#182 Jason Davis
In this episode Jason Davis opens up about his experience as a songwriter and how he got a #1 Billboard charting song before he even realised that it was something maybe he should look at. Through a traumatic childhood and finding music as a way of expressing himself he is now passionate as a music manager helping develop artists into realising their full artistic potential. If you're looking for a record deal or management Jason gives some great advice for aspiring artists here.
Jason Davis has spent his entire two decade career in the music industry and worked with many worldwide stars, including Boyz ll Men, Sugar Ray, P. Diddy, Alabama, Lonestar, Dolly Parton, among many others. Davis is an entertainment industry executive with a broad range of titles including award winning songwriter, award winning author, independent record label president, executive TV producer, entertainment consultant, former Senior VP of A&R for Dolly Parton's management company CTK management and a serial entrepreneur. He has also secured record deal offers with CEO's from the largest music companies in the world, including Capitol Records, Sony, Interscope, Island / Def Jam, Epic, Atlantic, RCA, and J Records. Traveling between New York, London, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville, he built a reputation working with the top songwriters, producers, and recording artists in the entertainment industry on a global level.
Over the span of his career, he has not only pioneered new approaches to the signing and development of some of the world most successful recording artists and songwriters but he has consistently championed innovative business models and partnerships with a wide range of companies around the world. His career began as a songwriter when he was discovered by Grant Cunningham, the former VP of A&R for Sparrow Records. Davis went on to write a #1 Billboard hit, received several ASCAP songwriting and publishing awards, and was nominated for a Latin music award. Davis has also co-founded other cutting edge entertainment companies such as Radar Label Group (Jimmy Eat World, Plain White T's, Neon Trees, The Unlikely Candidates), One One 7, Noble Management, and Awaken Records. He is also co-president and partner of booking agency Higher Level Agency.
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Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to Songwriter Trysts with Jason Davis
Jason Davis: I'm Great. Thanks for having me.
Rae Leigh: Thanks for coming on. And you are a multitalented experienced person with songwriting, but also as a music industry businessman. So I'm going to try and get to as much of it as possible as we can in the time that we have. Why don't we start with you sharing a little bit about who you are and where you come from.
Jason Davis: I am I'm manager at this point in my career. I started out in The industry 20. The three to 24 years ago. I got into the industry as a songwriter and I'd written songs for about nine years as an amateur. And just little by little over the years, got good at it and, caught the attention of a record label. That label started landing, you know, putting my songs on records that's how it started.
Rae Leigh: would've felt great. How did you feel when that I'll set it to happen?
Jason Davis: It was unbelievable. Realize That You can get into the music industry. I, I, it's something that never crossed my mind. I was literally in home improvement, sales and writing songs as a hobby for most of my life. And Just one day, one of my songs traveled through people. people just copying it and giving it out to people. And it landed on the desk of a record label and they tracked me down and called me. So it, it literally changed my life.
Rae Leigh: that's beautiful. That's and it sounds like it happened so organically and naturally, did you have ambitions outside of music before that kind of swept you away?
Jason Davis: Not really, I was pretty aimless in life. I think, you know, the ambition I had before that happened was I was young and I was trying to become my dad. So I was just trying to please my dad and trying to figure out how to survive in life.
Rae Leigh: survive in life,
Jason Davis: Yeah, I, I would say I really was, not following my passions at that point in my life. so it was really life altering when It happened
Rae Leigh: So, you're trying to get the approval of your dad and becoming a man and an adult. And you, you already writing songs though. Where did music start for you? What was, what inspired that songwriting process?
Jason Davis: It was always music for me. I wrote my first song with my friend across the street when I was, five years old and he he actually still remembers the song.
Rae Leigh: Really
Jason Davis: yeah. So.
Rae Leigh: I love those ones.
Jason Davis: I just, I, it was just always What I like, like to do, for literally as long as I can remember, I just always wrote songs. So it was just always there.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, I love that might me too. You don't realize it at the time, but I think I realized that that fun that you have as a kid and the things that you come up with just to entertain yourself, you know, before I pads and all that sort of stuff, is such a training ground for being somewhat.
Jason Davis: Totally. Yeah. I think, me being creative was really important. I was actually having, having breakfast with what many, most, most people would consider the number one songwriter in Nashville, last week. And we're pretty good friends. And he was talking about, he has, him and his wife have a, a child and they're talking about teaching their child. How they're only giving their child toys that are not automatic. Like so no, like blinking toys, no automatic toys, no toys, that talk, no toys, that move. They're just giving them toy, giving their, their son toys that They have to use their imagination. That's what me and my friends did. I, that first song when I was five or six, me and my friend across the street, we, we wrote that song. We were in the woods and we were like staring over this little cliff top and we wrote a song together. So. You know, I think being inspired and nature. and creativity, It does start when you're a kid. And I think if you're a child and you're forced to be creative, and use your imagination, I think that's one of the biggest keys to, being able to write songs when you're older.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, the imagination. And just even to entertain yourself, you don't realize what you're doing at the time, but I mean, I've got a five-year-old currently and his imagination is incredible and it it's exciting to see it and witnesses. And it reminds me of what I was like at that age. And it's nice to, to appreciate. Being a child and the value that that children have. It's incredible. So you started writing songs just because it was a natural pull for you and you you were just naturally loved that. So you got signed and then what, what was the big change? Like did you instantly go, oh, okay. I'm going to do this full-time instead of what I was doing before.
Jason Davis: I think the change for me was so.
Rae Leigh: was my first.
Jason Davis: Song lands on a record. And I still wasn't thinking that this was what I was going to do professionally. And then I had a friend of mine about three months later, call me.
Rae Leigh: later.
Jason Davis: Out of nowhere. And tell me, you know, have you seen the the radio charts, you know, for, for where, you know, the type of music your song is? And, I said, no. And he goes, man, Your song is like almost that number one. And, I was like, are you serious? And, I was like, where is that? How do I find it? Like, what do I do? And he, he, sent it to me. And then at the end of that week, my song was number two. On the, it wasn't billboard back then, but it was the comparison to billboard back then. And it was like number two with a bullet, like, like it was going to be number one the week after. And so I realized, I was like, what, wait a second. Like, this is actually a hit song. And so I think from that, from that moment forward, I realized, okay, like I can do this. And that, that was the change.
Rae Leigh: Wow. That's some incredible validation to have to get before deciding that this is something that you're actually going to do. I mean, some songwriters do it their entire life out of passion and don't have that sort of success. And you, you had it too, before you actually decided that you wanted to do that. That's a beautiful story.
Jason Davis: well, God knew that I'm really slow and I needed, something very obvious.
Rae Leigh: I can relate to that, I do believe that you get what you pray for and you gotta be careful what you pray for sometimes because he answers your prayers better than, better than, you ask for sometimes. Okay. So, what, what's the progression from there? What what's been your passion and drive in the music industry when you decided to make it your career, and you've been doing it for a while, what's been your main guidance, which is.
Jason Davis: It's really two things. I transitioned after a year and a half from songwriting to management, I realized like, as a songwriter, I never loved to code. All the songs I ever landed on records, I wrote for the most part by myself. I felt like songwriting was hard to sustain long-term for me, but also, I dunno, like when there were successes or I would get into record labels to pitch songs, it was so incredible to me.
I just couldn't believe I was getting into record labels and things like that were happening for me, but I also think. Like I was on a beach vacation by myself. I felt like there was no one to share it with I felt like I was having all these unbelievable experiences and, nobody else really understood what was happening. for me. And to me, working With an artist was two opportunities. It was number one, I could help somebody else's dreams come true. Which really? excited me Because I knew what I knew, what, what was happening for me was changing my life so dramatically. It was changing my heart and my thoughts, and it was such a dramatic thing. happening to me.
And it was so unbelievable that I really wanted to try to, I was excited about the idea of trying to help that happen for somebody else and March somebody else, in a record labels or, you know, help somebody else And in that way,
Rae Leigh: in that.
Jason Davis: that. that was a driver. And then also just to, it's always been. like when I was 13 years old, I was going to, I was about to kill myself at 13 because I was in a very dysfunctional, very abusive situation. as a young boy. And I wanted to dive very badly. And my favorite band at the time gave me so much joy. that I literally, thought in my head when I was about to do it. That if I, if I killed myself, I would never list be able to listen to my favorite band again. And the idea of not being able to listen to my favorite band again was too much. For a 13 year olds. And I ended up.
Rae Leigh: I ended up.
Jason Davis: putting all my parents, you know, sleeping pills and things like that away. And I lived because of my love for an artist. And so, like, I know the power of music. I know how impactful it could be. I know that it could change a life. I know it could save a life. And so I'm very driven to try.
Make music or help people make music that has a chance to, you know, save a life like mine was. So I would say that those are
the two biggest drivers, like an artist life-changing when I can help them. And also their music reaching people and knowing that it's saving lives and touching people.
Rae Leigh: it's so like, I don't even know what to say to that. Like I'm trying not to cry right now, but like the, I literally say an intro of every podcast that music saved my life and for similar reasons, and it is, it's like the power of that. It was only when I realized. Just how powerful and how much it had saved me through very similar childhood that I realized that the ability to write music and to perform was a gift that I was keeping to myself.
And as soon as I had that epiphany, I was like, well, I'll have to record and release my music because same thing. It's like, what if the songs that I wrote that saved my life? Could save someone else. Well, you ha you have to do it right. Like you, when you, when you've got a heart for people and yeah. But it, it took me such a long time to realize that as well.
And self-value especially when I think for me through the psychology and everything I've done to kind of heal from the child abuse self-worth and self-value, and the ability to be loved is like, it's actually a really, really hard thing. And I can hear that when you're saying that you, you struggled to believe that you were even in these studios and record labels, like I totally get that anyone. Yeah. Experienced any sort of trauma or abuse as a child feel isolated and they don't feel the tend to not feel, as valuable or as the ability to be loved because when you're not protected as a child, how do you believe that anyone loves you? And so this is core value thing that gets instilled in us that is so hard to push past and learn. And yet there's and it's really hard to put vocabulary to it as well, especially at that age. And music just has a way to, to minister to, the soul without having to put any meaning behind it. And yeah. Incredible. So I just, oh, I love everything. You've just said you're now my new favorite person right now.
Jason Davis: You know, that's all so good.
Rae Leigh: So what happened with co-running? Cause I'm a bit of a fan of co-writing mainly because I love working with people and I'm a team player just like you. I think I get joy out of, you know, success breeds, success working with a team is way more, Exciting for me then, like you said, being on a vacation by yourself, it's boring.
What, happened with co-writing that was hard for you?
Jason Davis: For me, I think I'm very, I was always a little bit unusual as a writer, in the sense that like what I was writing, like it was always coming from such a. Intensely deep place for me. And it was coming from a place always of either longing or pain or, or, you know, you know, suffering in some way. So when I would be in the room, I, you know, obviously I did co-write with people, but it would bring out something different and I liked what it would bring out. It was more fun and it was more. You know,
Rae Leigh: you know,
Jason Davis: maybe a touch, more surface. But, and I would go deep in co-writes, but it wasn't the same level of depth and it wasn't as
intense. And I loved, you know, going as deep into my soul as possible when I would write. And I just was never able to get to that same level of depth, like when I would be in the room with.
Rae Leigh: yeah. it's such a hard thing. Isn't it? I, I can relate, like, I've probably got 50, 50 on my own and the surface ones and the surface ones like with co-writes. I probably liked them because that is when I tend to write more commercial stuff like that. I feel like everyone can relate to and it's more universal. It's really hard and it's not always easy to pull them down to be able to get that vulnerable artwork out. So I appreciate you sharing.
Jason Davis: Yeah, no great, great
Rae Leigh: With management, what are you doing now? Cause I see you've got 1, 1 7 and you, I mean, you've worked with some incredible people. And you've had some incredible experience. What would you say has been like your biggest lesson throughout the experiences and what's been a highlight of your career that you'd like to share with us?
Jason Davis: I think the biggest lessons are, It was very difficult for me to learn this. And it took me a long time and it was really God that helped me learn this, but just to always care more about the person.
that I'm talking to then myself, I'm always put somebody else before myself. And it's so opposite of what most people would say is smart or wise, but I've just seen that God has blessed that. And God has always protected me and God has always provided for me. Sure. Can I say I've lost some money here and there along the journey? Yes. but I've also made A lot of money on the journey. So I don't know, just being very open-handed trying to love people. First and care about them first and not seek myself in things and trust God that he has me. And then also too, like, I think
Rae Leigh: an easy one to Lynn.
Jason Davis: I'm sorry.
Rae Leigh: I said, that's not an easy one to, to learn it. That can be hard to let go of control. And, and to just trust that everything's going to be okay.
Jason Davis: Yeah. Like I have, I have two artists right now. That I developed and both are getting record deals and one artist I'm going to manage. And then the other artists, I'm like, there's this other manager that became interested. And I told the artists, I was like, you really can do whatever you want. Like you like I'm.
I'm. So for you, I'm so behind you, like, I'll help you through this situation. I told the manager, Hey, listen, you know, I'm so for you. I've just, I just try to, really like come from a place of like, my job is to love artists. My job is to love people. And, also to, you know, when it comes to finances and stuff I've learned along the way that,
Rae Leigh: that
Jason Davis: A lot of people in the music industry will, you know, I dunno, just either get greedy or they don't pay people on time or so I've always tried to be very disciplined about. Paying people very quickly and honoring people and I'm always doing what I say I'm going to do. So that's, those are, those are things I've tried to stick to.
Rae Leigh: and it's funny because in my experience, I had eight years of just corporate, like sales management, before going into the music industry. Like you learn a certain level of discipline with professionalism, as far as communication do what you're saying, you're going to do those sort of simple things so that people can trust that. And then they want to keep working with you and do business with you. Moving into the music industry. It's like that entire professional culture, I don't know about necessarily in America. Haven't done too much over there, but in australia, it takes a while to kind of find those people that tend to have. Integrity
Jason Davis: Yes.
Rae Leigh: that. Yeah. But when you find them, you hold onto them because you know that they're going to treat you right. Hopefully through everything. Like you said, you'd got to just do what you can and you can't control everything. Right.
Jason Davis: Yeah, I would say the first 10 years I was doing this, I was definitely in a sewer, you know, character wise, just everybody that surrounded me was not good and people were successful, but they just weren't.
You know, didn't have character and I'm very thankful today. For several years now, I've been surrounded by very, very high character people and it's, it sure does make life a lot easier.
Rae Leigh: life a lot easier. I'm glad you you've been through that. And that you've had that experience and you've come out the other side with an optimistic, positive attitude. Rather than I guess letting it turn you away from obviously what you're meant to be doing. out of everything, I mean, you said just love people and that's the most important thing I like to ask sometimes. Especially people like yourself, who've been doing it for so long. Get a time machine and go back in time and speak to yourself. You may, maybe when you're a teenager, potentially, you know, when you were that 13 year old kid who didn't want to live anymore, if you could go back and say one thing to that person, what would you say?
Jason Davis: I'd probably, get my 13 year old self a Bible, tell them to start reading it. I didn't open up I'm 47 now. I didn't open up a Bible until I was 33 years old. And, I can't speak for other people, but it. It radically changed my life in my heart. I'm still a very, very, very flawed and imperfect person. But you know, I would say this, I followed man my whole life because that's all I, knew to follow. and I felt like having a place where I could follow God. , , cause you know, you learn good things from man, but you also learn bad behavior from man too. And the nice thing about following what God says to do is you'll only learn good behavior. And, you start realizing that all
the bad behavior or the desire for bad behaviors coming from you, you know, which is, uh, you know, so I would say that that's what
Rae Leigh: Sometimes we can't see. The full picture or like the end result of our behavior, the full consequences of our actions. And if we can't see the full consequences of our actions, then there can be no deterrent from maybe choosing the wrong thing. Even like, you know, a young person, not exercising and drinking and smoking and having bad diet, you know, maybe doesn't fully, or can't see the consequences in 20 years, time of the impact that's gonna have on their health. You know, and then you see that person at the other side of it going, oh, I wish I hadn't have smoked so much or that sort of thing. I, I'm a big believer that, the Bible, and I I've always had this belief. My, my parents were pasta, so I did have, access to a Bible when I was a kid. And I think that saved my life because all I had was insight in cyclic. I didn't have Google, you know, I had encyclopedias that were out of date and had a Bible.
So, you know, when I was going through my traumatic experiences, even though I grew up in a Christian environment, it still was very toxic and there was a lot of, you know, it's still a lot of flawed human beings that weren't necessarily, you know, some of them using the Bible for their own greed and selfish ambition, but it's definitely lessons in there that for me, I just had to trust that what yeah. What it was saying was like, right. And I just, you know, like you said, it was good behavior and, it's inspired a lot of my songwriting actually. I figured it, everything in the Bible must be public domain, so it's okay to steal every now and then a line or two.
Jason Davis: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: But yeah, and, and anyone who's a, a bible advocate. If they listen to my music, they would see straight through. Where it's all coming from,
Jason Davis: That's really cool.
Rae Leigh: who's anyone who doesn't read the Bible, they're like, oh, that's really cool. How did you come up with that? And like, oh, you know,
Jason Davis: So cool.
Rae Leigh: three 16.
Yeah. But it is it's, I'm really glad that you cause I'm 33 now. And I can't imagine not like my life and what it would be like without the Bible. And to imagine someone who only just opened it up at 33. Was there someone that came into your life that gave it to you at that age?
Or
Jason Davis: I was in a business meeting actually, and a guy just asked me if i, if I knew who Jesus was. And I thought he was going to like ask me to hold the crystal Or something. Cause I had tried everything , he just started talking to me about the Bible and he started mentioning a few scriptures to me and I had never heard any of that before. I got very intrigued and went out and bought one for myself.
Rae Leigh: I mean, it's just a book, right? I mean, like that's, what if, if you don't have faith and stuff, it does seem to have so much power. And yet, yeah, I've met a lot of people who will read self-development books, but they won't touch a Bible and it's like, Well just maybe if you approach it in the same way as a self-development book and just be open-minded to these stories.
But yeah, no, it's interesting. I just, I've never had this conversation with anyone and I appreciate you allowing that because it is such a huge part of our culture. It's the number one selling book in the world it's never been surpassed and it continues to have great powerful teachings today, you know, versus when it was written. And yet it's something that, unless you know, that someone else's a Christian people are afraid to talk about it, or I don't know, I don't know about your, your experience, but the Bible, verses the church and the pain that sometimes comes from people who call themselves. Christians are two very different things as well. And that's, you know, something we all have to navigate as human beings is to how to love people and have grace and compassion.
Alright, so let's continue the conversation. If you could work with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why? and if you, you can say, cause I know you don't, like, co-writing say you could manage anyone in the world. Who would you like to manage?
Jason Davis: I would say, manage the artists. That I've managed. I grew up like my favorite childhood band, sorry for the cheesier, but my favorite child of the band was Def Leppard. So I probably would love to work with them in some capacity. I've gotten to meet them, twice. So that was super cool. But I don't even know if I'd want to manage them because I think spiritually I'd probably be on a very different place in a very different. Placing them, but, I feel like the artists I have managed and do manage, have brought so much joy into my life
times been a family for me. And
Rae Leigh: for me.
Jason Davis: Yeah, I would say I'm pretty satisfied with, with who I work with and who I am.
Rae Leigh: And what's, what's coming up for your future. What are your plans? What's going on with one month seven? That's something that is your full-time business at the moment
Jason Davis: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's really the same thing I've always been doing. You know, I'm always trying to find new artists and develop new artists and artists deals. Like I said, we have two artists right now getting deals. Both of them are tremendous.
Rae Leigh: them are tremendous.
Jason Davis: There's another girl that I'm developing right now that I think will eventually get a deal. There's a new Christian artist I'm working with named Luke power. that He's in the middle of a deal right now, but I think, you know, over the next year or two, his stuff will come out and I think it'll be, I think he's going to have a lot of success. Yeah, I mean, just my passion is always. Trying to find a new artist and develop them and the challenge of trying to get them a deal and
Rae Leigh: Um,
Jason Davis: them become successful.
Rae Leigh: so what do you look for when you're looking for say anyone out there who's writing songs and there want to be an artist and a performer full-time performer. What is it? Something that they can do to, you know, gain the attention of someone like you, who would help them develop their career and take it to the next level?
Jason Davis: I think, you know, obviously social media is huge. We have, five full-time people that work for us and all they do is look for singers. Online or wherever. So, um,
Rae Leigh: um,
Jason Davis: know, I think putting up covers, putting up originals, on tick-tock on Instagram, you know, the Tik TOK seems to really be the place I'm right now, but I would say even Instagram too. But I th I think, you know, like this guy, Luke, Luke Bauer that were in the middle of getting a record deal for right now, I met him 15 months ago and he only had one video posted of himself doing a cover song. it was only one video. This artist. Four years ago that I met and Wilson who came out last year and had a huge, large, large amount of success last year. She, uh, she only had one video out of her singing only one.
video and somebody that works for me found it. So I think, you know, just throwing yourself out there, singing on, on social media, you will be found if, if, if you're doing the right thing.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, I love that. I think it's beautiful. And we just got to do what you love and trust that, you know, the right people are going to come into your life that are meant to be there. You know? I don't like to push things. I don't, I gave up on trying to push anything along time ago. I just believe if you work hard, you plan your steps and he'll direct your ways. That's one of my favorites. So no, I really appreciate that. Is there anything else you would like to share with the audience today? I'm going to put the links to, you know, your bio and everything like that in the description of the podcast.
so. people can connect with you and ask you questions or, just be able to see your journey online. , is there anything else you'd like to.
Jason Davis: I don't think so. I've been, I'm very thankful that, that, you asked me to call.
Rae Leigh: I really appreciate you coming on. It's a different aspect, but, you have an incredibly powerful story. And, one that I relate to deeply and not very often come across people who are at the space where they can talk. And I would just want to say thank you very much for being so vulnerable and open about your history and where you've been with your mental health as well.
And the fact that you've come through it and you've worked through it and you've come to a really good, good space where you're able to have love and compassion for yourself and the people around you. Because that's a light at the end of the tunnel that. People like me and probably kids like you when you were that 13 year old, wouldn't have been able to see that in result. And so it's beautiful and inspirational, and I really am looking forward to sharing it with everyone.
Jason Davis: Thank you. so much.
Rae Leigh: Thank you. Take care of is anything else you need? Let me know. Otherwise we will let you know when it's all about to go up and be published.
Jason Davis: Amazing.
Rae Leigh: All right. Thank you very much, Jason. Have a good day.
Bye.
