Biography
Mikaela Davis, a vocalist, composer, and player of multiple instruments with particular mastery of the harp, weaves folk, country-rock, and chamber pop into her richly layered songs. She first appeared in the early 2010s through a series of solo harp renditions of indie songwriters, among them Elliott Smith’s “Twilight,” which swiftly accumulated tens of thousands of views. Expanding her own compositions with broader arrangements, she issued her first album for a label, the John Congleton-produced Delivery, in 2018, then explored a blend of contemporary indie with ensemble-driven, improvisational country- and folk-rock on the self-produced Southern Star in 2023. One year later she released After Sunrise, a joint project with the instrumental psych-rock ensemble Circles Around the Sun.
Born in Rochester, New York, Davis began playing the harp at eight and was enrolled in classical harp studies at the Crane School of Music when she started composing original material. She performed these pieces during academic recesses and put out her self-titled debut LP independently in 2012. During this period she uploaded a combination of her own songs and voice-and-harp interpretations of Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens to various online platforms. The EPs Live from NOLA and Fortune Teller appeared in 2014, the same year she finished her degree.
Two years afterward Davis resurfaced via the title song of the EP Pure Divine Love (The Missions Sessions), which came out in early 2017. Earlier that year she appeared on “Sun Kids” by the psychedelic rock band Spaceface. She joined the roster of Rounder Records later in 2017. After touring alongside Lake Street Dive, her Rounder debut Delivery, again produced by John Congleton, arrived in July 2018. The record featured her customary road companions Alex Coté on drums and guitars and Shane McCarthy on bass, with the Staves contributing to two tracks.
She later reconvened in the studio with Coté, Shane McCarthy, Cian McCarthy on guitars and vocals, and Kurt Johnson on steel guitar—musicians who had performed together for a decade yet had never cut a full album as a unit. The resulting Southern Star fused spontaneous country- and folk-rock approaches with Davis’s nostalgic melodies and contemporary touches, including dream-pop elements. Co-produced by Davis and the band, it became her first release on Kill Rock Stars in August 2023. Throughout that year she held a sequence of residencies across upstate New York that intermixed her own material with Grateful Dead covers, and after performing at the Pickathon Festival she both headlined shows and supported the Mountain Goats on tour. She extended the trajectory established by Southern Star on After Sunrise, the collaboration with Circles Around the Sun. Recorded, produced, and mixed by the group’s Dan Horne, the album surfaced on Jealous Butcher in April 2024.
Born in Rochester, New York, Davis began playing the harp at eight and was enrolled in classical harp studies at the Crane School of Music when she started composing original material. She performed these pieces during academic recesses and put out her self-titled debut LP independently in 2012. During this period she uploaded a combination of her own songs and voice-and-harp interpretations of Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens to various online platforms. The EPs Live from NOLA and Fortune Teller appeared in 2014, the same year she finished her degree.
Two years afterward Davis resurfaced via the title song of the EP Pure Divine Love (The Missions Sessions), which came out in early 2017. Earlier that year she appeared on “Sun Kids” by the psychedelic rock band Spaceface. She joined the roster of Rounder Records later in 2017. After touring alongside Lake Street Dive, her Rounder debut Delivery, again produced by John Congleton, arrived in July 2018. The record featured her customary road companions Alex Coté on drums and guitars and Shane McCarthy on bass, with the Staves contributing to two tracks.
She later reconvened in the studio with Coté, Shane McCarthy, Cian McCarthy on guitars and vocals, and Kurt Johnson on steel guitar—musicians who had performed together for a decade yet had never cut a full album as a unit. The resulting Southern Star fused spontaneous country- and folk-rock approaches with Davis’s nostalgic melodies and contemporary touches, including dream-pop elements. Co-produced by Davis and the band, it became her first release on Kill Rock Stars in August 2023. Throughout that year she held a sequence of residencies across upstate New York that intermixed her own material with Grateful Dead covers, and after performing at the Pickathon Festival she both headlined shows and supported the Mountain Goats on tour. She extended the trajectory established by Southern Star on After Sunrise, the collaboration with Circles Around the Sun. Recorded, produced, and mixed by the group’s Dan Horne, the album surfaced on Jealous Butcher in April 2024.
Albums
Singles
