I am a musician who used to do the music scene thing full time in my 20’s, but now works full time in public education and political organizing while moonlighting in music as much as time allows.  This website is mostly focused on music, rather than on stuff I do as a teacher for Durham Public Schools and Treasurer of the Durham Association of Educators.

Musically, I’m most known for having released a bunch of records in the ’90s as half of a duo called the Folk Implosion that I co-founded with Lou Barlow in 1993. Folk Implosion songs have been featured on various film soundtracks, (Kids, Adaptation,) soundtrack albums, (American Beauty,) and TV shows, (The People vs. OJ Simpson, NFL on Fox, 20/20, The Today Show, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet.)  I left Folk Implosion in 2000, but we reunited in 2021, released a new single called Feel It If You Feel It, and just announced that we have signed to Joyful Noise Recordings, who have reissued our first record on cassette.  We are working on a full length album that we hope will come out in the fall of 2023.  We are looking at starting to play live shows again in the spring of next year as well.

I have also released numerous solo projects since 1993, albeit with a long dry spell between 1997’s Blue Mountains and 2013’s Spare Parts.  Most of my solo releases have appeared through the Shrimper label, but I also release things now on my own label, Inundation Records.  You can find most of my solo material on my Bandcamp site, under the nickname jdsoundbite, which I use online to offset the ubiquity of my given name.  I work with a rotating backing band here in North Carolina called the Cicadas, as well as, more recently, musicians from the indie pop band Lake.

These two collaborations are currently running on parallel tracks. I’m nearing completion of an LP I’ve been working on since 2018 with the Cicadas about the 19th century colonization of Turtle Island, now known as the United States.  I’m also reviewing mixes of a full length album that I recorded at Unknown Studio in Anacortes, WA last summer with Lake.  You can check out more details about the progress of these and other projects on the Upcoming Projects page of this website.  You can also offer financial support and hear monthly playlists of works-in-progress by becoming a subscriber at my Bandcamp website.  $5 a month gets you all the digital goods, and $10 a month gets you a long list physical goods like records, t shirts, posters etc.

The Shows and Events page of the site has been dormant due to the pandemic, but I plan to return to touring in 2023 during spring breaks and summer vacations. I also play scattered & sporadic weekend shows during the school year when I am mostly busy with teaching and organizing.

I was born in Brattleboro, VT, grew up in Cambridge MA, and spent most of my life there until I moved to Durham NC in August of 2013.  I have practiced Vipassana or Insight meditation since 1986, as adopted by westerners from Thai and Burmese traditions, as well as in a few different schools of Zen that came to this country from Vietnam and Korea.  I identify as a 21st century socialist and want capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormative gender roles, and the rule of the corporate duopoly to die a swift death – but realize those are multigenerational projects that require patience.

Follow posts from this blog and other stuff:

Twitter: @JDsoundbite

Instagram: instagram.com/jdsoundbite

Tumblr: jdsoundbite.tumblr.com

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If you want to send me a message, the best way to reach me is through my Facebook page.  I also accept friend requests on my personal page from people if they have enough mutual friends for me to be able to tell they know me apart from the million other JD’s out there.  That’s where people respond the most to news I put out there of what I’m up to musically.  If you don’t use FB you can reach me at jd@inundationrecords.com – unless you’re a web marketer.

Metta,

John H. Davis