What are folks -- DJs, fellow artists, and fans -- saying about Brad Davis and I'm Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down?

Brad Davis is a talented guitarist, songwriter, and singer who has spent more than a decade backing up Marty Stuart's rockin' country. He recently worked in Billy Bob Thornton's roots rock-band and has played lead guitar with banjo master Earl Scruggs. The 14 tracks here, both covers and original material, show that Davis can easily hold his own as a lead artist in that company. The title track, as you might expect, leans toward the blues and rock side of country. Then Davis takes a quick turn into bluegrass with the originals "Old Number Nine," "Dawg Diddy," and "Big Timber." "Cypress Walls" and "Where You Belong" tread a more country line, while a cover of the traditional "Rank Stranger" emphasizes the blue side of bluegrass in a duet between Davis and Kelly Knolf. If you enjoy progressive bluegrass, acoustic country, or even some of the rootsier rock bands, you'll like this record. Sam Bush, Thornton, Scruggs, and Jon Randall are among the guests, and it sounds as though they all had a really good time working on it. Davis mixed the tracks, as well, showing a fine ear for the best way to present his music and the ensemble work of his talented friends.
Dirty Linen, February/March '04

Brad Davis is a great musician and singer. He really shines on this project. I'm glad to endorse this music and Brad. He's also a fine young man whom I'm glad to call friend.
Ricky Skaggs

Having spent the last 10 years attending honky-tonk university as Marty Stuart's lead guitarist, you could say that Brad Davis has now earned his degree. This mostly acoustic solo debut at last puts the spotlight cleanly on him, despite the presence of heavy-hitting guests like Earl Scruggs, Billy Bob Thornton, Styx's Tommy Shaw and others. Brad also plays bass and drums on most cuts, but the primary focus is on his guitar and mandolin playing, singing and songwriting, and he earns his diploma by doing a fine job of them all.
Jeff Wall, Country Music Weekly

Brad Davis is well known as a guitarist in Marty Stuart's band and he has several instructional guitar products with Flatpicking Magazine. So it's no surprise that Brad's instrumental, "California" is full of fast-paced guitar licks and a wide-open feeling that seems to reflect the wide panorama of people and places in California. Brad does triple duty on this one with guitar, mandolin and bass. He also wrote "Dawg Diddy," a jazz-influenced song with David Grier on guitar and Brad on mandolin, bass, drum and vocals. Brad easily shifts between several instruments and he wrote several of the songs as well. Bill Bob Thornton is featured on Brad's "Tell Me Son," a stark song of soldiers facing battle and gathering courage. It's a strong song given these times of war.

"Journey Through Misery" is an introspective song seeking redemption and is a contrast to the upbeat "Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down." The two songs that have the strongest bluegrass feeling are "Big Timber" with Brad's brother Greg on the banjo and "The Clock Strikes Twice" with Earl Scruggs manning the five-string. "Rank Stranger" is a powerful duet with Kelly Knolf that pushes the bluegrass favorite into blues territory. Guitar players will identify with the clever "I Love My Guitar" -- "the first time I met her she was in control of my heart..." -- and Brad adds a melodic guitar setting for the song.

This is a strong debut album from a gifted musician. Each listening reveals new layers of meaning in the lyrics and delightful twists and turns in the carefully crafted instrumental settings that blend nuances of bluegrass, blues, country and jazz.
Brenda Hough, Northern California Bluegrass Association

One can certainly point to the high-profile guest stars who are heard on the debut album of journeyman guitarist Brad Davis, and a sticker on the shrink wrap of the CD does just that, noting the presence of Earl Scruggs (banjo on "The Clock Strikes Twice"), Tommy Shaw of Styx (vocals on "Tell Me Son"), Sam Bush (mandolin on "Old Number Nine"), and actor/singer Bill Bob Thornton (vocals on "Tell Me Son"), among others. But the guest shots give a false impression of the contents of this album, which is a solo tour de force by Davis, who overdubs several instruments on most tracks, playing guitar, mandolin, bass, drums, and percussion in addition to singing lead vocals and handling all the technical aspects of producing, engineering, mixing, and even mastering, having written or co-written all the tracks except the traditional "Rank Stranger." Davis' prominent guests are also his employers; he has served as lead guitarist for the likes of Scruggs, Thornton, and Bush, not to mention a longstanding association with Marty Stuart. And it is Davis' acoustic guitar-picking that stands out on many of these tracks, which reveals a distinctive instrumental style on his part, but one steeped in country and bluegrass tradition. Davis' songs border on the generic, but they serve as good platforms for him to pick, either with himself or one or more of his guests. He may not be ready to join his friends as a frontman quite yet, but I'm Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down is a good beginning for his solo career.
William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

When flatpicking legend Brad Davis was assembling the players for his most recent solo record for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine's label, he had no problem recruiting some great talent. Brad was Marty Stuart's guitar player for 11 years, and currently has a busy schedule as guitar player for Earl Scruggs, Sam Bush Band, and actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton's band.

Earl, Sam and Billy Bob all contribute to tracks on this genre-busting album as do David Grier, Rob Ickes, Greg Davis, Tommy Shaw, John Jorgenson, Jon Randall Stewart, Glen Duncan and Kelly Knolf.

I'm Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down is a blend of bluegrass, blues, country and rock, all showcasing Brad's world-class flatpicking technique (he also plays bass and mandolin on selected cuts). Davis's songwriting and the synergy he creates in conjunction with his talented peers is what puts the sparkle in this record.

Jon Randall Stewart sings lead on the title cut, and Billy Bob Thornton brings his vocal talent to the spooky track "Tell Me Son." On the Stanley Brothers' classic, "Rank Stranger" he enlists the help of songbird Kelly Knolf. Most of the other tracks have Brad singing lead vocals.

Fellow flatpicker David Grier plays guitar while Brad plays mandolin on the third track on the record, "Dawg Diddy." Other notable performances are the banjo licks played by his brother Greg Davis on the lightning fast tune "Big Timber," and of course the master of the five string himself, Earl Scruggs helps wind up the album with "The Clock Strikes Twice."

There are several cuts on which Brad plays solo, highlighting his techniques, which has earned him accolades among flatpickers everywhere. Brad is a regular columnist for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, and has a series of instructional CDs and videos available as well. See an ad in this issue of 9x for a complete schedule of Plan 9 sponsored area appearances.
Steve Douglas, 9x

I've probably said this before, but one of the joys of the independent reviewer is never knowing what will come out of the speakers when you pop in an unsolicited CD. Well, truth be told, it is not always a joy, but certainly has been in this case!

I admit I'd never heard of Brad Davis. When I read the CD title, I thought I'd hear a blues recording that wouldn't really be appropriate for my reviews. That feeling was lessened when I saw the envelope had flatpick.com on the return address - that didn't sound too bluesy.

This is one of those recordings that is difficult to pigeon-hole. It is acoustic music with a beat. It is blues and country influenced bluegrass. It has some of the high-harmonies of the currently popular roots resurgence. It has great flatpicking instrumentals. It has folk songs. Sort of a guitar stew with lots of interesting bits mixed in.

I believe this harmonious mixture of styles is one of this recording's strengths. Some pure genre CDs can have great tunes, but can become too much if you try to listen to the whole recording in one sitting. "Not Gonna Let My Blues Bring Me Down" is currently my favorite CD to play on the road. I brought it into the office to write this review, but it is going right back for my next trip.

Brad Davis has toured five years with Warner Bros. recording artist - The Forester Sisters, two years with The Sweet Hearts of the Rodeo and ten years with Marty Stuart. Brad currently tours with: Earl Scruggs, Marty Stuart and his own band, White Water.

Brad picks exceptionally fine guitar on all tracks, plus mandolin, bass, drums, upright bass and percussion. He sings lead on many of the songs, but also features vocals by Jon Randall Stewart, Billy Bob Thorton, Tommy Shaw, Kelly Knolf and John Jorgenson. Musical assistance is from such as Sam Bush, brother Greg Davis, Jon Randall Stewart, Rob Ickes, Glen Duncan and Earl Scruggs. Five of the 14 tracks were written by Brad Davis.

Brad is active in all phases of guitar music. He has free guitar lesson on his web site and also sells instructional materials including "Bluebook of Speed Picking" and "Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Acoustic Guitar." For the past seven years he has been a columnist for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.
Bill Groll, Austin Americana

This album is pure grass-roots and soul. I just can't put it down!
Peter Tilden (KZLA 93.9)

The song "Old Number Nine" is one of those unequalled train songs that always bring that chill going down your spine when you are listening to it. My audiences are really thrilled and keep asking for more and more from Brad Davis.
Ted Clark, Cowboy Ted Clark Syndications

Brad Davis can play like so many different ways you are bound to like one of them. With all these guest stars you can't go wrong. I like the mood challenges this CD brings, up and down. You can tell Brad loves his guitar by the way he plays (track 11). I think you will love what you hear. I sure do.
Byron Berline

This album comes straight out of the Blue and Groove-atous side of Americana/Bluegrass. It's not your standard 'Been there, done that, what else do you have?' kind of stuff...Too cool. This guy plays so fast and clean he must be using a humminbird for a metronome. Brad evidently didn't get the memo: If you can sing like this, you're not supposed to play great too. Talent like this really ticks me off!
Jimmy Olander, Lead guitarist, Diamond Rio

I just got the new Brad Davis CD in the mail, and I'm sooo stoked on it! This is the acoustic album I've been waiting for since I picked up the acoustic guitar. A brilliant fusion of rock, blues, bluegrass and hillbilly all done on acoustic instruments! As much as I love all of the progressive newgrass bands, and where they've been taking acoustic music, for me, what Brad is doing is something I hope will become a big part of the acoustic music scene and is far more appealing to me musically than a lot of newgrass stuff. Brad's playing is, as always, phenomenal, but this CD shows him in so many different lights (and playing sooo many different instruments)! It's early yet, but this could easily be my favorite acoustic music CD of all time. Bluegrass that rocks!
Shorty