A Low-Tech Bio


John Drake Davis

Several years ago now, on an unexpectedly serendipitous night at the legendary Dayton, Ohio venue, Canal Street Tavern, I become imbibed with my initial encounter of four very diverse people, who had joined together as a band. This they had done even a few years previous to my cognizance of them, out of the mutual love of expression of their souls, personalities and music. Creative people tend to have this propensity. In this case though, four more diverse individuals could not be imagined as a cohesive and prolific unit. Dispite the individual dichotomy, banded together, the synergy produced is a success! (A refreshing one too!) Musically, this group helps sooth the roar of a cacophonous world, with their distinctive melodies and harmonies, delivered from their souls. …and so, Low Tech Riff Raff and I hit it off that night and the friendship has continued to the present; sharing gigs, parties and even this: recording. A pleasure! - Eric E. Loy Oct 6, 2003


It's all about the songs. That's what kept the group together for over 14 years. Otherwise, we might have killed each other years ago. John, who produces new song ideas more often than most people change underwear, is a martinet about rhythm structure. Sharon, she of the butterscotch voice, obsesses about getting the lyrics just right. Folly, the elfin folkie, secretly wants to be a glam-rocker. Tony, who listens to everything, spends much of his time as a translator between other band members. It's probably those differences that produce the fire and passion in the songwriting process. When things are flowing, the creation process resembles nothing so much as having fiery 4-way sex and delivering the baby on the same night. We've produced a lot of those babies over the years. Good thing they don't eat too much.
Photo by Michael J. Makuch © 2000

John Drake Davis 		We've got our own approach to learning how to play. We simply write stuff that's too technically difficult for us to perform properly. Then we learn how to play it. Then we repeat. Over and over again, the songs have dragged us into doing what we never could before. We make plans for what we're going to work on next. It never happens that way. The songs are in control.
What does the band sound like? You tell us. Over at GarageBand, reviewers have compared our sound to Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills & Nash, America, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Heart, Peter Paul & Mary, Chris DeBurgh, The Carpenters, Bob Dylan, Phish, and The Grateful Dead. We know, some of those don't even sound like they belong in the same paragraph. That was based on just 4 of our songs. The comparisons would have been even more varied if they heard more of our songs. We call what we do "retro-new" folk fusion, and it's always changing. Photo by Michael J. Makuch © 2000

Album cover by John Drake Davis © 2000

Our fourth album and second CD is called Solitary Mind. You can listen to sample mp3s from Solitary Mind by clicking here.

Our first album, produced by a local musician, was called All There Is, and sold out within a year. Also sold out are our self-produced second album, Voice in the Mirror, and our 3rd, Strange Companions.

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John Drake Davis