Greg Davis
GREG DAVIS’s musical interests have always been far-reaching, ranging from contemporary classical (he did graduate work in composition at New England Conservatory) to early electronics, minimalism, and folk. When he moved to Boston in ’99, Davis first made a name for himself in the local electronic-music scene and beyond for his sweet, melodic mix of guitar and computer processing. In recent years, however, he’s become one of the more masterful creators of luminous, long-form drones. Although often heavily processed, they tend to be created around organic instruments: acoustic guitar, harmonica, organ, bells, and the like.
So what does he have planned for tonight’s show at the Lily Pad? “Lately I’ve been exploring analog-synthesizer drone music for my live sets,” he writes from his home in Vermont. “But I think I’ve wrapped up my explorations with that for now. I’m hoping to do something more subtle and spacious and simple, incorporating acoustic instruments and computer processing/sounds for this tour. We’ll see what happens. I’m always open and flexible with my live sets, and they change from night to night. I like to improvise and go with the flow.”
For this concert, Davis’s scintillating drones will be paired with the delicately damaged avant-garde folk of Canadian singer-songwriter ERIC CHENAUX. The two are on a short tour of the Northeast set up by Davis, who’s a big fan of Chenaux’s music, which bears a distant familial resemblance to some of his own early song-based work. “I first heard Eric play some improvised music in Boston years ago, but I really got hooked on his album Dull Lights, which came out a couple years back on Constellation. It’s one of my favorite modern-songs records.”
GREG DAVIS + ERIC CHENAUX | Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge | August 7 @ 7 pm | $10 | 617.395.1393 orwww.lily-pad.net
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Topics:
New England Music News
, New England Conservatory of Music, Greg Davis
