Living Is Trying

To Love At All

Summer Nightwind is the fourth studio album by songwriter and recording artist John Davey. It was composed in a flurry in the months preceding the birth of his daughter. “Late Bloomer” is the first single. It establishes the paradoxical relationship between the life of the imagination and the embodied experience of day-to-day routine, a theme which plays throughout the album. The title track is a series of vignettes compiled as an homage to the American West and the memory of Davey’s brother Amos. “Summer Nightwind” depicts A Truck, A Horse, A Man and is the closing paragraph of the adolescent chapter of life.
	“AM Angel” and “Jesus is a Friend (of the Working Man)” are set to the rhythm of manual labor and the natural movement of people across vast stretches of the American landscape. They return Davey to his gospel roots, a common denominator of country music and rock ‘n roll. 
	The juxtaposition of light-and-dark, give-and-take of a long, intimate relationship plays out in “Laugh Track” and “Sacred Heart”. Both are accompanied by the promise that the narrator will continue to be a presence to be contended with. 
	The final set of companion songs on Summer Nightwind are the character sketches “Sad Prince” and “Employee of the Month” which examine heroes and anti-heroes in two dramatic coming-of-age sequences. These are set to the backdrop of a Midwestern indie rock aesthetic so familiar to John Davey’s generation of seekers and wanderers. 
“Our Ladies Anno Domini” is the jubilant and tongue-in-cheek bookend of the record which enters with laughter and a half-cocked appreciation into the spirit of the Feminine. The only song on Summer Nightwind that precedes Davey’s migration from Tennessee and Indiana, this recursive refrain gratifies and sets the stage for a second listen. 
 The sound of Summer Nightwind was conceived by Davey’s longtime collaboration with drummer Bud Clowers and his baritone guitar. The album was produced by John Davey and  Ryan Staples at Dead River Sound in Marquette, Michigan and elevated by performances from Mark Wayne (pedal steel guitar), Luke Arquette (bass and electric guitar), Liam Joyce (drums), and Pete Gummerson (organ). It was mastered by indie rock royalty TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado) in Massachusetts.

Summer Nightwind

Our Ladies Anno Domini

Sacred Heart

Employee Of The Month

Laugh Track

Jesus Is A Friend (of The Working Man)

Sad Prince

Late Bloomer

AM Angel

All Johnny ever wanted to do 
Was to fire one up for a round or two
Carry on like a rocket blue 
For all the girls to cheer and boo

Living the dream in Tennessee 
Bar crawl, jukebox, Opry
Stop to take a photograph or three  
With Emmylou Harris at the Jamboree

Cause he’s a high flyin’, death defyin’ 
Operator at the end of the line
He’s a tastemaker, the Great Caretaker 
A legend in his mind
Not a minute sooner 
He’s a late bloomer 
Everything is gonna fit just fine

Well he shaved his face when he wanted to 
He’s got flawless timing in 2/2
Still he did what he thought he ought to 
Chasing straight white lines and singing true

Well she fired ‘em up, they gathered two by two  
In the afternoon, in the golden hue
He did his sure-shot damndest to tame the shrew 
She finally said “I love you” like she wanted to

Cause he’s a high flyin, death defyin  
Operator at the end of the line
He’s a shit stirrer, no ma’am, yes sirrer  
A legend in his time
Not a minute sooner 
He’s a late bloomer 
Everything is gonna fit just fine

Well the fireworks got rained out 
So open up your mouth 
And take the medicine you thought  
You’d never hear about

Not a minute sooner 
He’s a late bloomer  
Everything is gonna fit just fine
He’s a trapeze flyin, no fear of dyin 
Operator at the end of the line
He’s a mountain climber 
A deep sea diver 
Everything is gonna fit just fine
He’s a Blackjack Davey
No sir, not maybe
Everything is gonna fit just fine
Not a minute sooner 
He’s a late bloomer 
Everything is gonna fit just fine

Daydreams run on Pennzoil 
Bend and break your back from toil
Busted bronco, busted road 
Chomp the bit and pull the load

He snorts and stamps his own tornado 
Rides it back to Colorado
Devil on his heels again
Friend of danger, friend of wind

High Plains Stallion 
Gold Medallion
Run until you reach that shining sea

I heard he made himself a nuisance  
Ran himself to old Las Cruces
Heart run through like the Rio Grande 
God damned him to damn The Man

The coyote on the old bridge cryin’ 
Stopped to hear him flyin’ by him
Summer Nightwind Rodeo 
Clear the fence and steal the show

High Plains Stallion 
So bold and valiant
Something up his nose and on his shoulder

He’s the High Plains Stallion 
Loves a challenge
Run until you reach that shining sea

Daydreams run on Pennzoil 
Bend, don’t break, your back from toil

Spent

Melancholy keys
Minor chords and tones
Once so unfamiliar
But I learned them all by rote

On the day we met
When I first heard your voice
You stole the joy
From in between the notes

You came in without warning
With your mournful kind of tunes
I gave you all my love songs
You gave me all your blues

And by the second chorus
You'd captured my heart
And we both knew
You'd break it from the start

Sad songs make me cry
And your voice sings them soft
I begged you don't flood my eyes
When that was your plan from the start

You left me by the bridge
And you left me to my own
Devices and what's worse
Is my vices are the songs

You robbed them of all comfort
Now sorrowful melodies
Is all the joy you'll ever sing to me

Sad songs make me cry
Your voice sings them soft
I begged you don't flood my eyes
When that was your plan from the start

Sad songs make me cry
Some days I still sing them songs
I begged you don't flood my eyes
When that was your plan from the start

Written by Bethany Anne Johnson
Recorded and mixed by John Davey

Sad Songs

Lower Tiers

Like an unwashed, uncut geode John Davey and the boys crack open this rough, gritty rock to find a sparkly colorful interior. Like every geode, this baby knows it's special on the inside.

John Davey - acoustic guitar, vocals 
Jon “Jonny Negaunee” Letts - electric bass 
Raymond Little - electric guitar, effects 
Dennis “Bud” Clowers - drums 

Tracked and Engineered by Raymond Little and Bud Clowers @ the Letts family camp up past Harlow Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Mixed by Steffen Yazvac @ Steffen Yazvac Audio in Minneapolis, MN 
Mastered by Matt Whatley @ Combover Mastering in Fort Worth, TX

Brave

The first single from Toss Your Javelin, "Kings, Gods, Fools" dives into Man as the Man dives into a clear, deep pond in a clearing in the forest to retrieve what some say cannot exist. 

In the cool by the glass pool
Where you shed your clothes
On the stony shore there
Where the green moss grows
That's where you dreamt and chose

And you dove down for a secret
It took a couple tries
And when you resurfaced
Even despite the light
You were dissatisfied

You were utilizing tools
Are we kings or gods or fools?

Still I watched you watch me watching you
As you drank so resolute
Down to the dregs and truth
How the magic worked so fast
Heavy heart and pleasant mask

We walked for miles with your ashes
In an urn and a strongbox tight
And a list of your demands
Up to the House of Light
Where all would be made right

And with a flick of his deft wrist
He let the pictures go
And they floated upward
To where the warm storm blows
Through the kaleidoscope

So you planned and saved and stored
Was your body slave or lord?

Still I watched you watch me watching you
As you built so resolute
Your picture paper loot
How the magic worked so fast
Now you know you can't go back

You found your future in the water
Unknown to your son and your daughters
You were utilizing tools

Toss Your Javelin

Kings, Gods, Fools

John Davey - acoustic guitar, vocals
Shane Leonard - drums, percussion, mellotron
Josh Gallagher - piano 
Jeremy Boettcher - bass

Lower Tiers 
Words and Music: John Isaac Davey 

I watched my heroes fall
I saw them crumble
One and all
And a chorus of "no's" 
From a gallery of those
Who will never see so straight
Or stand so tall

All the guardian angels
The blanket forts and fake hells
All told me to sacrifice myself
On a funeral pyre
With my body on fire
I sat straight up and cast off all the spells

With the gates open wide
And my lover in sight
I called her name out loud
In the middle of the night
And the dawn it breaks
And the morning's warm embrace
Illuminates my lover's face

My sisters went very South and West
And I went East
We're all still fighting off 
Our demons in our sleep
We cascade to the coasts
Where we mostly can boast
That we are living better than well

But Maria, when are you gonna settle down?
I see your pictures and the question
Practically answers itself
When the back car seats 
On lower tiers that we have known for years
Have finally had their way with all of us 

I was terrified and dry and wide eyed
All sentimental
I rubbed the fog with my sleeve
Off of the early morning window
And the dawn it breaks
And the morning's warm embrace
Illuminates my lover's face
It illuminates my future face

I wonder what it is that motivates the creatures of the night
To circle ‘round the high-walled garden
Looking for a way inside

The smell of babies’ breath, I guess
The supple fruit of all good flesh
The crumbling cookie, flaxseed cake
The brick and fire which we bake with
The hearty fruit on sturdy vine
With love as sweet as yesterday’s wine

The boiling pot, the mother’s cub
A warning shot fired up above
As old as hills, a fear instilled
A caution sign, a chilly spine

The coal-black coat, the beady eyes
The slither and the scale and size
They’ll warn you once, they’ll tell you twice
Entreat you to take their advice
They’ll treat you bad, they’ll treat you nice
They’ll turn your blood as cold as ice

Hard times make strong men
Strong men make good times
Good times make soft men
Soft men make hard, hard times

Hard times make strong men
Strong men make good times
Good times make soft men
Soft men make good wine
Good wine make good time
Good times make hard, hard times

Hard Times, Strong Men

John Davey: acoustic guitar, vocals
Shane Leonard: drums, percussion, bgv, toy piano, violin, electric guitar
Jeremy Boettcher: upright bass, electric bass

John Davey: acoustic guitar, vocals, bgv, electric guitar
Shane Leonard: drums
Jeremy Boettcher: electric bass
Josh Gallagher: ace tone

Sugarmask

John Davey: acoustic guitar, vocals
Shane Leonard: mellotron
Jeremy Boettcher: electric bass
Josh Gallagher: piano

Burning & Bright

John Davey: 12 string acoustic guitar, vocals
Shane Leonard: drums, pocket piano, organ
Jeremy Boettcher: upright bass
Josh Gallagher: piano

John Davey

Popular tracks