Album Notes

In his fourth studio album, Winter Midnight, Davis Jones has delivered a warm, eclectic journey of 11 songs that shoot straight for the soul. Davis collaborated with veteran Bay Area engineer and producer Matt Boudreau (Welcome Matt, The Samples, Austin Willacy), to record the album at the historic 1340 Mission Street studio designed in 1969 by renowned Coast Records engineer, Bill Putnam. The result is a fresh, dynamic collection of songs with a classic, organic sound. The music maintains the intimacy of his first three solo acoustic albums (From Ohio, The Heartland, Land of Stranded Dreams) though the formula has been expanded to include bass, drums, tenor saxophone and flute.

Davis, originally from Akron, Ohio, moved from San Francisco to Minneapolis in early 2007, to explore and soak in the creative atmosphere that inspired iconic musicians, like Prince and Bob Dylan. His time there was marked by a flurry of songwriting experimentation that would eventually become Winter Midnight.

The album is characterized by colorful songwriting, seasoned musicianship and vintage recording techniques. The lyrics speak of the deep feelings and observations that accompany new surroundings and personal growth. Overall, the songs fluidly convey a variety of emotions with the heartfelt sincerity of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon and the stripped down honesty of Mason Jennings’ Use Your Voice.

“The songs have a cozy melancholy feeling to them,” Davis says. “In a place with 6 months of harsh, extreme winter, artists in the Twin Cities spend a great deal of time in their homes or studios working on their projects. Then when spring comes, there’s a real excitement to show people what you’ve been working on. I think this album captures that.”