139: Ward Davis

New Slang

We're closing the week being joined by Ward Davis. The country singer-songwriter is releasing Black Cats and Crows tomorrow, Friday, November 20. These haunting undertones are a real driving force for the album. They mainly come in the brooding baritone in Davis' powerful, whiskey-soaked vocals and the midnight black vibrato of warbling guitars, but perhaps most of all, they come in Davis' raw and highly emotional piano playing. Often, that happens in the form of stark ballads like "Black Cats and Crows" and the closing drunken hymnal "Good and Drunk." Other times, it's used to help add texture and tone like in the Ray Scott cut "Papa and Mama." At his best, Davis offers hardened honky-tonk anthems like "Ain't Gonna Be Today" and "Get To Work Whiskey" in one hand and heartache storytellers like "Colorado," "Good to Say Goodbye," and the aforementioned "Good and Drunk."

During this interview, we talk about the "residual darkness" of Black Cats and Crows, writing with the likes of Cody Jinks and Tennessee Jet, adult conversations in country songs, working in and eventually leaving Nashville, how he's continued to progress and adapt as a songwriter and storyteller, why he likes The Weeknd, and the surreal nature of having a song cut by legends like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.
This episode's presenting partner is Desert Door Texas Sotol. In addition, this episode is sponsored by The Blue Light Live and Hot Damn Coffee.
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