Liam Davis is ‘Comin’ For Gold’

ALBANY – Known for his more elaborate production choices, Liam Davis is set to release a single, “Comin’ For Gold,” on Jan. 26^th, marking a noted change in direction for the artist. A blues-rock, greasy synth number, through and through, Davis efficiently and effectively shows how well-versed he is navigating this style, as the tune lively bounces around one chord from start to finish. The guitar flourishing in and out of the mix, especially on the solo, wrap this tune up in a neat little bow.

I had a chance to sit down with Liam this past week to discuss the new single and more. What follows is our conversation.

Lucas Garrett: Liam, it’s been a bit since we’ve talked last. How are you?

Liam Davis: Doing well. How are you?

LG: Doing well, thank you. I saw recently you’d left the Ten Most Wanted Band. You were doing that to free up time for your own work, right?

LD: Yeah. I think being attached to a cover band was draining my creativity. I didn’t feel that I had the time or energy to pursue my original stuff the way that I should be…

LG: Mhm.

LD: I had to leave and, to be honest, I don’t regret it one bit: I feel incredible. I’ve been making more music than I have in a long time, and music that I care about, and that is personal and dear to me.

LG: Speaking of new music, you have a new song coming out not that long from now, “Comin’ For Gold.” That’ll be out on Jan. 26^th. I had a chance to listen to it, and from what I heard, it seems to be a pretty big departure. This is much more rock and roll oriented in the style of Black Keys.

LD: Yes, absolutely.

LG: With “Gasoline” and other music I’ve heard from you, this new song is also a bit different in the fact it centers pretty heavily around one chord.

LD: Yeah!

LG: For you, how was it writing in this minimalist way?

LD: It was a very fun departure for me. The track itself was initially brought to me by a producer named Jay Panucci. He had crafted the instrumental, to a degree, and he sent it to me and said, “Hey, do you want to write lyrics for this and put guitar on it?” I said, “Yeah, that’s a great idea. I’d love to.”

In a half hour, I had the whole song crafted. There was something very freeing about playing over an instrumental that someone else had put together. It freed up my artistic ability to say, “Hey, I don’t have to be the Liam Davis that people know me as, I can go in this other direction.” I’ve always loved music in this style, I just tend to write things that are a little more elaborate and convoluted. This music is just as much home to me as “Make Me Cry,” “In My Dreams,” or “Gasoline.”

What I hope is that the listeners, when this comes out, will hear it and think “Hey, this is just a different side of Liam that we’re not used to.”

LG: Was it difficult for you, at any time during the writing process of the lyrics and guitar work, where you thought, “Wow, I wish this went somewhere else right now, but it doesn’t and I have to work within these guidelines?”

LD: No! It was very straightforward and, like I said, it was freeing where I felt really comfortable staying in the guidelines. A few people have said, “Where’s the bridge in this song?” Not everything needs a bridge: it feels whole as it is. Yes, it’s repetitious, but think of any song in the radio. As long as something isn’t getting old and doesn’t feel boring, it’s fine. On that same point, this is the shortest song I’ve ever written.

LG: It is definitely a lot more short and sweet than your others have been. Most of your music, in my opinion, has been album cuts, where “Comin’ For Gold” feels like a single on the radio.

LD: Absolutely. I’m ready to keep things a bit simpler. I want to strike gold with these singles. I’ve made an impact with the music I’ve already made, but I think there’s a lot of recognition that can come from putting out a track like this.

LG: Is it going to be on an album?

LD: I have plans for an EP or album at some point. For the time being, I’m going to stick to singles, and then compile them into an album. I’m not exactly sure.

LG: Are you going to play this out live? I don’t know if it’d go over in a singer-songwriter acoustic setting.

LD: Sure! Hahaha. I played it at the Mercury Lounge (New York City) about six months ago. We opened the show with this song. No one had heard it, and it was just my trio. We played this, and “In My Dreams,” and closed the show with “Gasoline.” We did a few Jimi Hendrix covers, and I gotta say: everything blended fine. If you arrange things in a certain way for live performance, I think you can get both points across: you can get the hard-rock thing across that catches your ear, and then once you get them in, [the crowd] will listen to something like “Gasoline.”

Would I play this at a songwriter circle on acoustic guitar? No, but not every song has to be that kind of song for me. That’s the road I’m going down.

LG: There’s also a lot of bass synth on this song, which is something else I haven’t heard from you.

LD: That’s also Jay Panucci. He’s a bass player; he plays a little bit of everything. I’m pretty sure that’s a Moog synthesizer, and I love it. He makes it sound so good, and it’s very reminiscent of The Black Keys.

LG: Extremely.

LD: Another thing that’s funny… when we sent it out to mastering, the mastering engineer of the track is Brian Lucey. He’s actually the mastering engineer for The Black Keys. He mastered El Camino. He does a lot – a ton of stuff. He’s done Lizzo… he’s mastered The Greatest Showman. He’s all over the place. I thought there’d be no one better to master the track than the guy who did The Black Keys.

LG: You also have a video that accompanies the song. Tell us a bit about that.

LD: A lot of my videos in the past have had a storyline and they were thematic and planned out. What I wanted for this song, was a performance video where I’m just out there playing. I think we really captured it: the whole concept of “Comin’ For Gold,” and being on this motivated journey for greatness. The whole video is me in Empire Plaza surrounded by massive buildings, looking up at the sky, and saying, “Hey, I’m here to take on the world.” I think it speaks for itself. I’m so happy with how it came out. The videographer is Taylor Jarvis. He’s done all three of my music videos that I’ve done so far. Taylor’s unbelievable. I’m very happy with how it came out.

LG: Is there anything else you’d like to elaborate on that I may have missed?

LD: I just want people to be ready for more music. People are going to see a lot more of me in Nashville in the coming months and years. I just did my first trip there a few weeks ago. I was able to play a few different venues, and I’ll be visiting a lot more in the near future.

LG: Best of luck with your new single, Liam!

LD: Lucas, thanks so much! Happy New Year.