Brittany Davis: 2024

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Brittany Davis is a quadruple-threat singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer — and they put all those skills to the test on their 26-track debut album, Image Issues.

As a blind artist, Davis says she hears music in ordinary sounds, and those everyday sonic influences are sprinkled throughout this intimate, vulnerable, and nuanced album.

The hour-long record is like a series of short stories, and is full of rich, poetic accounts from Davis’ personal life – both the struggles and the celebrations. Davis is truly a musical powerhouse, singing all the vocal parts, playing all the instruments, and writing all the songs on this album.

Their work is amplified by the support and mentorship of Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and the band’s longtime producer, Josh Evans. Evans co-produced Image Issues and Gossard released the record on his indie label, Loosegroove. For Davis, who talks openly and often about what it’s like to be without sight in a world where seeing is believing, this album serves as a sonic reflection where the listener is encouraged to engage their senses and see by listening.

Davis went to work in Studio A on the keyboard, making a simple acoustic set sound as lush as a full band. The musical tasting menu included “Lashes,” “So Fly,” and my personal favorite, “Goons.”

My conversation with Davis after the set was as interesting as the album is to listen to; every time we peeled back another layer of the onion, there was something new to uncover and explore.

[Recorded: 5/6/24; Engineered by Jim O'Hara and Erin Merriman; produced by Megan Offtermatt. Videographers: Lilja Cormack, Nikki Estelami, and Anna Fahy.]