thismusic has been a reel LIFESAVERtm    
I was in a horrible childbirth painz (notasbadaspeoplesayohwaityeahitis) when some local smartizz  put this disc in my music machine .  IT maid everything go fastandthebabyjustslippedrightout I NAMED THE BABY ROY AFTER THE CD'S SINGER!! can you b-e-l-i-e-v-e IT?                      satan can
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GREY TOWN by Roy Davis is lodged solidly in familiar Americana territory. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I have been unkind enough elsewhere to suggest that a good deal of Americana releases sound as if somebody in Texas had been slapping five hundred different labels onto the same CD. A lot of the genre sounds the same; there is just no getting around it. While Davis mines all of the expected influences (Townes Van Zandt on “In The End,” Neil Young on “Hard Decline” and “Rusty Heart, Pretty Eyes”, and Richard Buckner damn near all over the place), what sets GREY TOWN apart from its seemingly endless class of peers is Davis’ ability to straddle the fine line between detail and emotion. 

Many of Davis’ peers tend to load up on the arrangements, partly to keep friends employed, partly to mask a lack of talent. Davis keeps things simple for the most part, guitar and piano and drums, with his unpolished but genuine vocals in the forefront. Someone associated with this project --- I'll assume it’s Davis --- also paid some attention to track order, so that the tempo varies as the listener travels from first song to last. In fact, the more I listen to GREY TOWN the more I am put in the mind of Neil Young’s AFTER THE GOLD RUSH. I'm not saying that GREY TOWN is on a level with that classic, but it puts me in the same frame of mind, aurally and professionally if not topically. There is a level of professionalism here that many projects lack these days; GREY TOWN has ten tracks on it, as opposed to twelve or fourteen, but I can about guarantee that a few years from now you'll be able to play any one of them, from “Unkind” to “In The End” to We'll Always Be,” and you'll play the track from beginning to end and still feel something. 

Davis may not have the label deal and the budget but he has the songs and the chops, and, perhaps most importantly, a keen sense of when to start and stop. This one’s going into my Sunday morning heavy rotation stack. -Joe Hartlaub, music-reviewer.com
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Who’s Roy Davis? Only my current favorite musician of 2007. Granted we’re only on day one, but still, wait until you hear this guy. Alt.country delivered with a lonesome sounding voice that is singed with roots rock and folk. “If I sleep until the afternoon, then I’ll be up to see the glowing moon. Cause it’s a hard, a hard decline…” sings Davis. Jangly guitar, some bass, the occasional harmonica and some unobtrusive percussion is the context that Davis surrounds his music in. His lyrics are striking and honest and his voice climbs rises right at the right moments. His website, www.Roydavismusic.com, revealed that this dude is but 21 years old. I’m impressed. Also, his links page included one to my long lost buddy, Graham Isaacson. I’ve been wondering what’s been up with Graham and was pleased as punch to read he’s getting ready to release a follow-up record to Nine Days on the Sinister Muse label. More on that after I track down Graham and have a little chat in the coming weeks. But getting back to Roy Davis. I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb by saying he’ll be one to keep an eye on. From what I’ve heard of his Grey Town record, he could be another breakout artist these parts. -Aimsel Ponti
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Davis writes simple tales of broken-hearts and big dreams. While he sound is closer to Ryan Adams or Clem Snide's Eef Barzelay, Davis cites The Rolling Stones, Adams, The Drive-By Truckers and Nirvana as major influences. You can hear that in his emotional honesty of his songs. The album stays on a low musical country/folk simmer, forcing you to feel the words and his emotional turmoil. Just 21, Davis showcases a songwriting talent and a weariness beyond his years. -- Jeff Weiss, Miles of Music (self-released)
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