Distinctly winter weather greeted American roots musician and composer Guy Davis when he kicked off his tour in Toronto on November 11.

Guy has been all over, from across the United States to Russia, from sunny Costa Rica to the freezing slopes of Greenland, but he still finds ways to be delighted by the spontaneity of a live show. At his Toronto engagement at Hugh’s Room, East Coast musician Doris Mason opened the night, leading to an impromptu jam.

“I got to meet Doris, the lady who they put in the slot before me, and we even did a tune at the end of the show. So, man, that made my night,” Guy says with an air of satisfaction. 

To call Guy a musician and composer is to only tell part of his story. He’s released over a dozen albums, two in a row earning Grammy nominations, but he’s also an actor, author, teacher, and above all, a storyteller. His music, which mixes elements of blues, folk, rock, and more, focuses on people. His songs capture experiences from the humorous to the harrowing, sometimes pointedly political and always lively.

On November 15^th, he will take his one-man show to the stage of the Broom Factory, and like roots music itself, Guy’s performances are a mixture of music and story, charming audiences with his insight into his music and his thoughtful reflections.

Ahead of his evening at the Flato Markham Theatre, Guy took some time to discuss the makings of roots music, connecting with people through music and story, and writing with conviction during challenging times. 

Q: You regularly use the term “roots music” to describe your music. And roots has always been sort of especially interesting to me because it's a term that's used all over. Like the actual sound of the music changes from place to place, but the term gets applied fairly regularly. In Kingston, when the term roots music tends to come up, it tends to be in the context of country or folk traditions. It's usually very acoustic guitar forward, where your music, there's a lot of country, but there's a lot of blues to it. What would you consider to be the defining elements of roots music? 

Guy: Well, I think the defining element for me is subjective, but it is the subject. It has to do with people. It is people's music. The blues is that. Also, the folk music that I play is that. And the form it takes, largely acoustic, is not entirely that anymore. So I play not only roots music. I play music that has grown out of roots music. I make it a point not to limit myself in any way. 

Q: Yeah, and it's something I've been noticing going through your catalog. It’s exactly as you said. There is such a range there. There's music that I would say is very much like blues, traditional. And then there's a lot of folk music. There's a lot of country elements to it. 

Guy: Country in my definition doesn't necessarily have to be, quote unquote, what they call the commercial definition of country. Say, Dolly Parton. But country music means the kind of music that people play who are not celebrated. People who sometimes are not even recorded. People who get up and have a guitar by the bed. And before they get two feet off of that bed, they only have one foot down, they got a guitar in the arms. I call that roots music. 

Q: I love that definition. Like, when I think of roots as well, and it's almost like you say, it's so based in tradition. And specifically, there's almost an element of oral tradition. Like storytelling is so important to your music. And in a lot of cases too, that storytelling involves speaking truth to power, especially in a number of your songs. Either through characters like in the case of “Kokomo Kidd”[describing a prohibition-era bootlegger], or directly like in your song “God's Going to Make Things Over” [about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre] and “Flint River Blues” [about the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan]. It really seems like there's no shortage of things to talk about. But in these songs, very direct with. With your commentary. 

Guy: Has to do with the tradition I came up in. When I was a young fellow, eight years old, my mother and dad sent me off to a summer camp run by Pete Seeger's brother. So I got to hear not only the folk music that Pete created and collected, but they sang songs by Bessie Smith, they sang all manner of music. Songs by Woody Guthrie, songs that I sing today, such as songs like “Deportees,” which is once again so very relevant in the United States of America. 

Q: It seems like, especially today, there's really no shortage of things to sing about. And you can have songs from before that are just as relevant today, and then opportunities to write new music. Are you working on any new music these days? And if so, are you being inspired by the things we're seeing happening around the world? 

Guy: Answers are yes and yes. I am writing songs that have to do with a lot that you see in here in the headlines today. And I am working hard on it. I grew up. I grew up in a town called New Rochelle, New York, which is a fairly well to do town. There are some poor folks there. But for the first time in my life, just a week ago, I saw a line of people outside of a church waiting for food. This has so much to do with the current political circus that is going on in the United States, of joblessness, non payment for federal workers, and SNAP benefits being called back and Medicaid being cut for so many. For the richest country in the world to have people going hungry? Oh man.  

Yes, my musicians hat went on. And yes, I'm writing. I'm working on a song now partly derived from an old black blues song I heard called “Black Mattie.” And I looked into it and I saw various verses. They usually thought, ‘oh, Black Mattie, where did you stay last night?’ But I looked and found an older version that said, ‘poor Black Mattie, ain't got a change of clothes.’ So I took that line and I am in the process of rewriting it. I found no other verses, so I have created verses that have to do with food, hunger, abuse, homelessness. There is nothing that I don't use to put on my canvas. And especially what's going on in the world now. Things by the leadership that go so against the Constitution in America.

We could go around the world bragging that we have at least the right to speak what's on our mind, even if they abuse us in other ways. But now we unfortunately got a president in power who, if you speak your mind and he does not like what you say, we'll send ICE agents to get you. And this is no longer limited to people who maybe were naturalized into citizenship or came in some other way or perhaps are undocumented. There are people who appear up here and lived here all their lives as citizens who have done something that ICE does not like. And oh my God, the story the other day of the ICE agents getting a guy and taking his little child off in the car. And this must not be…I'm gonna say yes, my pen is busy right now. 

Q: You're famously prolific outside of just music. Like you've written Off Broadway shows, you've performed on stage, you've performed in films. With such range, what drives you to stay active with so many different tools in your toolbox? 

Guy: If I wake up in the morning and I'm lucky enough to still be breathing, I want to work, I want to go and be in front of people. And it doesn't have to be some great ambitious thing to go to a room full of kindergarten children or to older folks who cannot get around, or to the veterans hospital where there are people who are feeling kind of isolated. I want to go there, wherever it is. 

Q: It's been so interesting to listen through your albums and read through your work and see that there are opportunities to combine all these things, too. Like your live shows, it's very much storytelling in addition to music. I guess this is sort of a roundabout question, but how intentional is that all? Or is it the sort of by-product of having all of these experiences to share? 

Guy: I think it's very intentional. Since the time I was a child, I knew I wanted to perform in some way. Even when my musical skills were nil and the best I could do is maybe wave my diaper around or something like that. I've always known in me was something. I guess I got from my parents, that I wanted to be literate, I wanted to be musical. I wanted to be able to recite poems. I wanted to make people laugh, maybe cry. So any chance I get, when I get to do a musical show, I always tell stories. And when I write a show of stories, if I can, I try to have music in it. I try to do it. Yeah, I think there's a lot in me that just needs to be shared with people. 

Q: Now there's no sort of shortage of ways that people get into music. Like in your case, you're largely self-taught, and opted for watching other musicians as opposed to sitting down for formalized lessons. Do you have any advice for young musicians that are interested in starting to play? 

Guy: Oh yes. Young musicians should create opportunities for themselves to perform. If they go to churches, then find out from the church staff if there is some sort of recital that they could do. If they can, go to the local schools and get permission to perform in front of the children. The kindergartners do that. And in the process of learning how to perform, steal everything you can. And by that I mean feel it and be able to play it or do it as well as if you wrote it. But then of course, you have to give credit. That's how you earn it, is by playing it as beautifully as you are possibly able. But do not limit yourself in your thinking. Create ways to be able to perform. 

Q: I like that. Especially today where there're so many opportunities to put your music out there. I think a lot of young musicians or a lot of people starting out in music, there's a lot of tools available to them now that weren't available even. Even 20 years ago. But I think that's. There's something to be said for that. Still. Still that, that creative element that, you know, finding those opportunities and creating them yourself. 

Guy: Yep, gotta do that. Oh, and one more thing. Young people have to validate themselves. Don't wait on television or anybody else to validate you. They got all these shows on TV about who's got talent, who's got this, and if you sing like this, you'll be okay. I hate those kinds of shows. You got to have human interaction…That's. That's what it's all about, connecting to people. 

Q: I think that's so important as well: The value of finding that confidence in yourself. 

And speaking of confidence, I'm thinking of your music being so directly political. Do you have advice for someone that has something they feel is important to say, but may be concerned about how to share it?

Guy: I would say to that person, be sincere in your efforts. I wrote a song called “Palestine, Oh Palestine” that calls for two states. And the song does not call for anyone's blood. I always ask before I sing it that if there's anybody who feels that I've done a disservice by singing it to please speak to me, because I'm willing to back up my song. I'm not here to throw it out to create enmity or any kind of agitation. If you're going to sing a song, be willing to back it up. But back it up with information, with compassion, with a willingness to learn if there is something maybe that you don't know. I sang my song in front of a woman who walked out. That was not a victory for me. I found out two things. One is that she had, I think, a grandson and the IDF who was in Israel. And this was after October 7th and I wrote this song way before October 7th. 

Q: Yeah, your 2021 album, right? 

Guy: Yeah. I also heard later that the woman was happy that as she was heading toward the elevator to leave, she heard the part of the song where Israeli voices are singing and I pronounced it iz-rye-el, iz-rye-el. And so I think I hopefully left it with the seed of hope that they can still be connected. It is never a victory to make someone feel isolated or shoved aside simply because you have to make your point. I want my songs to be human.

Hot off the heels of his 2024 album The Legend of Sugarbelly, Guy Davis will be performing a matinée show at the Broom Factory on Saturday, November 15. Details and tickets are available here.

Posted: Nov 17, 2025 Originally Published: Nov 14, 2025