Bluegrass music star David Davis and his Warrior River Boys will perform in Edgewood Sunday, April 14.
Davis and his band will appear at the Marty Hays Homecoming at Edgewood Opry House, Broad Street, at 2 p.m. Jasper Beaty and the Rosine Sound, Marty and Robin, and Robert Montgomery will also appear. Tickets for the event are $17 each. Advance tickets are $15 each and available from the Edgewood Opry or Marty Hays. Admission is free for children 17 and younger. Concessions will be sold. For more information, call 618-315-3877.
Carrying on an Alabama family tradition directly linked to the origins of Bluegrass music, Davis’ love of traditional roots music grew organically. In the 1930s, his father and two uncles played and sung in the brother-style traditions of early country music. Uncle Cleo joined Bill Monroe as the first Bluegrass Boy in 1938. David’s father, Leddell, went off to World War II and lost his right hand in a mortar accident. While his Dad’s dream of making music may have been shattered, he never lost his love and devotion to the music.
After a couple of Rounder label projects in the early 1990s, he guided recordings on Ray Davis’ Wango label throughout the decade and into the early 2000s. These legendary “Basement Recordings” have garnered a cult following over the years, many sides resurfacing on the Time Life label.
Davis and the band snapped up rave reviews such as “…sure-fire picking and train whistle harmonies…” from USA Today with their self-titled 2004 Rebel Records release. Their highly acclaimed Rebel releases “Troubled Times” and “Two Dimes and a Nickel” continue to take the listener deeper into WRB soul and offer testimony to the band’s musical evolution.
Davis returned to Rounder with his “Didn’t He Ramble: Songs of Charlie Poole,” a tribute to the legendary acoustic music artist. In June 2018, the group led the Folk Artist chart as top artist with the top album and debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s bluegrass album chart.
A 2010 inductee to the Alabama Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, Davis is widely recognized as one of the foremost practitioners of the Monroe mandolin technique. He was inducted to the National Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame beside “Hee Haw” star Lulu Roman and John Carter Cash.
Among the Warrior River Boys are Marty Hays on bass, Robert Montgomery on banjo and Adam Duke on guitar.
For more information about the group, visit www.daviddavisandwrb.com.