Emerging from his punk rock roots in Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker, Ben Davis has developed into a musician with diverse interests and influences. His solo career evolved from a quiet four-track project into a full band ensemble that has toured the east coast and plays frequently on the east coast. After a year of performing solo, Lovitt Records released the critically acclaimed The Hushed Patterns of Relief, which was recorded at Salad Days by Brian McTernan.

Conceived as a quiet four-track project, Davis’s first release was a tightly knit collaboration of Chapel Hill musicians performing sparse pop pieces. Cello, lap-steel guitar, and piano accentuate the wash of guitars and full vocal melodies detailing recurring motifs that rise and swell throughout the record. Jonathan Fuller from Engine Down came aboard to record the drums and joined a studio band compromised of members of the Comas, The Mayflies USA, and the Poncho Holly Bullfight Party. A new back-up band including members of Fin Fang Foom and Des Ark emerged and toured to support the record. Davis’s other band, Bats & Mice, got busier and he returned to writing new songs mainly on the piano in between tours.

As a large collection of new songs accrued, he decided to utilize his vastly talented friends and bandmates to the fullest. Two years later, a collaboration between many friends resulted in his latest release, Aided & Abetted. Sixteen musicians and six production gurus came from six states during four recording and mixing sessions to contribute to the album. Members from Engine Down, Milemarker, Denali, Zetamale, Des Ark, and Fin Fang Foom, among others, are involved in the performance of this scintillating work. The album underscores a marked maturity that has evolved since his first album and is a calculated mix of melancholy rock and bright, textured pop.

Davis has played with such artists as Engine Down, Denali, and Rainer Maria with critical and popular reviews.