Not The Davidson Brothers. In their latest release All You Need Is Music the band seemingly take full advantage of the opportunity to play together, with a simple sound that is nothing but feel good country vibes – it’s a genuine joy to witness live.
The Davidson Brothershave recently grown apart geographically with Lachlan based in Melbourne and Hamish out in Bendigo – but as always, the prospect of making music is the glue that holds them together. “My brother and I talk every day,” says vocalist Lachlan Davidson, “We’ve been going hard at the music world the last ten years at least, so it’s constant communication all the time and we’re always trying to encourage each other.”
That encouragement and support is perhaps the largest appeal of The Davidson Brothers. Take the video for latest single Take A Little Drive – here, we’re witness to a truly joyful spectacle of a band taking to the road just to play together. The result of that relaxed relationship is a simple, straightforward bluegrass classic, no frills, no fuss. “We went in with no concept of the feel or the sound,’ Davidson says. “We jammed in the studio with eight people until it felt right and when they found their little part they could contribute.
“We’re trying to capture nothing that hasn’t really been done before but a basic arrangement in a song. We’re letting it take a life of its own and making a blank statement of what it’s about. We spend a lot of time jamming off stage. As kids, our grandma was Scottish, and every time we caught up with them they’d have the instruments out – that’s what we came from. We realised people enjoy getting to see that.”
Indeed, that impromptu nature often results in some mind blowing jamming sessions and interestingly enough, when The Davidson Brothers take to Nashville, Tennessee, homeland of country music, it’s country’s founding fathers who are often first to jump in to jam with the band. “When we go out there, we play little honkytonk bars and every time we go, we end up on stage sitting with the band,” says Davidson.
“My brother freaked them out one night, walking on stage and grabbing a fiddle. The fiddle player was freaking out until he heard him play and then it was a huge jam fest from there.
“We communicate without talking – we’ll go to jamming sessions and it might be two hours before you say anything to each other – that’s where our love for music comes from and we try and recreate that.”
Recording All You need Is Music in country’s heartland, it’s the Nashvillians who are the first to sing praises for the brothers’ Aussie spin on their beloved sound. “Because we come from a more bluegrass background it’s a more raw non-commercial type of country and it’s a little bit refreshing for the guys who come in to the session.
“Before we started writing the album, I’d been listening to a lot of older country from the ‘60s where music was cut better because we didn’t have the tech we do today. Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, those guys would write and record all year round, take the band and lay down a whole bunch of tracks in one go, which is similar to what we do.
“The energy you get when everyone’s playing, it creates and captures the essence of a live show. There’s a lot of improv in bluegrass, musicians will learn the songs but throw their own traits in – someone will hear it and go with them – playing a familiar song but putting their own twist on it at the time.”
By Anna Rose
