Joshua Davis, a folk-rock musician and a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice,” will perform on Wednesday, May 4 at World Cafe Live at The Queen in Wilmington. Davis is touring to promote his two new singles, “Always Going to be Here” and “Let Me In.”
Davis will serve as the opening act for singer Paula Cole.
Following his first music release since the competition, Davis’s stop in Wilmington is part of a larger, 13-stop tour along the East Coast for most of May. The Detroit-based musician has been playing music for around 20 years professionally and usually likes to keep his tours to small, limited trips now that he has a family at home.
The opportunity to perform on “The Voice” was a big surprise for Davis, who was not familiar with the show until he received a phone call inviting him to be a contestant on Season 8 in 2014.
At first, Davis thought the call was a prank, but eventually he agreed to participate on a whim. He was on the brink of elimination once in Week 3 of the show, but saved himself with a performance of “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty.
On the show Davis ended up on Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine’s team, and the duo bonded over their musical backgrounds. “I think he realized that I already had my own sound—I knew what I was doing, I knew how to work with a band and I knew how to arrange tunes,” says Davis of Levine’s coaching. “So, in a lot of ways, he would kind of let me do my own thing and he would give advice when advice was needed. That seemed to work out for the best.”
He made it to the season finale, finishing third behind fellow participants Sawyer Fredericks and Meghan Linsey. The total “Voice” field included 48 contestants.
Davis is particularly proud of the music scene in his home state of Michigan, and says it has helped him become the musician he is now. “I think a lot of other music scenes are a little more cut-throat. People guard themselves a little tighter [and] feel like they have more to prove,” he says. “It’s hard to grow in an environment like that. I think that we’ve allowed each other to grow. It’s really a wonderful framework for a community-based music scene.”
Though he was nervous that crowds who found him through “The Voice” would only want to hear songs he performed on the show, Davis has found that his new fans have embraced his older catalogs as well. Davis has been putting out music since 2004, both by himself and as part of a band called “Steppin’ In It.”
Davis has never been to Delaware, but he has heard good things about World Cafe Live and is excited to play the venue. Life hasn’t changed much since his TV appearance, though he gets recognized more frequently and enjoys interacting with his fans. “People are sweet—they feel like they are a part of it, and they are,” says Davis. “They have part ownership; that’s just the career of an artist. I’m just grateful that I get to do what I love for a living, and I’m always happy to see people and say thanks.”
Doors open at 7 p.m.; show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door or on the World Cafe Live website.
