Davy Williamson Drops EP

With a thrashing guitar and a heart full of pain and passion, Davy Williamson strikes with his newest album Down by the Fire. It’s an impressive solo debut from an artist that’s been associated with plenty of acts in the past who’s ready to take a shot in the spotlight and I’d say justifiably so. It’s a headbanging emotionally charged release that I’m sure will strike a chord with many a young listener especially because it still retains that kind of hometown homegrown rock feeling. It’s professionally mixed and mastered and the songs instrumentally sound incredible, but it doesn’t feel prepackaged or still or artificial.

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You feel a human being behind every riff, drum, and bass line.  It’s also just a kick-ass rock album that harkens back to the days of old and the classics from Aerosmith to more contemporaries like Lincoln Park and if you’re a fan of those and things in between you’ll probably get a lot out of this listen. It’s thorny and edgy and angry but doesn’t show up self-conscious or like it’s trying too hard. Williamson has complete tonal control over everything and his vocal performance is aggressive but confident. It’s the kind of release you’ll come back to a lot, A) because of how quickly it flies by, and B) because the songs are just really good. Williamson wrote these songs himself and you get the sense that they came from an incredibly personal place filled with anger, pathos, heartbreak and it leaves one wondering what the full narrative is that got him to this point artistically.

Being in a band is always hard especially with the clash of egos and the age of “creative difference” and Williamson has a very distinct voice that I can easily see him wanting to operate uninhibited and in total creative control and the results are for the most part, very successful. I wasn’t a fan of *every* song in the EP as some of them kind of got a little monotonous, but I did find myself getting invested very easily again thanks to the instrumentals or a clever phrase or word choice and that’s a great thing to be able to do as far as other general audiences might go. It’s very clear Williamson has tons of talents and he’s not wasting it, but I wanna hear him step out of this comfort zone and get a little more experimental, maybe dabble into other rock subsets. With that said, this is a fantastic debut and it’s certain to hook people considering he’s already had success internationally with two #1 songs on the iTunes rock section.

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He currently resides in the Virgin Islands where he performs but here’s hoping as live music acts continue to reopen, he’ll come back to the states to grace us with his presence. I’d give this one a strong 8 out of 10 and if you’re looking for some new exciting voices in rock this is exactly the place you should look to.

Michael Rand