Timeless music causes us to lose control.

Once that beat kicks in, you can’t help but get up and move. Passed down through the ages, it’s a phenomenon that doesn’t discriminate. You’ll see it happen in the pews of a church just as regularly as you will on the Polo Fields of Coachella. By the same token, you could just as easily hear Davie’s 2017 debut EP, Black Gospel, Vol. 1 in a revival tent or a festival tent, and it’d incite the same reaction—raw, rapturous, and rare ebullience. Like Pharrell producing a collaboration between Sam Cooke and The Clark Sisters, the singer, songwriter, and performer delicately balances R&B rhythms, stark soul, and gospel spirit into a sound that’s wholly his own…

“I connect with the simplicity and movement of gospel and soul,” he explains. “The music just moves you. You want to clap. You feel inspired to participate. You don’t just listen with your ears; you listen with your hands, your feet, and your whole body. That’s how you respond. I hopefully make records people could respond to in more ways than one.”

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]