Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Michael Daves grew up playing bluegrass in the grand old tradition of staying up late & singing loud. Although he’s since moved north, the Southern roots permeate his music, however traditional or experimental. Heralded as “a leading light of the New York bluegrass scene” by the New York Times, Daves has garnered attention for his work with Chris Thile, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka, and others in addition to his solo performances.
Daves’ most recent solo release is a two-album set, Orchids and Violence on Nonesuch Records. Both discs are produced by Daves and have identical track listing of mostly traditional bluegrass songs. The first features straightforward interpretations of them and was recorded live to tape in a 19th-century church by Daves and a band of roots-music innovators: bassist Mike Bub, violinist Brittany Haas, mandolinist Sarah Jarosz, and banjo player and Punch Brother Noam Pikelny. The second disc was recorded in Daves' home studio and includes bass, drums, and electric guitar, mostly played by Daves, and takes a raw, experimental rock approach to the same old-time material. "The identical track listing makes for a good comparison study," says the New York Times music critic Nate Chinen in his review, "and to his credit, it can be hard to pick which version of a tune is best."
Daves previously recorded bluegrass standards on Sleep with One Eye Open, his Nonesuch debut, a duo session with mandolinist Chris Thile (Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek) that earned the pair a 2011 Grammy nomination.
Current projects include a duo with progressive mandolinist Jacob Jolliff, with whom he has recorded an album in tribute to bluegrass innovators Jim & Jesse (release date TBA). Daves continues a 20-year partnership with progressive banjo legend Tony Trischka and appears on his recent Grammy-nominated album, Earl Jam. Daves and Trischka also tour as a trio with master old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky, and have staged several reunions of the 1970s avant-bluegrass outfit Breakfast Special with Trischka and band co-founders Andy Statman and Kenny Kosek. Daves has a long list of occasional collaborators including Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas, Mike Compton, Bryan Sutton, Alex & Tatiana Hargreaves and Laurie Lewis.
Although he is best known as a roots musician, Daves gravitated toward experimental music and jazz while studying at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Relocating to Brooklyn in 2003, he began to crave the social interaction and musical challenges of bluegrass: "In Western Massachusetts, I was mostly doing jazz. By the time I moved to New York, I was ready to leave that behind, get back to my personal roots in bluegrass music. There were good jam sessions in New York and I was excited to reenter a regular jamming culture in the city. And I was getting back into rock music, too. The Brooklyn scene in 2003 and 2004 was pretty fertile. There was a lot of great, kind of raw, experimental rock music happening at that time, drawing me in, scratching an itch."
Daves is also devoted teacher with over twenty five years of experience whose instructional style is aimed at helping students develop and refine their own natural musical sensibilities while exploring a wealth of American roots traditions, particularly bluegrass. In 2016 he launched an online school in bluegrass vocals on ArtistWorks.com where he helps students around the world learn the intricacies bluegrass singing style as well as harmony singing and ear training. Since 2020 he has been offering online classes covering the classic bluegrass guitar literature and has amassed one of the most extensive and detailed transcription libraries in existence.
"Michael Daves is a Grammy-nominated New York-based bluegrass, country, and rock musician whose unruly interpretations of American roots music standards have won him a place of almost fanatical admiration as a "renegade traditionalist." His regular Tuesday night performances at the Rockwood Music Hall are the stuff of New York legend. Daves has shared stages and recorded with Chris Thile, Steve Martin, Nickel Creek, Aoife O'Donovan, Tony Trischka, and Rosanne Cash as well" AllMusic