Roger “Rog” Davis: The Long and Winding Road

Over the past four decades, local musician Roger Davis has provided the Port City with a sensational serving of musical talent. Whether he’s performing for a crowd of weekend brunch-goers, a public gallery event, or the occasional night venue, Roger “Rog” Davis holds his melodic roots in the Wilmington area and remains a well-respected performer/composer as well as a cultural icon within the local jazz community.

Describing his own sound as, “kind of world beat and jazz,” Davis’ guitar style has integrated itself with several genres and art forms throughout his career. Roger claims, “In the 1980’s, nineties, more straightforward jazz, and before that, I was composing.” These days, Davis has successfully entwined these techniques with variations of Beatles classics and traditional Bossa Nova into an instrumental arrangement that evokes a Tom Jobim meets John Lennon meets Wes Montgomery sound. “I’m always reinventing myself,” he says. Like a painter or a sculptor, his passion and approach continues to cultivate with the times and with himself.

Born in 1954 in the historic underlay of downtown Wilmington, Davis grew up in a family of musicians – his father a guitarist and his mother a pianist – he was raised alongside three half-brothers, and a regular assortment of talented localities, many of whom have followed a parallel path of steadfast musicianship. A graduate of Hoggard High School, Davis first began his melodic upbringing at the age of six with the piano – an instrument he studied and played extensively in his younger years, eventually playing the keyboard in various local rock bands. During this time, his fingertips graced the stages of such regional hotspots as Greenfield Lake Park and Tobacco Warehouse in Columbus County.

Whilst continuing to immerse himself in the local music scene in the early 1970’s, Roger found an unusual musical opportunity while helping paint the interior walls of the renowned Finkelstein’s Music Shop in downtown Wilmington. In return for this partially volunteered labors, Davis received an acoustic guitar branded with the familial trademark name “Toyota” across its six stringed neck that Davis describes as, “a great guitar. It played great. It was my first real guitar.”

With this blessing, just six weeks prior to his 17th birthday, Roger began playing music by Doc Watson, Bob Dylan and a similar cast of musical favorites. Inspired by local guitar legend Charlie Chandler (1970’s Finkelstein’s employee) and post-Berkeley guitarist, David Evans, Roger took formal lessons for just under a year, and spent countless hours of self-instruction before deciding to major in music on the college level.

Leaving Wilmington for the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, Davis spent time studying music composition in one of the country’s most esteemed art institutions. It was here that his talents became defined, pioneering him for a life of music.

Whether he’s strapping himself behind a nylon classical, a steel string dreadnought, or a fat jazz box electric guitar, Roger Davis remains a staple in the music community, plucking, picking and strumming his way through the ears and eyes of an increasingly divers audience. With two successful CD’s under his belt, Roger made a name for himself playing weekly gigs with a jazz trio at the Holiday Inn Sunspree on Wrightsville Beach. Since then, most of his performances are solo, with the occasional accompaniment of a friend or stranger. When asked about the current local music scene Roger replies, “I think it’s pretty vibrant. There’s a lot of talent in Wilmington. The future looks bright.”

In present times, Davis is a proud father to one child, a daughter who recently brought his first grandchild into the world – most likely continuing the reinvention of himself and his musicianship.

Roger has spent the last 18 months playing for the Barista Café along Water Street – Chandlers Wharf, and Wednesday nights at Bottega Gallery. Even local dance troupe Forward Motion has paid homage to Davis, recently choreographing one of his original pieces into a staged dance performance. Wherever or whatever the venue or circumstance, Roger Davis and his music has and will continue to inspire and entertain. Just listen for that proverbial jazz-boss-rock that is uniquely that of “Rog”.

Jazz Beat – by Stephen Gibbs

http://www.rogdavis.com