Ben Davis Jr. is a folk/rock musician whose music reflects his Southeast Ohio roots.
Although he quit choir at an early age, the future artist was still interested and very talented when it came to music, which quickly caught the public’s attention. At an eighth-grade school party, Davis sang in front of everyone with the karaoke machine, impressing the high school choir teacher. With his knowledge, the teacher changed Davis’s schedule and put him back in choir.
The 30-year-old says that growing up in various places around Ohio influenced his songs. He sings about the different areas that he lived in describing the areas as beautiful.
He says he enjoys hiking to make himself more familiar with the areas he lives in so he can be more in touch with not only himself but also with nature. He says other people who grew up in Ohio can relate to his songs as well.
This past year, the movie Holler licensed one of Davis’s song from his album Suthernahia for the official soundtrack. Holler, which was filmed in Chillicothe, Jackson, Bainbridge and Wellston, was created and produced a local Ohio woman who asked around about who she should get in contact with about music before eventually being led to Davis.
Suthernahia, pronounced “southern Ohio,” reflects what Southern Ohio and the lifestyle means to him. Davis’s goal for his latest album was to bring more attention to Southeast Ohio because there is so much music that comes from this area.
Out of all of Davis’s songs on Youtube, his song with the most views is from his first album which he released in 2016, Leaving Cincinnati. Leaving Cincinnati has the most views on Youtube and is also his longest song at seven minutes.
While Davis would love for performing and music to be his only way of income, it can be extremely hard due to some of his trips not being as successful as he would have hoped. When he traveled to Washington D.C., he made $5 and when he traveled to Colorado, he only made $30.
The artist’s biggest goal is to reach as many people he can with his music. He wants people to feel like themselves and hopefully after listening, deal with their emotions better, and see things in a different aspect that they had before.