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Mikaela Davis is the paragon of a well-funded, mostly public arts education. Davis’ elementary school in Rochester, N.Y. offered third grade students the choice of learning any string or band instrument. Davis picked the harp. A year later, Davis decided she wanted to further invest in harp performance and began private lessons. In high school, she performed harp with the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and later attended the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.
In college, the classically trained harpist toured with a band “for fun,” until booking agent Sara Bollwinkel, who has represented Billie Eilish since the singer was 14, found Davis’ cover video of Elliott Smith’s “Twilight” on YouTube and approached the then-20-year-old. Soon, Davis was at a crossroads: Would she pursue a graduate degree in harp performance as she had planned, or would she pave a new path as a songwriter leading her own band?
That was 12 years ago. As a harpist leading a psych-leaning outfit, Davis is now peerless in her art. She has two albums, And Southern Star (2023) and Delivery (2018), and an EP with her partner’s band, Circles Around the Sun. Davis’ music weaves psychedelic sounds with elements of ‘60s pop and jazz. Her albums are a portal to a warm-toned dreamscape, a sensitive excavation of fears, forgiveness and longing.
Davis is kicking off the West Coast leg of her headlining tour, stopping at The Showdown, on July 28. WW spoke with the 32-year-old musician on picking the harp at age 8, and spending a third of her life on the road.
WW: How did you make the decision to abandon your original professional plan?
Mikaela Davis: I knew that it would be difficult to win a position in an orchestra or get a job as a professor at a college, and with that, often you don’t really get to choose where you get a job. I felt really passionate about playing music I was writing, instead of just playing the same classical pieces that everybody else plays. That’s what really lit my fire. I decided to go with my gut and just do what made me happy. I knew it was a big risk. And you know, it still is, but it makes me happy, so I think I’ve made the right call.
What was it about the harp that you initially drew you in?
As soon as I saw the harp, I wanted to bring it home and put it in a specific place in my mom’s living room. My mom said that my grandmother, my oma, had just passed away the year before, and I came home from school and told my mom I really want to play the harp, and I want to place it under the skylight in the living room so that Oma can hear me play.
The harp is a large and uniquely shaped instrument. How does the physicality of the harp affect your relationship with it?
The harp will often feel like it’s just part of my body because I’m leaning the harp on my shoulder and feeling the vibrations of it. And it’s not like it’s heavy on me, but you do have to have muscles built up in your fingers and your arms. It just feels like an extension of the body. I could relate it to like a purring cat lying on you. It just calms you down right away.
What is it like traveling with the harp?
I have a wooden case that essentially looks like a huge coffin. It’s just like anything else that you have to pack in the trailer except it is about two times larger than everything else. I have a dolly for the harp when I take it into the venue. If there’s a bunch of stairs, I’ll need help from one of the guys to help me, but it’s pretty easy. I guess I’m just used to it.
You have been touring for more than a decade. How do you feel about life on the road?
Being on tour gives me a sense of purpose. When I’m home for too long, I start to feel like, what am I doing? I really enjoy touring because I feel as though I’m bringing a gift around the world to people who have troubles in their own lives and their own careers and coming to a show is a nice time for people to maybe feel grounded. So I like to be able to share different kinds of energies with crowds. It’s really like feeding off of each other. I’ll have a good show if the crowd is having a good time.
Local cosmic country musician Jeffrey Silverstein will open for your shows in Portland and nine other cities. How did you make that decision?
I’m a fan of Jeffrey. I found out about him through my partner’s band, Circles Around the Sun. He opened for them. I met Jeffrey at Pickathon last year. We connected and have been friends since.
SEE IT: Mikaela Davis plays at The Showdown, 1195 SE Powell Blvd., showdownpdx.com. 9 pm Sunday, July 28. $20. 21+.