Praised for poignant storytelling, compelling stage presence and sincere delivery, Tanya is gaining momentum as an artist to look out for. She's been performing spoken word poetry since 2000, with appearances at festivals on both the West and East Coast (Under the Volcanoe, San Francisco's Radical Performance Festival, Halifax International Writer's Festival). She placed 3rd in the 2005 National CBC Poetry Face-off and has since had several pieces air nationally on CBC Radio 1. Also in 2005, she began putting into practice her long term goal of fusing music with poetry, as well as emerging with her songwriting, her well-developed guitar style and her creativity as a multi-instrumentalist. She recorded an album. The disc, entitled Make a List, was released in April 2006 and is a diverse collection of poetry and song. Using her abilities on various instruments and her passion for all things eclectic, she was able to make a dynamic recording unique to both music and poetry.
Tanya's live performance is as diverse as her album, as she moves between instruments and genres, taking the stage solo or with a band. Her music can be loosely-defined as alt-folk with some pop influence; her poetry is rhythmic and engaging, with well-crafted language that remains simple and easily understood.
With the ability and the repertoire to play solo or with accompanying musicians; to fill a set with poems, songs or a colorful combination; and with experience accompanying musical peers on stage to lay poetry over top of their music, Tanya is surely one of the most dynamic and original artists emerging today. She has shared stages with such diverse performers as Jenn Grant, Catherine MacLellan and Kinnie Starr.
Gorgeous Morning
Recorded over the wintry months in Halifax at Echo Chamber Audio with renowned engineer Charles Austin, Gorgeous Morning portrays Davis through a paradigm of bravery and vulnerability. With an instinctual ear and the vernacular of a poet, she makes wordy music built on unique arrangements that fend off genre and highlight both musicianship and passion.
~Thesaurus, ~Gorgeous Morning, ~ Trusty Umbrella, ~Art, ~The River Runs, ~Baby Lion, ~Fortress, ~Firebug, ~Where The Ocean Meets The Greenery, ~Us This Day, ~Do More
Tanya Davis is a poet. She is a musician and a singer-songwriter and she fuses these elements together in a refreshing matrimony of language and sound, defying convention, side-stepping genre, and captivating audiences in the process.
The audio track "How To Be Alone" that went viral on You Tube (1.3 million hits and counting) by Tanya Davis is now available for download from Sandbar Music.
