we've still got Wales and Scotland to do." - Cross Rhythms