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Music Feature: Barrett Davis

The Ballad of Aesop Fin

Born into a family of musicians, Barrett Davis began playing drums at age 11, then switched to strings after breaking his arm when he was 14. Teaching himself guitar chords on the Beatles’ compilation album 1 and learning his father’s original songs by sight led him to songwriting. “My first original song was a country tune, and I can’t honestly say I remember it, but I remember everyone in the family getting excited and that was helpful for me,” he says. “Songwriting is truly my beginning, thanks to my folks and that fortuitous skating injury.”

Davis grew up in Lake Toxaway and, though drawn to life as a musician, he started a construction business to support his family. That workaday world and its people gave him rich material for songs, he says. “My lyrics are mostly influenced by life experience, but I would say that 60 percent of that is based in and around Appalachian culture,” says Davis. “‘The Ballad of Aesop Fin’ is based on a mythical character of the Appalachian hills and is an allegorical story of the daily hardships there.”

His music has roots in indie folk, traditional songs, classic country, bluegrass, folk rock and blues. “I try to keep that tone party raging in a lot of my original songs, gently weaving in and out of my roots and modern musical passion,” Davis says.

To purchase the album, visit BarrettDavisMusic.com.

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