Singer
Pianist
Songwriter

Jo's Website

About Jo

Born in Ohio, Jo Davidson started playing the piano by ear when she was four. One day she came home from the small church her family attended, and played a song the choir had sung (on the piano with one finger!) She began classical music lessons in the first grade. Throughout her formative years, she performed in churches, at local events, and in talent shows. In High School, she memorized many classical pieces, including the entire score for Gershwin's "Rhapsody and Blue." She had always "played her feelings," but it wasn't until she was in the sixth grade that she realized she had been writing songs.

After High School, Jo moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a recording artist and songwriter. She won awards in competitions such the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and the Billboard National Song Contest. After signing a production deal with songwriter James Slater (who recently wrote the Martina McBride song "In My Daughter's Eyes," Jo learned more about arranging. She won The Lionel Ritchie Scholarship for songwriting and attended some classes at UCLA where various record company executives attended and critiqued songs. From there, she met Randy Nicolas, who introduced her to Tommy Manzi, her current manager. (Tommy also represents Eagle Eye Cherry, Bebel Gilberto, Cake, and Grant Lee Philips). Jo signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell, and begin to get her music placed in films, television and with other artists. Artists that have recorded Jo's music include Meat Loaf, Stephanie Mills, and Melissa Manchester.

Jo moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she produced songs for independent artists such as Rachael Sage and Jenny Bruce. Then she signed with Edel Records and released her debut album, "Kiss Me There." Jo co-produced "Kiss Me There" along with Greg Ladanyi (Jackson Brown, Fleetwood Mac), and also enlisted the help of string arranger David Campbell, (The Goo Goo Dolls Alanis Morisette and others). She also had the opportunity to work with studio legends such as Russ Kunkel (James Taylor).

Besides co-producing her acclaimed debut album, all of the songs were written and arranged by Jo, and she performed all the piano and all the keyboard parts. "Kiss Me There" was released on Edel Records in 2001. Jo's music received airplay on top a/c radio stations around the country. She performed at the Starfest in Tampa along with Nelly Furtado, The Go Gos, Semisonic and others. She also played in Memphis at The Peabody Hotel (St. Louis) at a radio show with Better Than Ezra, and was billed in Akron with Alana Davis and Jeffrey
Gaines. Jo was featured on television shows across the country, including a guest spot on the Metrochannel in NYC, and she also co hosted radio morning shows on air.

Her song "I Don't Dance" was featured in the trailor for "The Good Girl" starring Jennifer Aniston. "Kiss Me There" was featured on a 2001 compilation CD along with Eric Clapton, Bette Midler, Enya and others, which was given out to Oprah's audience. Jo also did a Coca Cola radio jingle and did some voiceover work. Her song 'Fragile Tough Girl" was featured on an episode of Felicity, and Her song "Ghost Town" was featured in a movie called "Along for the Ride" starring Melanie Griffith.

Jo's song, "Mental Pollution," (aka "Does Anybody Hear Me") attained further exposure when it was featured in the NBC made-for-TV movie, "Friends to the End," starring Shannon Doherty, who sang the tune. The performance periodically appears on the VH-1 cable music channel, Lifetime, Oxygen, and other channels.

Everything seemed to be building, when Edel records closed it's doors in the US, and Jo had to move on. She created two beautiful instrumental records. One called "Tell The Story," features piano compositions which are based around a poem about Paris, and it has been compared to artists such as Erik Satie. The other solo piano CD Jo released, was recorded on her vintage 1929 Steinway grand piano in NYC. It is called "Merry Christmas & Happy New York." It is a collection of 17 traditional Christmas songs, and has received praise from The New York Post, (A Top pick!), The Albany Times Review, (5 Stars), The Canton Repository (lovely and warmly nostalgic), and others.

In November of 2004, Jo released her new CD "The Simply Said Sessions." Recorded in Rhode Island with co-producer Steve Rizzo (Kristen Hersh), the CD is a bare, stripped down look at relationships, love, and the stages they go through. Featuring a song about 9-11 (which Jo witnessed from her window), a song dedicated to her Aunt Sharon who died of ALS, and more, this is what one fan described as "A musical version of Monet's Tiger Lilies."

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