BY IAN ASPINALL
I first came across Frankie Davies relatively early on in my country music concert attending life. She was on tour with Maddie and Tae and the people I was with said we should definitely ensure we made it in for the support act, Frankie Davies. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather. One of the best voices I’d ever heard and I was hooked. I was lucky enough to see her a few times the following year, always in relatively small intimate settings (one was a small surfwear shop in Covent Garden) but she also graced the stage at Nashville Meets London and toured with Austin Jenckes.
Life and marriage slowed the release of music but we were treated to a couple of individual songs and a Christmas EP in 2020. More time away from music followed the birth of her son.
But Frankie is back with Never Used to Cry and it is beautiful. Written in Nashville while feeling, in her own words, homesick and full of doubt, it’s a beautiful song about the alternative to being away working – should I be at home with the kids, watching them grow, what will I miss being away.
It’s a sense of missing out or doubt that many people will feel, especially parents, for a huge number of reasons and this song encapsulates it better than anything I’ve ever heard. It also acts to stand up to those feelings of doubt – they are valid, but so is what I’m doing. Recorded in St Paul’s Institute in London with her band, Frankie’s voice shines through over a melodic and uncomplex tune and the emotions are there for us all to hear.
The song is released today (14th February) and available wherever you get your music. Also available is Frankie’s debut EP, ‘Dancing All Night‘, debut album ‘Wherever I Go‘, her 2020 releases ‘Asking for a Friend‘, ‘If I Didn’t Love You‘ and ‘Home This Year‘.
Frankie is also doing a small tour, visiting Jersey on March 28th at the Blue Note Bar, Penzance on April 14th in The Acorn and London on May 8th at The Grace.
Tickets available from her website, www.frankiedavies.co.uk.
She is also on social media @frankiedavies on Instagram and Frankie Davies Music on Facebook