Special guests this Friday

This Friday night (July 11) at 8:00 Stumpjack has the pleasure of hosting musicians/poets/artists Steph and Matt Davies during their current summer tour of the country.

My 13-year old daughter, Jesse, made this cool poster for the show.

Here's the press release:

Steph Davies and her husband Matt will be performing in Two Rivers at Stumpjack Coffee Friday evening as part of their two-month nationwide, coast-to-coast tour. Loosely calling Chicago home, the couple has earned numerous fans and kudos on their current summer tour. Steph, an Art School of Chicago alumni, found her musical voice in 2003 after a friend’s passing, when she picked up her grandfather’s old acoustic guitar and began singing. She began writing and performing her own compositions, which she says both influence and are influenced by her graphic art. She recently recorded and released her first full length CD, “After the Fall” with her husband, guitarist and engineer Matt Davies. Matthew Davies is also a poet and artist who has recorded a seven-song CD titled “Road Song.” He lists as among his musical influences Tom Waits, Bob Marley, Big Bill Broonzy, Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt and Hank Williams.

Chris Darby, of ThemDamnKids wrote of Davies’ “After the Fall”:

"Steph Davies’ newest effort is far and away her finest and most thoughtful to date. Steph has a way of taking the most ordinary experiences in life, and turning them into wonderfully magical things...etched into a beautiful paradox of temporal permanence. It’s a quality not found in many writers, but is fast becoming evident in Mrs. Davies work, and is really quite remarkable. To call this simply a collection of love songs would somehow cheapen the detailed arrangement of words within. This is a collection of life, those living in it, and the songs that go with that. These are songs to listen to on lonely nights in old cabins- a true representation of beauty in the living world."

Steph Davies’ music can be heard online at http://www.myspace.com/versionsoftruth.

Matthew Davies’ music can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/matthewdavies.