Kate Davis is readying her cover of the Daniel Johnston album Retired Boxer. Entitled Strange Boy, Solitaire Recordings is getting set to release it on January 15th. Davis and the label have hooked up with the Hi How Are You Project, a Johnston dedicated charity working to educate the public about mental health issues. A portion of the album’s purchase and streaming proceeds will go to the organization. This October, Davis performed as part of the charity’s live-streamed Mental Health Day program, which also included musicians like Jeff Tweedy, Lucius, Bully, and Molly Burch.
This week we have a new preview from the forthcoming album with the Davis cover of Johnston’s song “Oh No.” His wide-eyed, matter-of-fact observations still glow with humble truth as Davis’ open-hearted and child-like voice directly mirrors Johnston’s tender approach. A study in dynamics, she leaps from strummed acoustic verses to a full-throated chorus on the song, and it is a rousing rendition of the already brilliant original.
