Davidson Hart Kingsbery

Local vinyl imprint Fin Records now counts Davidson Hart Kingsbery's gravelly country twang on its roster. Somewhere in between Bruce Springsteen and Jeff Tweedy, DHK's raspy croon saddles up nicely on easy-rolling ballad "2 Horses"; its flip-side, "Stuck in Washington," is a honky-tonkin' cut of pedal steel steeped Americana rock. - Seattle Weekly Reverb

Here’s a tasty bit of honky tonk from Seattle. Singer-songwriter Hart Kingsbery weaves an autobiographical tale of life as a struggling musician in the Pacific Northwest, set against a Doug Sahm-style arrangement. - Twangville

In March, gravel-throated country warbler Davidson Hart Kingsbery dropped his debut EP 2 Horses and gave Seattle a taste of his two-stepping, barroom tunes. The singer's been perfecting his twang, playing to roomfuls of twirling couples at Hattie's Hat every first "honky tonk" Thursday, and 2 Horses keeps the party going. Songs of heartache ("Eyes of Green") and heavy-drinking ("NyQuil And Wine") are custom tailored for Kingsbery's raspy croon, and a reverb-washed, roots rock guitar keeps things good and country. - Seattle Weekly Reverb

Fin Records has been focused on that southwest sound of the US lately, old cowboys, tumbleweeds and the dusty countryside of a landscape soundtrack...I'm talking about the couple of Walkabout singles...and this latest from Davidson Hart Kingsbery is another step in that modern country direction. Hart Kingsbery is leading this underground Seattle country outfit into the setting sun with this one.

"Two Horses" is combining all the elements of that huge contemporary country sound, a wiry steel slide, plinking honkey tonk piano and heavy thumping rhythm section. Hart's got that weathered rusty vocal with a metaphor here about a relationship, the two horse coming together under one big sky. It sounds a lot better coming from these guys. Sounding a little bit like Jason Molina and Mark Lanegan, there's a lot of years and soul under that 10 gallon hat. But don't get me wrong, this isn't going to have a happy ending, more like they keep just missing meeting and at the end they don't even recognize her. No wonder I'm going to have to find the nearest bar.

B-Sides, "Stuck in Washington" shit kicks this one off with a bluesy bent warm distorted electric. They always seem to be contradicting themselves with this hoedown beat with Hart wailing about working a terrible job, drinking and just trying to survive...so why's this trying so hard to move you onto some kind of sawdust dancefloor? Keeping this one as brief as the A-Side...he's got a direction to go, no messing around, alright we're here. Let's go raise hell.

Clear orange vinyl, handnumbered out of 500, with the usual attention to detail package that Fin Records is known for. - 7 Inches Blogspot

Of course, one of the true joys of this job is opening a package from a total unknown and having it stick in LOM's cranium. We've been sort of off the alt-country for a while, but this album from Paris, Texas-born Seattleite Kingsbery was something that couldn't be ignored. "Stay Outta My Dreams" was the lyric that grabbed and held, the one that caused us to hit replay. But that's only one ear-friendly lyric on this stylish twanger; "Eyes of Green," "Stuck in Washington" and "NyQuil and Wine" show that Texas dirt doesn't wash off so easily. This guy bears watching. - Houston Press

I haven’t been feeling country in a long while, but hearing new stuff from folks like Davidson Hart Kingsbery, Jack Wilson and Widower lately have had me turning that feeling around. 2 Horses the debut long player for Seattle’s Davidson Hart Kingsbery arrives on Fin Records June 26th and the first video by Grant Ellis is the cleverly stilted “Don’t Sound So Sweet.” Head on over to the band’s dot com ahead of time to snag another classically inspired bummer of a country tune called “Nyquil and Wine.” - Sound On The Sound

The fact that Seattle’s Davidson Hart Kingsbery was born in Paris, Texas is reason enough to devote blogspace to him. That a rocky divorce sent this once devout religious man barreling headfirst into a life of country music simply sweetens the pie. Toss in the ass-kickin’ country songs he writes as a result of these experiences, and you know that MOKB wants a big ol’piece of this fella.

Influenced by Charlie Rich and Doug Sahm, but sounding a lot like Phil Lee, this is a guy to keep an eye on. He recently teamed with one of our favorite producers, Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, John Wesley Harding) at Jupiter Studios, to record his debut full-length, 2 Horses, a platter that is sure to strike a note with music critics and fans alike. 2 Horses will drop June 26th, thanks to the fine folks at Fin Records, but we’re here to tide your over with the premiere of the video for the title track. - My Old Kentucky Blog

Davidson Hart Kingsbery was raised in a devout Christian Scientist household and despite being immersed in religion from an early age, found a way to pursue his passion for music. Lucky for all of us he made the right choice. The twang-tastic "2 Horses" marks the first full-length release for Kingsbery's band (he previously fronted Hart and the Hurricane) and it's a near-perfect collection of Americana tunes.

The title track's weeping steel guitars get the 12-song release off to a terrific start, and Kingsbery continues to impress with keepers "Letter To You," "Oh Darlin'," "Eyes of Green," "Stuck In Washington," the wonderfully titled "Nyquil and Wine," "Devil In His Heart" and "Tell Me What He Looks Like." Can't wait to hear what Kingsbery and his cohorts come up with next. - Pittsburgh Daily News

The shorthand rock-speak for this Seattle-based singer/songwriter’s debut collection of full-band Americana could be “Wilco meets Springsteen.” With a raspy voice that sounds scarred by whiskey and cigars—certainly older than an early thirtysomething—it’s easy to make comparisons to The Boss and Jeff Tweedy. Kingsbery was raised in a devout Christian Scientist household; it’s hard to not get a whiff of autobiography when he sings “Whatever happened to that good Christian boy/I hear he is a mess got the devil on his breath” on "Devil in His Heart." But these aim to be iconic songs: they're tales of love and loss that swing for the rafters via small details. Kingsbery doesn’t always succeed, but on rousing, smart numbers like “Tell Me What He Looks Like” and “Nyquil and Wine,” one could easily imagine them sung by Dwight Yoakum, or at least playing behind him in a movie. - iTunes Music

Hattie's Hat is a time-honored institution, cherished as much for its architectural history as for the famous faces who've crossed its threshold and downed a beer. It's a relic from old Ballard, boasting the neighborhood's first-ever tile floor, the remnants of which are almost 100 years old, along with a carved wooden bar that's even older, rumored to have been hand-crafted in France. It's where Ryan Adams fell off a barstool stone drunk, where Neko Case worked in the kitchen, and where Adams' then-bandmate, Phil Wandscher, met Jesse Sykes and formed their band The Sweet Hereafter.

When Davidson Hart Kingsbery started hanging out there, his marriage fell apart. But it wasn't Hattie's fault. It was the cat's. Kingsbery, who recently released his debut LP, Two Horses, on Ballard's Fin Records, grew up in a strict Christian Science home. "I was in it pretty heavily," he said. "I hung out with the Mormon kids because we both kind of had the same rules: no sex, no drinking, no smoking, you know. We would have a pretty mild time on the weekends."

As a child, Kingsbery suffered debilitating breathing problems that, because Western medicine was strictly taboo, went undiagnosed and untreated. As a result, he turned to arts and music—instead of sports—learning piano, cello, drums, and guitar. It was only after Kingsbery left for college, away from the home he shared with his pet cats, parents, and sister, that he learned he was severely allergic to cats.

"It was a devastating realization that I didn't have to go through all that pain and suffering," he says. "It could have easily been prevented if it was just checked out. I'm not even sure I knew pet allergies existed because I was taken out of all health classes, like biology and chemistry. As soon as we started to talk about diseases, or blood cells or human health, the teacher would be like, 'OK Hart, you can go home now,' so I didn't learn a lot about things like that."

After attending the only Christian Science college in the nation, The Principia in Elsah, Ill., Kingsbery was already married to the first girl he dated there, before he was convinced religion was holding him back. The couple moved to Seattle in 2003. Shortly thereafter, their marriage crumbled.

"My divorce came quick," he says. "I started playing music and getting into the music scene out here, having beers and staying out late once in a while. Not really behavior she was used to, but it was new and fun for me. It was pretty clear she didn't want to be part of it. But I think some marriages end up that way, whether religion plays a part in it or not."

After splitting with his wife, and formally distancing himself from the church, he recruited a friend to play drums and found a bass player. The three formed Kingsbery's first band, Hart and The Hurricane, and soon added piano player Ben Strehle. The group was together for about four years until it faded away. "But we played a lot of shows and got to know a lot of bands."

One of those bands was Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, the "new wave country" outfit that shares with Kingsbery's group keyboardist Strehle and drummer Bryan Crawford. With his renewed perspective on life and music—music he claims he'll be writing "til I die"—Kingsbery keeps a bit of wisdom the bandleader shared with him in his pocket. "He once told me you can always play country music no matter how old you are."

Kingsbery soon found a regular gig at Hattie's—as the house band for the venue's "honky tonk" Thursdays, a role he'll reprise on Aug. 23—and discovered a tight-knit music community he had never known before. "That was a really great gig for us because it was a residency, and everyone knew we were going to be here."

With dancers attending—and drinking—reliably each month, Hattie's owner, Max Genereaux, gave Hart a thank-you gift. "We like him so much here we gave him his own hook for his hat," Genereaux said. Indeed, a gold-plated plaque inscribed with the words, "Reserved for the hat of Davidson Hart Kingsbery," sits just below a hook reserved for Kingsbery's trademark accessory, a Stetson Silverbelly, a gift from his dad. Kingsbery is the only person to receive such an honor at Hattie's.

Even after leaving religion, Kingsbery maintains a loving relationship with his family. "They've always encouraged me to be myself. When I was into Kurt Cobain and grew long hair and wore cardigans with weird T-shirts and looked like an idiot, they let me play my drums in the living room and let me record my music there. They've always been really good about supporting me as an a musician."

It's an unconventional upbringing that's worked in his favor; Kingsbery and his band have a deal to record another LP with Fin Records (just a few doors up from Hattie's) at Wallingford's Jupiter Studios in September. Both of his parents have come out to see him play. "My mom came to one of the shows and got hit on by a couple of older guys who offered her a drink. I think - The Seattle Weekly