Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Davis.
Hi Annie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up poor in a single-parent household in Vancouver, Washington, with a sweet little sister and a very loving mom trying to make ends meet and raise her girls on food stamps, welfare, and every odd job she could find. I knew there would be no money for college, but even at an early age, I was determined to blaze my own path in this world. I borrowed an old dented trumpet from my elementary school in the summer between 5th and 6th grade and taught myself to play, in hopes of putting myself through college someday by playing music. I loved music from day one, and as an introverted kid with frizzy hair and bad skin, it became my connector to the world and my ticket through college, just as I had hoped.
As I worked my way through school on trumpet scholarship, I realized I didn’t want to be a band teacher or end up living in a van down by the river trying to earn a living as a musician (ha!). I had also fallen into dating a man who was quite a bit older than me and was very jealous and abusive. He insisted I stop playing music in clubs late at night. I was young, naive, and inexperienced with relationships, and I thought he knew what was best for me. I was crushed, but I left music altogether for many years. I eventually left the relationship when he fought me on my desire to return to school in pursuit of a graduate degree. I attained my doctorate and started my own company in 2013 in a field completely unrelated to music. When I gave up music in my early 20s I had taken up running around the same time, primarily for mental health, and fell in love with it. After experiencing many frustrating running injuries while training for my first Ironman triathlon, and not finding sufficient help for my running form in the medical community, I knew athletes needed a solution. Around the same time, I had moved to Texas to be closer to my dad. He had moved to San Antonio to find work when I was 6, and I felt like I had always wanted to know him better. After 2 years in Texas, I started a company called RunLab®, which focuses on biomechanical assessment and the treatment of athletes. After starting the company with just a borrowed video camera and an idea, RunLab now exists in 3 states with 30 employees. I have been awarded numerous awards for my work, including being named one of the Fastest 50 growing companies in Central Texas and a Profiles in Power finalist, and a regional win at the Entrepreneurial Opportunity of the Year contest in 2019.
But in 2020, I bought my first set of drums (I had always wanted to play drums more than anything else), and it was a fast and slippery slope back into a relationship with my first true love, music. I bought a guitar and taught myself one chord. I wrote a song with that single chord and attended my first open mic in Austin, TX, intending to sing the song and check off a life-long fear of singing in front of people. I had never even done karaoke out of sheer terror at the idea. But 3 minutes and 45 seconds of absolute fear became the best thing I had ever done. I quickly dove headfirst into songwriting, learning to sing and play as many instruments as I could get my hands on. The pandemic hit shortly after that, and I spent much of that time writing music (while trying to keep RunLab alive during the worst moments in my professional history). One year after moving to Texas, I lost my dad to cancer, which was devastating. So as I began to write several years late, I realized this was my way to work through a lot of emotion I had been holding onto for years. Songs just came pouring out. Once the pandemic began to lift, I started putting my first band together and booking every gig I could hustle up. I released my first single (the one-chord song!) with the help of my awesome friends Austin Sisler and Sam Graf of Eastside Music School, and was then invited to AZ to work with a fantastic team of producers to produce my second tune, Nuclear Meltdown.
Shortly after its release, I was invited to work with some big cats in Nashville, including country music hall of fame legend Roger Miller’s son, Dean Miller. Everything felt so surreal. Three years after picking up my first guitar, I suddenly found myself standing on a stage at The Cactus Theater in Lubbock, TX, being honored with the 2023 CMA of Texas Americana Artist of the Year award. I was signed to Indie Giant Cleopatra Records out of LA shortly after. I reconnected with my incredibly talented AZ production and engineering team, P.H. Naffah (drummer extraordinaire for The Refreshments/Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers) and Jeff Lusby-Breault (guitar, engineering, mixing and mastering genius) to finish the whole album, which will release May 19th, 2023 under Cleopatra Records. The new album is called “Sticks and Stones” and is a nod to the origin of the Trashy Annie band name, which was penned when I received several horrible comments on social media about my clothes being “too young for me” after my first release. If I have learned anything from that shy little girl I was in the 5th grade, it’s to never let others dictate who you are, what you should wear, or when you’re too old to find the thing you were meant to do.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has undoubtedly been a challenging road. Finding bandmates who like the music and have the same schedule, the same goals, and the same work ethic is a monumental challenge and just one of many in this industry. I came back into music after spending years in the business world, and it was a harsh realization that this industry doesn’t work like most of the business world. It is full of creatives, which is a unique challenge (both a good and a bad thing at times). I have never been in an industry where, for example, people drink heavily on the job or do coke in the bathroom before they go to work. Ha! I do all of our bookings. Manage the band, write the music, do all of the creative, promo, social media management, and content production (including all music videos), book, fund, manage our tours, and fund and design all of the merch. So, my plate is full of many things that take me away from my first best use: writing music. But like any other business, that is part of what is involved in a startup, which is essentially what a new band is. I always tell my musician friends how important it is to separate the art and emotion from the needs of the business when it comes to any startup, and a band is no exception.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am proud of many aspects of what I have done professionally, but one of my proudest is sticking to my guns when it comes to my music. Fronting an original rock band is challenging, especially during a worldwide pandemic. Cover and Tribute bands inundate the music scene in many cities these days, and getting a foot in the door at venues, building a fan base, and negotiating a working wage for an emerging 4-5 piece band is hard work. But I have always tried hard to make sure my band is paid as much as I can pull out of my bank account. Even when playing free gigs, musicians deserve to be paid for their work; my band is no exception. As the leader of the band, even if I have to go out of pocket to ensure my guys are paid fairly, I will. It is part of the cost of a startup, and I am proud of how I treat my band members and our mutual respect for each other on both the business side of music and the creative side. I am pleased that my fun and fantastic crew (drummer/percussionist Ryan Smith, Bass player/vocals Miles Barker, Guitar/bass player Dallas Dillard and our newest members, Guitar/vocals Amir Neubach and Guitar/vocals Blake Jurasin) are all highly committed to this project and to pushing the needle forward for original music. I am so proud of them for their work on this project and the joy they bring me at every rehearsal with their talent, sense of humor, and incredibly positive attitudes. Finding this group took a long time, but we are ready to climb the ladder together.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The COVID-19 crisis taught me several things, but most importantly, it reiterated that we all struggle at times in our lives and kindness matters. I saw a lot of interaction between strangers during these challenging times that don’t always exist when they should. There was kind of a “we’re all in this horrible thing together” mentality that brought us all closer. I try very hard to look at others with empathy and never stop recognizing that we don’t know the story behind the person standing in front of us at the grocery line, holding everybody up at the stoplight, or walking by us on the street. Be kind to each other. It matters.
Pricing:
- Booking info at info@trashyannie.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trashyannie.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/trashyanniemusic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/trashyannie
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/trashyannie
- Other: www.trashyannie.com/follow
Image Credits
Eric Booth, Thomas Egan Photography
