A Metropolitan Guide, A Farewell
Back in the early days of my songs (2009-2011), I recorded and performed under my own name --Brian Davis. I released two EPs (three if you count the terrible EP of covers prior) before moving into band life for a couple of years. When the band disbanded and my next batch of songs came around, I felt a pull to come up with a stage name; a name that might help me stand out from the other ten million Brian Davises of the world. In those days, I believed my music was headed somewhere. I was right, but not at all in the ways I thought.
In the winter of 2012, and after much deliberation, I landed on 'A Metropolitan Guide.'
The name came from a few places. First, the name itself came from a mislabeled YouTube video of Tom Waits' song, "Metropolitan Glide." Afterward, it was Erin Belieu's poem, "When at a Certain Party in NYC" that I read in a poetry class. This didn't specifically contribute to the name itself, but the metropolitan setting helped give rise to my own poem that I named, perhaps predictably, "Metropolitan Guide.".
The poem told the brief story of a tour guide who only ever gave tours of places that no one much cared about, yet insisted on those places's value all the same. My teacher gave me an 'A' and said that the line "no one to tell you that...the road with the lighthouse is a dead end" was the best, most critical line and made the whole thing work --a line that would shortly after make its way into my song, "Metropolitan Guide". To this day, as far as I know, this lyric remains my only one to have been quoted in a Facebook status.
When the dust settled, I started thinking it would be a good stage name, but it needed an article. I flirted with "The Metropolitan Guide," but thought it sounded kind of lame; it had the sound of someone who takes himself way too seriously, of which I am only partially guilty. So, I needed to back off that energy. I made the switch to "A Metropolitan Guide" and it felt right.
I'm not the guide for you or your (musical) life, but I could be a guide. After all, if I'm going to be taking you on a bunch of tours you don't care about (yet), I probably shouldn't be the sole person directing traffic.
And so in the late days of 2012, A Metropolitan Guide was born.
What followed was 12 years, eight albums, two EPs, dozens of shows, and the rise and fall of the belief that my songs were destined for much beyond the walls of my home. But with the stakes getting lower by the year, I just settled into the name. It was mine; it was something that ten million other people didn't also have.
And then on an unremarkable afternoon I got an email that said my domain name was about to expire. I hovered over the "renew" button, but started to wonder if this name served much of a purpose anymore. Had it given me more recognition? Had it been responsible for the songs getting better? Had it done much of anything beyond my own personal satisfaction?
The answer was mostly "no." So, I sat with it for a few days. This name meant something to me; it will always mean something to me. Even now, it continues to encapsulate what I feel about the role my music might play in the lives of those around me and beyond: tours you never asked for, but at the ready to reveal themselves to whomever is willing to take a few minutes to look and listen.
I decided that that truth could continue on regardless of what I was calling myself --for the record I have never once formally referred to myself as "a metropolitan guide," in case there was any question on just how insufferable I might be.
Over an hour or two, I went in and edited each of my album covers, website pages, and distribution services and said goodbye to A Metropolitan Guide; the world never much knew that person, and now likely never really will. But I will, and I am forever grateful for all the musical shenanigans that I accomplished while working under its banner. For now, it's back to Brian Davis, save for my two middle initials to help stand out, and to match my books' authorship. It's all under one banner now, but I'll not forget the banner I'm setting on the ground as I move into whatever this next phase of life is.
You can now find all of my music under Brian J. N. Davis on all music services. I hope you'll listen, and I hope you enjoy. They are the best tours I can offer.