Aug 25, 2019

FRANKIE DAVIES - "I'm getting in touch with my emotions, I'm not creating these characters anymore."

Spending the wettest day of August this year on her sister’s farm in the East of the Island, native singer-songwriter Frankie Davies lives and breathes the country life. Ahead of her second appearance at the bi-annual street party the Halkett Hoedown, Frankie’s country guitar playing and sweet pop vocals will bless the stage in the form of her latest album, ‘Wherever I Go’. Released in late 2018, her debut LP has had an abundance of local and international support;

I’ve had some lovely responses. It’s so heart warming that people are actually listening, because sometimes when you create something and you put your whole heart into it you can’t be quite sure if people are going to listen. It’s really nice people are still buying it, especially because it was such a long recording process, so it felt like a weight off my shoulders now that everyone can hear it.

Written and recorded in London, Liverpool, and Nashville, did each location bring anything different to the process?

Nashville was definitely more slick, we did only one day of recording as well as the prerecording too. Everything happened so quickly there because for all the musicians it’s what they do every single day so they know what they’re doing. I think with Liverpool and London we had a more creative flare and space with it so we could go ‘right, let’s try this,’ and that’s what I want to go more towards, just trying different things out and see what works. The only thing with using Nashville musicians that everyone else uses is that it can be quite hard to make it sound original. I definitely think my favourite time was in Nashville when we recorded the lap steel guitar and we had one day with this guy called Scottie Sanders and he played for Dolly Parton and the Dixie Chicks, I was sat in a day dream the whole day just listening to him create these beautiful sounds.

After playing the world’s most prestigious country festivals C2C: Country to Country and CMA, how does being back home in Jersey compare to those experiences?

I prefer smaller gigs, you can see everyone’s faces and feed off of them. I really like that as a performer. Playing at home is lovely, you’ve got people you’ve seen come to your gigs for 10 years when you started out, so it’s nice to see familiar faces.

As there’s never really been a massive music scene in Jersey, what inspired you to pursue this career path?

I’ve always loved music from a really young age, was always the show off performer. When I was eight I wanted to join all the music, acting, and dancing classes for three hours on a Saturday morning. When I was 11 I started playing guitar, which I wanted to do to accompany my song writing and singing, which fed from there. I changed my mind about doing different things but always reverted back to wanting to be a singer.

Have you encountered any setbacks trying to get to where you are now, and how did you deal with them?

I definitely learnt to be a bit more cautious in terms of getting too excited about things. You know, in the early years someone would promise something and you’d get so hyped up and it wouldn’t happen. Maybe I’m so much more cynical now, but I think it’s more about protecting myself now. Everything’s a learning curve, I went through those experiences and from those experiences I’ve got songs. I’m a song writer, I write about everything that happens.

You mentioned in an interview with ‘Stories Behind the Songs’ that you wrote ‘High on Love’ while in an imaginative mood. Are most of your songs narratives facts or fiction?

I used to (write about fictitious narratives,) but as I’m getting older I’m experiencing more things. I think I’m getting more in touch with my emotions, and not creating these characters anymore where it used to be a real big theme four or five years ago. It was fun for me to imagine all of these things. I will keep doing that maybe every five or six songs, just pull something out of thin air. For me now, it’s important to write and sing right from my heart and all that cheesey stuff. That’s what I’m trying to do now, get it all out, if I’m feeling horrible, if I’m feeling happy, just get it out.

‘The Sweetest Sound,’ seems to be about being on stage and having the crowd sing your songs back to you, how does that feel?

That’s one part of it, but there’s three parts to that song. First part is my partner coming back from travelling, that moment of him saying hello, that’s a lovely sound to me. The second part was my nieces, they’re gorgeous and I don’t spend enough time with them because I’m always away. So when I’m here I just can’t get enough, hearing my niece say my name for the first time, for me, is the sweetest sound. It wasn’t necessarily hearing my own songs sung, but getting these crazy chills whenever I’m watching an artist perform and everyone’s singing their lyrics. I just tingle all over and I start to well up and start crying and I can’t contain it. Basically that song is about those three distinct moments in my life that make it all better. Every concert I go to now I just can’t... I saw Lissie the other month with my mum and I just love her music, and every single song I just couldn’t stop crying.

Where’s your favourite place that you’ve gigged in so far?

I have two favourites. I supported Maddie and Tae in Glasgow at St Lukes, it’s an old church where it was just something about that night and that audience. I hadn’t put it in the set because I’d only just written ‘The Sweetest Sound,’ and I thought I’d teach them the chorus and see how they go with it. They were just singing so loud that I was properly crying at the end of the song, it was such a special moment. For a support act to get that sort of feedback is wonderful, it makes you feel so happy and in my head I think ‘this is the reason I’m doing it.’ It’s hard and it’s tough but at the end of the day, that’s the reason why.

I had a similar moment when I was playing in my other home town in Penzance in Cornwall, I had all my friends there, it was the same sort of thing but in a different sort of way. I think it was ‘Shivers’ we were doing and everyone was shouting ‘woah!’

Who are you looking forward to seeing most at Halkett Hoedown this year?

I think the Dolly Parton tribute, I’ve heard about her. It’ll be a good night.

Has 'Whispering' Bob Harris’ support from being on his Apple Tree sessions helped you in any way?

Just before I released the album I sent him a press copy saying I wanted to show him the album before it came out, and he replied saying he was really proud and that it’s fantastic. He really supports the little ones as well as the larger acts, he gave my song ‘Open Road’ a play on Radio 2, so that was amazing. He’s always been there for me, in 2014 he took me and two other artists to Nashville with him for BBC Introducing and we went for the Americana Fest and it was so cool. He didn’t have to take me, could’ve picked someone else so his support has been unreal.

What are your next steps?

I’m going to release a little special song that I’m currently listening to difference mixes of, from my current album. ‘Asking for a Friend’ was the last song I wrote for the album, and I don’t feel like I gave it enough time and was the only song I felt needed to have a bit more special treatment. Because it’s such an important song, I’ve rerecorded it. I want to release another album but it’s just so costly as an independent artist. I’ve had great support from Jersey Arts Trust, now Arts House Jersey, and they were incredible with helping me finish my album.

If you could play anywhere in the world, where would you play?

There are so many beautiful places. I want to say The Royal Albert Hall, it’s one of those incredible venues, so breathtaking. If we’re going for a US one I’d love to play Grand Ole Opry, one day.

You can catch Davies’ set at the Halkett Hoedown Jersey on Sunday 25th August, or listen to her new album ‘Wherever I Go,’ on Spotify or YouTube, as well as her Facebook page.