Tanya Davis' Love Is Queer

HALIFAX — Tanya Davis knows the importance of starting the day off right. Her Gorgeous Morning sophomore album, set to be independently released in Charlottetown on June 14 and in Halifax on June 19, befits the offbeat poet/songstress. She's up early every day and can most often be found at Halifax's Java Blend drinking black coffee and scribbling her morning thoughts in a hard-covered notebook.

But don't pigeonhole Davis as one of those quiet cafe-poet types. Nearly everyone who stops in for coffee nods or mumbles some sort of good morning, and all of the baristas know her by name. Sometimes a musician friend comes and pulls up a chair. Other times, she enjoys the chosen solitude. Her focus is creativity in whatever shape or form it arrives — diary scrawl, conversation, poem or song.

"For me, 'Gorgeous Morning' represented the record best," says Davis of the album's title track. "It's about doing something you love, following your heart.

"I wake up and feel happy about my life. When I wrote that song, I was in a different state of mind."

Davis is a haphazard musician with a poet's spine. She self-released 2006's Make A List, which garnered four nominations for each of the P.E.I. and Nova Scotia Music Awards. She was the regional winner of the 2006 RadioStar songwriting competition, and was named best author/poet in The Coast's 2007 best of Halifax readers' survey.

Davis lets you know when she's having a bad day. She cries, laughs and shares all of the emotive layers in between in a casual and colloquial manner. Her lyrics are presented in a similar fashion, with a voice as distinct as Sinead O'Connor's and a nuance typical of Kinnie Starr, she describes the act of singing as "a vehicle to get my words out."

Davis fluctuates between bad luck serenades about her late cat Henry and quirky pop songs about warding off poem-promising knights and a lovelorn princess. More often than not, she's beaming with enthusiasm and inspiration, as honesty is crucial to her personal and public navigation throughout the world. She speaks of lovers, both past and present, with fluctuating gender pronouns.

"I feel like a queer artist, but I don't often state it," says Davis. "I think it should be obvious to anyone who takes notice.

"My sexuality is as fluid as my creativity. I don't sit firmly in the category of lesbian, but I don't sit firmly in poet or songwriter either. I love people for people. I think the way I love is queer."

Catch Davis here:

June 14 Charlottetown, PEI @ The Guild
June 19 Halifax, NS @ North Street Church
June 21-22 Georgetown, PEI @ The Kings Playhoue w/Catherine MacLellan and Jenn Grant
June 26 Wakefield, QC @ Black Sheep Inn w/Amelia Curran and Don Brownrigg
June 29 Toronto, ON @ Paul Kane Parkette
July 1 Toronto, ON @ Clinton's
July 2 Oakville, ON @ Moonshine Cafe
July 3 Toronto, ON @ Cameron House w/Amelia Curran and Don Brownrigg
July 6 Montreal, QC @ Le Cagibi w/The Empire Lights
July 12 Sackville, NB @ Struts Gallery