On July 7th 21 artists will come together at the Cadillac Ranch in order to raise money to help find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Among the artists scheduled to perform are Bridgette Tatum, Shawn Meyer, Gabe Garcia, Tommy Tutone, Amanda Williams, Memarie Gayle, Megan Linville, Rich Fagan, Larry Cordle, Spady, Kristi Manna, Kara Clark, Lila James, Diana Paul, Brittany Lee, David Brendan Hunt, Hoss Howard, Melissa Duvall, (host) Warren Silvers, and Crisp & Davis.
I recently contacted Kelly Ray Davis of Crisp & Davis and asked him to participate in a short interview about the event – and his own career.
How did you find out about the MUSIC FOR A CURE – SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY BENEFIT?
Warren Silvers (the host) called me up on the phone and ask if Rodney and I wanted to be part of this benefit and before he could get finished with his sentence I interrupted him and said sign us up. I met Warren a few years back on myspace and he and I have been keeping in touch with each others work ever since. So when he decided to put this benefit together, Rodney and I was one of the acts that popped in his head to invite and we are very honored to be a part of something so great!
You’re coming all the way to Nashville from West Virginia to participate in the show – did you have any second thoughts about accepting the invitation?
Second thoughts? No way! Rodney and I are all about helping out and giving back. God blessed us with the greatest talent in the world * which is music *. Rodney and I both believe firmly that if you don’t use your talents for the right reasons they will soon enough be taken away! Like I told Warren just the other day, if it is just Crisp & Davis and Warren Silvers on the bill and we only draw a crowd of 3 people at the show we will be there Lord willing! My great friend and adviser Paul King from Nashville Hype ask us to do a benefit a little over a year ago for tornado victims and we was all over it with out question! We worked our butts off getting press, radio, etc… involved in that benefit that Paul and the Red Cross put on and I can honestly say I am proud that we was apart of the Supercell Benefit.
So, you’ve been to Nashville before, have you made any inroads with your music?
Oh yes we have been involved in the Nashville scene for a few years now. Me personally have made tons of great friends and hooked up with some of the biggest names in the business. I now call most of them my buds. I have had a few small cuts and a small writers deal for a while so I’m no stranger to Nashville by no means, I just don’t wear my welcome out there. I’m still not sure if that is a good or a bad thing yet! (laughing)
How would you describe your music?
Appalachian country rock ‘n’ roll is the first thing that comes to mind when ask that question.
Do you have a big following in West Virginia?
Oh yes Crisp & Davis has a huge following in the tri-state area of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Hometown fans are the best fans that any artist could ever have and we love them all. If we book a show you can bet your butt that the venue will be wall to wall with people! Maybe even some folks in the parking lot that can’t get in because the show sells out! Now that’s great fans huh?
Have you had any radio exposure?
I don’t think there has been a week go by that I haven’t heard Crisp & Davis on the radio since we started this project 3 years ago. We usually stay on the local charts. I’ve not looked at them in a while but I know we was at #3 a few weeks ago with the song “Without You”.
How often do you make it to Nashville?
We make the trip to Nashville often. Here lately we have been cutting in the studio in Kentucky so we haven’t done much of anything but that. We don’t really play the Nashville scene much. Of course we have done the Broadway gigs and a few others but that’s about it. When we come to Nashville it’s usually for a writing session, meetings with a label or a publishers. We want to do more gigs there but we just haven’t found a good booking agent that can get us in good venues like 12th and Porter, Douglas Corner, etc….. in other words the places that we want to play – but hey, we are not that picky, we’ll play about anywhere we can.
What do you hope MUSIC FOR A CURE – SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY BENEFIT will accomplish?
Awareness first and foremost. We want people to be aware that this is a serious disease and it effects thousands of people worldwide. If we can do just a small part in raising awareness, that would be a blessing in it’s self. I pray that all goes well and more benefits for this disease are in the near future. They are very close to finding a cure for this disease and I would like to look back and say that God blessed me to be a part of helping out in some small way. I can tell anyone reading this that Crisp & Davis is going to be a part of this benefit for the right reasons. We won’t be selling cd’s, t-shirts, or any merchandise at the show. I wish that we could and give it all to the cause but unfortunately our budget will not allow us to do so but we will have our hearts in the right place and I hope that our small portion of the show helps out.
