KSKE EXCLUSIVE: SWANNIE SITS DOWN WITH KARLA DAVIS

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Karla Davis is one of our favorite new artists. We met this soulful singer/songwriter this week at the KSKE  studio, where she absolutely floored us with her cover of Girl Crush. We also really love getting to know this girl, who has skills and talents that we know will go far in contributing to her continued success!

Davis has the typical “sang in the church choir” background, but she was also a competitive athlete, playing multiple sports throughout high school and receiving an athletic scholarship to play for the Women’s Soccer Team at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Davis had always played hard for the win, but Nashville has taught her to shine on her own.

“I sang in choir in church from the time I was little but that was always with a group of people,” Davis said, “The idea of singing by myself scared me to death.”

At the end of her senior year, when her soccer career ended, Davis needed something to keep her busy. “I heard an Alicia Keyes song [Fallen] and thought, ‘I think I could play this.’”

Davis hears the chords and plays by ear, her only musical education beyond a few early childhood piano lessons. “I was too impatient, so, no, I’ve had no training. No guitar, no voice coach or anything.”

That’s not so rare in Nashville, according to Davis. “You can find a lot of people who can play by ear. It’s actually a lot easier when I’m singing with people who can so don’t have to tell them the chords. They just know them.”