Denver – Swallow Hill Music Association is pleased to welcome back multi-award winning singer/songwriter John William Davis for a performance with Nick Annis on Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m.

Davis began learning guitar at the age of 12 from South Georgia bluesman Enman Cobb. The three most important lessons Enman taught Davis, Davis says, were his first chord (E9); that there isn't a right or wrong way to play the instrument; and this bit of advice: "Careful, Johnny, you white folks has a tenacee to work the guitar. But you s'pose to play the guitar. Don't you be working it." Throughout his early days in music, he joined up with several groups in his college days in South Georgia. Eventually he landed some interesting stints, from being a craps and 21 dealer in Reno and then as an Elvis impersonator in L.A. From there he went on to Phoenix to play lead guitar for the Paul Morris Band for a couple of years before going back to Georgia to teach Shakespeare, laying his guitar to rest momentarily, for a decade.

In recent times Davis picked his guitar back up and made himself into a singer/songwriter with a plethora of accolades: 2005 South Florida Folk Festival New Folk winner, 2004 Kerrville New Folk winner, finalist for the Wildflower Songwriting Competition in 2003, and winner of the 2002 Swallow Hill Songwriting Competition. His debut album, Dreams of the Lost Tribe (partially recorded at Swallow Hill's Sawtelle Studio), received much critical acclaim and was one of only nine albums to earn a perfect-10 rating from Folkwax reviewers. One of the album cuts, "Okefenokee," was runner-up for the Best Roots Song of 2004 at the Just Plain Folks music awards ceremony in L.A.. In addition, Davis was chosen as a judge for the 2005 Kerrville New Folk competition. His new album, Revelation Land, is continuing the buzz: "With his new CD, Revelation Land, John William Davis proves that the musical talents and lyrical observations so readily available on Dreams of the Lost Tribe are no fluke. If anything ... Revelation Land is even better than Dreams." - Dean Poling, GA/FLA News Service

For tickets and workshop registration visit www.swallowhillmusic.org or call (303) 777-1003. Discounts are available for Swallow Hill members.

About Swallow Hill Music Association:
Helping people make music since 1979 years, Swallow Hill Music Association is one of the largest institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for folk, roots and acoustic music. With more than 2,100 members—some of whom are also volunteers—Swallow Hill provides a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. Three concert venues house more than 150 performances a year, featuring some of the world's great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent. The Julie Davis Music School at Swallow Hill provides a valuable and affordable extra-curricular educational resource to the community with more than 60 music instructors involved in more than 240 adult classes and 70 children's classes annually.

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