Eugene weekly., January 13, 2005, Page 30, Image 30

BY VANESSA SALVIA
DJ Tekneek
Blues
Power
to the
People
Will you continue the collab-
oration with the other Guy
Davises in 2005?
Well, not necessarily, I was happy
to do that but that’s not what I do.
So I will not close my mind to it but
if that happens that’s fine and if that
doesn’t happen that’s fine too. This
is my seventh album that’s out now
and as I go, we’ll just have to see
what adventure comes next. The
only thing I stick with that I’ve been
with for 37 years is the guitar. That’s
the only thing that’s been consistent
in my life. In other ways I’ve been
kind of flaky. So I’ll continue to
stick with the guitar.
Guy Davis tours
to support
Legacy.
I
f good things come in threes, then it
must be darn good to be named Guy
Davis. Bluesman Guy Davis released
his seventh album Legacy last summer,
which showcases his commitment to
acoustic blues and his lifelong influences
of Blind Willie McTell, Skip James,
Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton,
Buddy Guy and others. Davis teamed up
with two other men named Guy Davis
throughout 2004 and now he’s bringing his
bluesy, groovy thing to Eugene.
One Guy Davis illustrated a comic for
22 JANUARY 13, 2005
Legacy’s CD booklet about the musician
Davis meeting the Devil at the crossroads.
Another Guy Davis, a vintner from
California, supplied his wines at select Davis
concerts. I spoke to the bluesman Guy Davis
to find out more.
How did you find the other Guy Davises?
It was actually my manager who spends a
lot of time on the Internet. He Googled my
name, found these other fellows, got in con-
tact with a few of them and he burst this
Guy Davis project on me!
demnation of police, but I am saying some
of these things still are here.
Do you have any plans past Legacy at
this point?
Just like all my CDs I support them and I
continue to work on new music, that’s my
M.O. Legacy is what’s current but when I do
a concert, I play all my music, not just what’s
on the last one. I play everything. The idea is
when people come to see the show the music
is highlighted and the stories and the feelings
are highlighted. Legacy is my latest offering
and I’m happy with it.
Tell me about the other Guys.
One is a vino maker who lives in California.
What a pleasant guy. I’ve tasted his wares.
I’m a red wine kind of guy and I like the taste
How do you feel the blues has
of what he’s doing. And the Guy who is the
influenced the cultures of rap
illustrator, well, this is something that’s kind
and hip hop or how do you feel
they can relate to one another?
if close to me because I won’t call myself an
illustrator as much as I am a picture-drawer. I
Blues is an ancestor, an ancestor
love to draw. My son also loves to draw. So
to what you hear now. The blues
seeing what the other Guy Davis can do
and rap seem to talk about the same things.
makes me a teeny bit envious,
They talk about men, women,
but I admire his work. I think
they talk about hard times,
Guy Davis
there’s something about us Guy
they talk about trouble with the
Cafe Paradiso, 8 pm
law. The blues is no longer cut- 1/15, $13.50 advance Davises, we find something we
like to do and we stick with it!
ting edge music but you find
484-9933
that the conditions that the
blues came out of, some of them are still
Do you have a favorite song you never
here now. It might not be direct Jim Crow
tire of playing?
kind of stuff but you still have situations
Whoa, that’s a hard one. Well, right now
where there are, say, disproportionate num-
that song is “Loneliest Road I Know”
bers of black kids running into bullets fired
which was derived from Fred McDowell’s
by cops. And I’m not making some con-
“61 Highway.”
ew