Travel as much as you can. I travel often, and I don’t mean just for shows. I feel like that’s a big issue with our entire world — people stay in their little bubble, and it’s easy when you’re in that little bubble to become very tribal and not as open as you should be to others. When you travel, it allows you to have experiences that you just couldn’t get in that little bubble, and it changes your musical canvas. You have a lot more space on your canvas, with different shades of paint.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrick Davis at the 2022 Songwriters In Paradise (SIP) festival in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Patrick is a singer, storyteller and showman who for over the past decade has made a rather impressive musical mark.
Tennessee-born, South Carolina-raised and Nashville-based, Patrick Davis received his calling in his teenage years, inheriting his talent from his father, Rusty Davis, a gifted guitar player and instructor. Patrick picked up his craft quickly, becoming a deft and intuitive guitar player and writing his first fully developed songs at age 17. He was first driven to put pen to paper by the same motivation as many of his musical heroes: to win a girl’s affection.
Patrick Davis is also founder of Songwriters In Paradise (SIP), a uniquely crafted singer-songwriter festival designed to bring together the world’s top songwriting and performing talent in the most exclusive and awe-inspiring destinations for a priceless musical experience, such as Healdsburg, Bahamas; Napa Valley, California; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Singer Bob Marley famously stated, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Painless and free echoed the full sentiment at this music festival. Set on a backdrop of sea and sand at the Bahia Cabo Hotel SUR Beach House, the 4-night extravaganza was an entertaining and inventive array of raw and heartful talent. From the sultry sounds of Chris Stills, Levi Lowrey, Mark Bryan, and Tim Nicols, to the captivating storytelling of Patrick Davis, Lauren Jenkins, David Ryan Harris, and Kylie Sackley, each performance made you ponder a little deeper on the nature of love and community, When a song has a way of doing that, you cherish it no matter where life takes you.
Thank you for joining us in this interview series, Patrick. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
My family is very musical. My dad is a musician. My earliest memories back in South Carolina where I grew up are tied to music. I didn’t start playing music until I was 15 or 16, but when I did, I had this crazy encyclopedia of musical knowledge based on being around it all the time. My dad was always touring. He was a weekend warrior, and so music was always in my life.
When I got to college, I figured out that I like writing songs and then that took me to Nashville. There’s a Van Morrison album called Born to Sing: No Plan B, and that’s kind of what it is. It’s a labor of love, and I feel very fortunate to get to do what I’ve been doing for the past 30 years. I know what music brings goodness into the universe, not just in my life, but for every culture, every race, everywhere on the planet.
What are your “3 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
1. Never give up. It’s like the Jim Valvano quote, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”
2. Just because you’re not good at something, doesn’t mean that you can’t work at it. There’s a common misconception when we see the final result of something and don’t understand everything that went into that success story. A lot of times people will say that they were just born with that talent, and some people are, but you should never stop practicing. You can only get better.
3. Be good to people and surround yourself with those types of people because they are going to enrich your life and it’s going to pay dividends in the long run.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
My dad was always very influential.
Mark Bryan, lead guitarist from Hootie & the Blowfish who is actually here with us right now in Cabo has been very supportive. The Hootie guys were from Columbia, South Carolina, and I was from Camden, South Carolina, just 30 minutes away. They would come see me play bar gigs in the corner. Darius Rucker and those guys would say that I was pretty good but that I should start writing my own music because if all you’re going to do is cover songs then you’re always going to be the guy that does cover songs in the corner of a bar. They said that the only way to get there is to write your own music. So I always stand on a soapbox for Mark Bryan. I call him my older brother because he’s been a part of my life since the early days.
What are some of the most exciting projects you are working on now?
I have my new album Carolina When I Die coming out soon. I write for Warner Chappell Music, Inc. in Nashville which is a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group.
I tour with a very large band called Patrick Davis & His Midnight Choir. It’s a 12 piece band with background singers and horns. It’s similar to the music I grew up listening to — Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, Lyle Lovett, and Bruce Springsteen.
The Songwriters In Paradise (SIP) festivals that I produce are just magical. We have the next one coming up in April in Napa Valley, including Healdsburg in Sonoma, California in July. I’m working on putting together one in France as well.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. Can you please share your 5 Steps on “How To Become A Successful Heart-centered Songwriter.”
1. Travel as much as you can. I travel often, and I don’t mean just for shows. I feel like that’s a big issue with our entire world — people stay in their little bubble, and it’s easy when you’re in that little bubble to become very tribal and not as open as you should be to others. When you travel, it allows you to have experiences that you just couldn’t get in that little bubble, and it changes your musical canvas. You have a lot more space on your canvas, with different shades of paint.
2. Surround yourself with people that are not just better musicians or better songwriters or better singers, but people who you aspire to be like. Maybe some of that will rub off on you and your writing.
3. Practice, practice, practice. This is nothing new, but it’s 100% accurate. There’s just no substitute for it.
4. Go mimic. I have a young songwriter in South Carolina that I work with and told him to write me a Bruce Springsteen song. It’s like the Italian painters in the Renaissance era. The apprentices would have to study and copy what their master did.
You can still be trying to write an Ed Sheeran song, but if you do it enough, it will eventually be yours. It’s like practice, and then steal from your heroes. I think everybody’s done that. There’s no musician or writer or artist that hasn’t. Bob Dylan would probably say he was trying to sound like Woody Guthrie. Now there’s a whole generation of younger kids that are trying to sound like John Mayer.
5. Forgive yourself. You got to f*ck up. You can be hard on yourself and that’s probably a good quality to have, but you also have to be willing to understand that we all make mistakes. A lot of people were raised by wolves, and it’s not their fault. A lot of the things we carry around have nothing to do with us, they were given to us by our tribe. It’s not ours to carry, and we’re trying to get away and get that out of our system. We just need to not only be kind to other people, but kind to ourselves. It’s often a hard lesson to learn.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Perseverance pays off. It’s a long road. Do anything to last as long as you can while building your arsenal, and sharpening your abilities. You get told “no” a thousand times in this business, but it takes just one “yes.” Don’t get me wrong, there’s some people that are so incredibly gifted when they’re 19 years old, and are the biggest thing in the world, but for most of us that is not the case. You can’t give up. I tell any songwriter, don’t believe that it’s going to be an overnight success. Sometimes their 15 minutes of fame comes 15 years later. I literally wrote probably 250 to 300 songs to get to 10 good ones. I would tell any songwriters to just put your nose to the grindstone and try to last as long as you can.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?
Mark Twain said it best, “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” That’s very powerful because I find that in relationships, in anything in my business, in anything in my life, confrontation of any kind is usually uncomfortable for people. You’ll negate a lot of trouble in your life if you are just honest. It’s not always the easiest thing in the world to do, but you’ll save yourself a lot of problems. Honesty always works.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’ve been very fortunate and try to put in a charity component to all my Songwriters In Paradise (SIP) festivals. I try my best, which was inspired by my younger brother’s passing, almost 15 years ago. He died drinking and driving and was by himself. It was a heartbreaking situation. But a lot of good came out of that. You always look for the positive in anything. In lieu of flowers at the funeral, we decided to start a charity foundation.
I think recognizing the gifts that we have as people is important. Not everyone has my platform or my skill set. All my Songwriters In Paradise (SIP) crew are my musical friends and family. If you have something that you can offer to the universe and you don’t offer it up, you’re actually hurting the universe because we’re all in this shit together. And that’s basically what I say all the time and it’s true. I want to continue to do that as long as I can for the rest of my days, because it just makes you feel good.
How can our readers follow your work online?
You can find out more about me at patrickdavismusic.com and on Instagram @patrickdavismusic. You can also visit our Songwriters In Paradise website for upcoming festivals.
This was very meaningful, Patrick, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!