On her new studio album “Graceland Way,” the New York state singer, songwriter and harp player Mikaela Davis uses the personal to reach the universal. Through 10 tracks that push the boundaries of indie folk — she and her collaborators call it “canyon country” — love, loss and the wonders of nature are explored.
“Of course, all of these songs are pulled from stories in my life that I relate to personally, but I am hoping that other people can relate to them in their life in the same way that I could relate to it in my life,” Davis says during a recent Zoom chat. “Everybody goes through obstacles in their lives. But if you think about it, at the end of the day, we’re all connected and we all have these similar struggles that that we can relate to.”
“Graceland Way,” out April 24, is an easy listen, but its sonic palette is broad — it ranges from “Junk Love,” which would be at home in a pop starlet’s catalog, with its flirty voiceovers, to “Wrong Way,” which channels Bonnie Raitt. Not surprising, considering Davis’ omnivorous musical appetite: classically trained on piano and harp, raised on ’90s artists like Fiona Apple and Vanessa Carlton and a direct line to two legendary members of the Grateful Dead.
Davis cowrote the album — music and lyrics — with her longtime partner John Lee Shannon, a member of Circles Around the Sun and Grateful Shred, two groups she has contributed to. They recorded in Glendale, Calif., at the studio of Dan Horne, a member of both bands. The mystical imagery and gentle psychedelia on the album is a product of where it was tracked.
“It definitely had an influence. Most of the songs were written and recorded at Dan’s studio in California, so it was in the air. California is magical and it’s the most beautiful state, and being surrounded by the canyons and the desert and going outside at night to take a break and hearing the coyotes howl. … And there’s an owl that lives near Dan’s house, a couple owls that were very prominent that would make their appearance quite often to say hello. Just being surrounded by all that was very inspiring.
“And that’s how we came up with the term canyon country to describe this record.”
Davis, who lives in the Hudson Valley, invited a who’s who of indie-folk for guest slots on the album, including Madison Cunningham, Neal Francis, Karly Hartzman (Wednesday) and James Felice (Felice Brothers).
She had known Cunningham for a while but hadn’t met the standout California singer and guitarist until it was time to record her parts.
“I really wanted the duet part in ‘Rose Colored Glasses’ to be a prominent, recognizable voice,” Davis says. “And so she came over to Dan’s house, and she actually came over the day she announced her album, which, of course, I had no idea that was going to happen that day. I mean, I’m a huge fan of Madison and I was just thinking, oh my God, I can’t believe she’s coming over later to sing on my song. This is crazy, right? So that was pretty cool. And she’s awesome. She’s so funny and an amazing singer. As soon as she went in the booth and started singing, me, Dan and John were like, yes, this is perfect.”
An unexpected guest is Tim Heidecker, one-half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric, who is also a musician. Davis says Heidecker, who lives in Glendale, “has been a buddy for a minute.”
“I had been posting some cryptic stories about how I’m working on the album, and Tim said, ‘Hey, I want to come over and listen to what you’re working on.’ So he did, and I didn’t really have the intention of having him play on anything, but he made a comment saying, ‘Oh, what am I going to play on your album? I gotta say that I’m on this album.’ So I said, ‘OK, if you’re serious, actually, that would be amazing.’
“I mentioned that Madison Cunningham had just come in a week prior to sing on a song, and he happened to have just met her recently and discovered her music and was a big fan. So I decided, OK, ‘Rose Colored Glasses’ is the perfect song for you to sing on, because I already had this idea that I wanted him to be in my music video as the rodeo clown and I was trying to muster up the courage to ask him about that when he was over. But once he was on the song and sang on it, it was a no-brainer.”
Another prominent musician who played a role on “Graceland Way” is the indie folkster Cass McCombs. Horne and McCombs are part of the supergroup The Skiffle Players, and Horne has produced some of McCombs’ solo material. The latter’s track on “Graceland Way,” “Mizmoon,” fits so well there that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t written by Davis and Shannon.
“When I was starting to write this record, I mentioned it would be really cool to write a song with Cass,” says Davis. “So Dan set up a hang and me and Dan and Cass and John hung out and just played some music together. We didn’t end up finishing any songs. But a week or so later, Cass sent two or three unreleased songs, demos recorded of some songs for me to choose from if I wanted to record one of them on my album, and ‘Mizmoon’ was one of them. And as soon as I heard it, I knew that was the one that that would be perfect on the album. I love it, it’s so dark and it’s cool on the harp, because you think of the harp as this beautiful instrument, beautiful, bubbly glissando, you know, fairies, but on ‘Mizmoon’ it’s really dark and unexpected. And I’m playing in this really low register.”
“Graceland Way” will be released on Kill Rock Stars, the Pacific Northwest label known for Riot Grrl acts like Bikini Kill, as well as the beloved, late Elliott Smith. Davis says, “I totally weaseled my way in with Kill Rock Stars,” but she has a history with the label. She was invited to contribute to label insider Mary Lord’s version of the Smith tune “Some Song” for a compilation and later got a call from Chris Funk of The Decemberists to work on his Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack on Kill Rock Stars.
Davis and her band will perform at Goose’s Viva El Gonzo in Mexico on May 7 along with My Morning Jacket, Cory Wong and jam band favorites Eggy and Kitchen Dwellers. She’ll play a set in her hometown of Rochester’s Lilac Festival on May 13, then tour the west coast before hitting Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia on July 17 and TV Eye in Ridgewood, Queens, the next night.
The harpist first came to the attention of many listeners when she sat in with Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros in 2018, opening the door for further collaborations in the Grateful Dead universe, including as a sometime member of Phil Lesh and Friends. Since Lesh’s passing in 2024, she has also collaborated with his son Grahame. Shannon and Horne’s Circles Around the Sun has roots in the Dead world, and Grateful Shred, not surprisingly, is a band that covers the Dead.
“I never expected myself to end up in that world, but I’m sure glad I did because the fans are are so great,” Davis says. “They come out and support and they just love music. They’re just music lovers and love anything you do. I mean, once you’re in with the Grateful Dead, everyone in that community just embraces you.
“Looking back at playing with Bob and Phil literally feels like, was that a dream, you know? Because it was, in the grand scheme of life, it was a pretty short amount of time that I was involved with those guys playing with them. You know, I played with Bob in 2018, and then I think the first time I played with Phil was in 2022 maybe, but it’s just the best music ever. Grateful Dead is my favorite band. Learning that song book, learning those songs is life-changing. The music is really deep and I’m happy to be a part of that world.”
Photo by Bobbi Rich
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