VOO DAVIS

Midnight Mist

Butter & Bacon Records

By Brian K. Read

“Voulez vous le Voo?”  No, not the Lady Marmalade song, or the ABBA album, or the EE Cummings poem. The Voo I speak of is one Voo Davis, Chicago musician, with his new release, Midnight Mist.  This is a record that is hard to describe, but easy to dig, and it has a little something for everyone.  

As I’ve practically exhausted my knowledge of French at this point, how about trying the angle of some “Voo stew?”  Start with a pound of fresh musical muscle, marinate overnight in a rich blues sauce, add a cup of rock, a dash of jazz, then season to taste with spicy country, a dash of folk, and serve with plenty of hot slide guitar on the side.  Your auditory taste buds are in for a treat; Voo’s blues-stew can’t be beat!

Bottom line, Midnight Mist is a recording with great stories.  And they are stories that resonate, beyond time or place, with the kind of honesty and directness reminiscent of the early Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, or John Prine.  It is truly refreshing to hear someone pushing the borders of the blues, trying out new sounds, taking risks that go beyond “blues,” yet honoring the music as well.  This is what keeps the blues alive, moving forward, to reach new audiences. 

There’s some John Hiatt in his patterns, some “fractured mosaics” like Lowell George used to arrange, even some low crooning a la Johnny Cash. The songs are recorded without frills or digital fixes, but rather than being too raw, the sound is pure and true, just like the stories it surrounds. Voo headed south to record this CD in analog sound at Bogalusa, Louisiana’s Studio in the Country. It must have been the perfect setting to create these 14 tracks.

Joining Voo on the record is a mighty fine band too.  Most tracks feature Craig Borchers on drums, Reggie Winterland on bass, and plenty of Hammond B3 from Michael Burkhardt.  He has a lot of special guests too, fiddle players, harmonicas, backing vocals, too many to name ‘em all.  But the band is always cohesive, full of juice, and ready to jump in the bus and head south with Voo driving.

Davis is adroit on slide guitar, whether playing electric or acoustic, and many of the songs on the CD move between the two, making for a pattern of dynamic arrangements that build from acoustic country to smoldering blues.  There are also some purely electric songs that take off like bats out of hell, and slap you upside the noggin’.  You gotta watch your head going under the bridges when you ride this bus!

Voo was born Brian Davis in Anniston, Alabama, and even though he came north to Chicago at the tender age of two, his music still has that Southern Soul sound that stands out from Chicago blues.  The CD’s title-track tells of a journey through the South, and just keeps on heading down that road, building slowly, wending from acoustic to electric, until we are caught in the middle of a marching Delta storm.

Songs like the slow, harmonica-saturated “Low Hanging Fruit” or “Cajun Sun,” with wonderfully syncopated fingerpicking, not only spotlight his command of the guitar, they also hearken back to his Southern roots. “Looking for truth?  Find it while you’re still in your youth…”  With Voo, it’s one tasty story after another, paired as well as cornbread and sweet tea.

Hard to pin down, Voo has the kind of voice that defies easy definition; some will hear Joe Cocker, some say Tom Waits, others Leon Russell, John Kay or Gregg Allman.  No sense arguing, the voice is big, open and up front, with a touch of all of the above.  He’s finding his own voice now, and it fits his stories, often brutally honest, raw, and direct as an arrow to a bull’s-eye.

Equally difficult to describe is his guitar playing, whether acoustic or electric.  Sometimes he glides like Duane Allman, on sweet tunes like “Laughing Out Loud,” other times he goes frenetic like Hendrix, or Buddy Guy, on electric songs like “Find Me A Blackbone.”  I also hear traces of Lowell George, Derek Trucks, even Keith Richards.  Some blues purists may shake their heads a bit hearing departures like the flying-home rocker “Music In The Streets,” but they’ll soon be won over too.

There is an order to the songs on Midnight Mist that has been well thought out; I recommend playing it all in order, from start to finish.  Put it through a good system, pour some wine, sit down and relax for the ride.  You can buy digital tracks, but you really should get the whole thing.  On the “physical” CD there is a bonus video as well, making it a multimedia keepsake.  (I won’t spoil it, but you gotta see the video!)

Voo Davis is getting a lot of well-deserved publicity these days; his Facebook page is growing by leaps and bounds.  He’s out of town a lot, mainly south of the Mason Dixon line, but if you get the chance, he’s a must-see, so pick up Midnight Mist, hunker down with some headphones, out in the garage, or in the basement where you can crank it. But one way or another, you’d better get ready for the storm that’s coming when Voo Davis and his band blows into town.

For info or to buy the CD visit:

www.voodavis.com

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