Press Release
Source: Mark Pucci Media
Acclaimed singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Daniel Davidson announces a September 30th release date for his new album, Stranger, on Cleveland-based Blue Arrow Records. Stranger is Davidson’s 12th album, and was produced by his wife Gretchen Gonzales and Warren Defever. Davidson also plays with Gonzales, Defever and Joey Mazzola (Detroit Cobras) in the band Seedsmen to the World, who released their debut album in 2022.
Ethan Daniel Davidson will celebrate the release of Stranger with a special performance at Third Man in Detroit on Thursday, September 29, 7-10 pm. Info HERE.
“Ethan Daniel Davidson is that kind of legendary folk singer who supposedly died off a generation or two ago.” – Magnet; “Ethan Daniel Davidson is some sort of one man Calexico.” – Detroit Metro Times; “Troubadour Ethan Daniel Davidson isn’t very easy to describe or get a hold on. Sounding like a cross between Willie Nelson and Arlo Guthrie, with splashes of John Prine, his style is born of folk music with rock and jazz injections. His forte is certainly his lyrics, where he’ll add a few extra words to twist a phrase.” – Village Voice
Ethan Daniel Davidson is one of Detroit’s finest singer songwriters; lyrically and musically expressive. His golden voice is woven through lyrics, haunted and confessional, like a man seeking penance. His talent is highlighted by collaborations with some of Detroit’s best musicians and troubadours. It is apparent his world travels have informed his music and his style. His songs are vivid memories of experiences: rooms that smell of old books, smoke from oil lamps, and bohemian escapades. All the fears, beliefs, lies, secrets and desires accumulated, observed and turned into emotional verse that blurs the line between personal and universal. Davidson creates an intimacy and connection with his audience that is deepened by the timeless nature of his storytelling.
Stranger features Ethan Daniel Davidson – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, national steel guitar, cat-gut banjo, moog, Hammond organ, harmonium; Gretchen Gonzales – electric guitar, electric sitar, vocals; Warren Defever – harmonium, tanpura; Joey Mazzola – electric guitar; Jordan Schug – bass guitar; Scott Michalski – drums; Steve Nistor – drums; Pete Ballard – pedal steel; Julie Banjamin Peterhans – vocals; and Kara Meister – vocals.
“A lot comes from being in a dark place, not that anything particularly bad happened… more like my consciousness floating over the dark chaotic ocean inside me and trying to figure out what’s in there,“ explains Davidson about the new album’s genesis. ”Anyone who takes a look might see some scary stuff, but we need to expose it to the light and repair it in some sort of way before committing some sort of violence against another being. The real way to be ‘woke’ is to look inside and identify the dark places rather than focusing on things outside of yourself.”
“I’ve ridden on a lot of trains,” admits Davidson, a native Michigander. “To jump on one, you try to be sure you can see each bolt. Once they all start to blend together, the train is going too fast to jump on. I’m too old to jump on trains now, but I can still write about them.”
On Stranger, his most poignant ballad is the quivering, shuddering “My Train Got Lost.” The title comes from an anthem by a Minnesota troubadour who has written dozens of songs about the coming and going of coachmen, station masters, tramps walking along the rails, conductors, steam whistles, railroad men, railroad gin and railroad tracks.
The folk and country blues of Bob Dylan, Reverend Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt also inform his music. Other tracks of recorded sound on “Stranger” owe debts to a wide range of musical influences: Public Image Ltd. (the post-punk “Even Bad Seeds”), The Band (the prophetic “There was a Famine in the House of Bread”) and Echo & The Bunnymen (the existential “My Jail”).
Of the folk music staple, “Dink’s Song,” Davidson says, “It’s pretty self-explanatory: woman deserted by her lover when she needs him the most. She lost her child, so she’s going home on the #9 train. At some point we’re all going home on the #9.”
About Ethan Daniel Davidson
Ethan is the son of businessman William “Bill” Davidson, the former owner of the Detroit Pistons basketball team, and was raised in Bloomfield, Michigan. While attending high school, he was involved in a school band, which sparked an early interest in music.
After graduating college, Davidson traveled around the country as a bass player in various East Coast bands, and later moved to Alaska in the 1990s, where he first began writing music. While living in Alaska, he toured the United States on his “Six Year Tour,” during which he played over 900 shows. His first six albums were produced by Al Sutton on Times Beach Records.
Davidson’s wife, Gretchen Gonzales Davidson (formerly of the band Slumber Party), and Warren Defever (of His Name Is Alive) produced four of Davidson’s records, including Silvertooth (2012) and Drawnigh (2015).
Davidson’s 2017 album, Crows, was his debut release for Blue Arrow Records, which was followed by Come Down Lonesome in 2020.
Ethan and Gretchen co-produced the documentary, Call Me Bill: The William Davidson Story, which headlined the 2019 Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish Film Festival. The 90-minute film follows the life of William Davidson and highlights his business philosophies. Davidson also produced the soundtrack for the documentary.
Davidson’s song, “Till the Light Comes Shining In” was featured in Season One, Episode 7 of the Spectrum Original television show, Joe Pickett; and in 2021 Davidson’s first book, These Are the Developments of the Human, was published.
Davidson’s support of the arts is manifested in his service as Chair for the Detroit Opera, and as a board member at the Motown Museum. He’s also Treasurer and Chairman of the Grants Committee for the William Davidson Foundation, which was founded by his father.
