Jed Davis

Jed Davis (born July 7, 1975 in Farmingdale, New York) is a New York musician.

As a high-school senior, keyboardist Davis formed the band Skyscape with singer Domenic Maltempi in 1991. Skyscape recorded a CD, Band of the Week, two years later. After moving to the Albany area to attend the State University of New York at Albany, Davis performed in a solo capacity, self-releasing a demo tape titled Jed Has Too Much Free Time. The demo's 33 songs were recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder by Davis and guitarist Alex Dubovoy in one weekend marathon.

Davis formed a new band, The Hanslick Rebellion, in 1995 with Dubovoy and bassist Mike Keaney. Known for a live show matched in intensity only by the group's backstage in-fighting, the Rebellion self-released the live cassette the rebellion is here in 1996. The volatile band imploded and ended in early 1997, reuniting for a tenth anniversary performance at New York's CBGB on September 22, 2005.

After graduation Davis moved to Woodhaven, Queens, and began composing in earnest across the musical spectrum.

As programmer for the electronica/punk fusion band Collider (formed 1997), Davis was a pioneer of New York City's Electroclash movement. Collider's debut album, 1998's Blowing Shit Up, was a mash-up of samples, dance grooves, synthesizers, and rock guitars applied to traditional pop forms and themes.

In 2001, independent label J-Bird Records honored Davis with Everybody Wants to be Like Jed, a tribute album which featured cover art by Peter Bagge and performances of signature Davis tunes by an eclectic host of indie artists including Brian Dewan, Daniel Johnston, Anal Cunt, Wesley Willis, King Missile, and members of Agnostic Front.

Moving to lower Manhattan influenced Davis's transition from Electroclash toward a rawer punk sound, and to that end he began collaborating with some of New York's original punk rockers. Collider's final release, WCYF (2003), was produced by Ramones drummer/producer Tommy Ramone. In addition, Davis's tribute song to Joey Ramone, "The Bowery Electric", brought Tommy, Marky and CJ Ramone, as well as Ramones producer Daniel Rey, together for an historic recording session.

As a session keyboardist, Davis has performed and recorded with musical acts of all genres, including Jessica Simpson, The Deuce Project, and Bandcamp. He has also written the music and lyrics for a stage musical, Rise and Shine, with librettist Arturo Vega.

In 2004, Davis disbanded Collider and began a new project called The Congregation Of Vapors. A cloud of musicians with Davis at its center, TCOV can change its lineup to fit any recording or performance. The Congregation released a single, "With Love From America", in 2004, with its first full-length album, the Dave Fridmann-produced The Cutting-Room Floor, coming from sonaBLAST! Records in early 2007.

Davis is co-founder of the independent folk-punk record label Eschatone Records.



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