• ABOUT
    • Contact
    • The Team
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Events
    • FAQ
    • Use & Privacy Policy
  • ADVERTISE
  • ROWFAX
  • THE SPORTS CREDENTIAL
  • JOB LISTINGS
MusicRow.com
  • CALENDARS
    • Album/EP Releases
    • Single/Track Releases
    • Industry Events
  • OBITS
  • CHARTS
    • Radio Chart (Current)
    • Radio Chart (Archives)
    • No. 1 Challenge Coin
    • Songwriter Chart (Current)
    • Songwriter Chart (Archives)
  • REVIEWS
  • MY STORY
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Newsletter (Current)
    • SIGN UP (FREE!)
    • Newsletter (Archives)
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • STORE
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

MusicRowPics: Jacob Davis Brings Soulful Swagger To Debut Single

April 5, 2017/by Jessica Nicholson

Shreveport, Louisiana native Jacob Davis fell in love with the Baton Rouge culture and music while studying environmental science and geology at LSU, and he’s bringing that soulful swagger into his debut album for Black River Entertainment.

“I’m obviously putting that degree to good use,” he quipped. “I had always played music and grew up with all different styles. The culture, the music, it’s infectious.”

Though Davis had taken up guitar at age 15 and performed during college, he didn’t take the direct route to Nashville. Instead he took a job working on an oil rig, for a Texas-based oil company.

“I knew about two weeks in that I’d made a mistake,” Davis recalls.

The gig was lucrative, and his parents requested he stick with it for a year, reasoning that if he still wanted to quit after a year, he could leave and go to Nashville.

“A year to the day, I quit. I moved to Nashville six years ago.”

Davis began co-writing, eventually finding his way into writing rooms or on the road with songwriters and artists including Forest Glen Whitehead and Kelsea Ballerini.

“She’s such a star but she had a lot of my old demos and she liked my songs and voice. She’s just a music fan in general. I started opening shows for her,” recalled Davis. One of those opening gigs at Joe’s Bar in Chicago earned the interest of former Black River General Manager Greg McCarn and current Sr. VP, Radio Promotion Mike Wilson.

“I had 20 minutes to open and I didn’t play a single cover,” said Davis. “They asked why, and I said, ‘I only have 20 minutes. I don’t have time to play somebody else’s songs.’”

In 2016, Davis signed a publishing deal with Black River Publishing. One month later, he was signed as an artist to Black River Entertainment.

His debut single, “What I Wanna Be” was written with Forest Glen Whitehead and Adam Hambrick.

“It’s about a guy who is telling someone that he’s crazy about what he wants to be,” said Davis. “There’s a line in the song that goes, ‘Put some pancakes on your plate.’ It’s probably one of my favorite lines I’ve ever written, because you remember it.”

During his visit to MusicRow, Davis also performed acoustic versions of tracks “Back Me Up” and “James Brown,” a signature song that he infuses with horns, backup singers, and a soulful New Orleans style on his upcoming album.

“It’s been a dream to make this record. We took some risks with production, like a falsetto part that I had never done before, or a rapid-fire lyric in the chorus I had never done before.”

Davis’ ultimate goal is to make music that is not only memorable, but enduring.

“In country music, the genre is already broad and continues to broaden. When you’ve got everybody from Sam Hunt to William Michael Morgan, there is a lot of space there that can get filled up. A lot of new acts coming out, so if you are a newcomer, you better come with something different, because it’s easy to get lost. And when you look back at the songs you remember from certain eras, it’s always the music that was different for the time. That’s what I want to do.”

Jacob Davis with MusicRow staffers.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Jessica Nicholson
Jessica Nicholson
Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at [email protected].
Jessica Nicholson
Latest posts by Jessica Nicholson (see all)
  • CMA Honors Robert Deaton With Chairman’s Award - December 4, 2020
  • Nashville Symphony, Nashville Musicians Association Reach Agreement - December 4, 2020
  • Zach Williams’ “Chain Breaker” Is Most-Added On ‘MusicRow’ CountryBreakout Radio Chart - December 4, 2020
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://musicrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/JacobDavis.jpg 380 570 Jessica Nicholson https://musicrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MusicRow-header-logo-Mar19B.png Jessica Nicholson2017-04-05 16:47:532017-04-05 16:47:53MusicRowPics: Jacob Davis Brings Soulful Swagger To Debut Single
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

RECENT NEWS

  • New IRS Rule Affects Concert Ticket Resellers September 29, 2023
  • Neil Medley Shares His Stories On Debut Project, ‘South End Kid’ September 29, 2023
  • Worldwide Stages Announces Investment Opportunity In Its Production Campus September 29, 2023
  • In Pictures: Coastal Country Jam Closes Summer With Star-Studded Lineup September 29, 2023
  • First-Ever ‘People’s Choice Country Awards’ Airs Live From Nashville [Recap] September 29, 2023
  • Fifth Annual Charlie Daniels Patriot Awards Raises $400K For U.S. Military Vets September 29, 2023
  • Morgan Wallen Adds Multiple Nights In Several Markets For 2024 Tour September 29, 2023
  • Brittney Spencer Slates Debut Album ‘My Stupid Life’ For January September 29, 2023
  • Dylan Scott Earns MusicRow No. 1 With ‘Can’t Have Mine’ September 29, 2023
  • Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle Among Winners At 34th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards September 29, 2023
  • 2023 People’s Choice Country Awards Winners – Complete List September 29, 2023
  • DISClaimer Single Reviews: The Late Jimmy Buffett ‘Encourages Optimism & Hope’ September 28, 2023
  • Industry Ink: Wasserman Music, Merle Travis, Equal Access, More September 28, 2023
  • Shania Twain’s Multi-Platinum ‘Greatest Hits’ Makes Vinyl Debut In November September 28, 2023
  • IBMA Honors 2023 Industry Awards Recipients September 28, 2023

Like Us on Facebook

Follow Us on Twitter

Tweets by MusicRow
© 2023 Music Row Enterprises, LLC – All rights reserved.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Scroll to top