Writer, director and musician Stuart Davis finds time between promoting a new album and running a TV show to visit the rolling hills of Athens.
“I’ve only been to Ohio once before,” Davis said. “I’m going to a lot of new towns on this tour ... which is great because I’ve been touring for 15 years and 1,000 shows so there’s no excuse that I haven’t been to Athens yet.”
Davis will perform at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 ½ W. Washington St., as a solo act with an unusual style of guitar playing.
He plays guitar using a technique called two-handed finger tapping, which is most often associated with the fast-paced guitar licks of metal music such as the infamous Guitar Hero classic “Through the Fire and Flames,” by DragonForce. The style is also used in jazz, blues and folk, in a much more legato form.
“When I was playing guitar and learning to write, I started to do the two-handed tapping thing, and I like how it disrupted my habits,” Davis said. “It made me think about the instrument in a way that I hadn’t thought about it before.”
His music usually leans more toward the side of rock, with electric instruments and pounding drums. His solo performance, however, turns closer to the folk side with his use of an acoustic guitar.
Davis also writes and directs his own TV show, Sex, God, Rock ‘n’ Roll, on HDnet. The show is a sketch comedy similar to Saturday Night Live, but features music comedy including Davis’ own written music.
“The TV show is a way for me to recharge my batteries and do something different, because I like going into other mediums,” Davis said. “The TV show still incorporates a lot of music, so when we are in postproduction and we’re putting the show together, all the music is used from the albums.”
Troy Gregorino, booking agent for Donkey Coffee, said he hopes that if the show becomes popular, bigger acts such as Davis will become more common at the coffee shop.
“This is a new venture, having someone of Stuart’s caliber,” Gregorino said. “I like to vary what we do in our back room and I’m excited to see how much of a reception we can put together.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
