About Brian
Hi! I'm Brian, a writer/musician multi-class from Peoria, IL. My full name is Brian Joseph Norman Davis. It is that full name, or the initials anyway, that I use for all of my book and writing publication, and what you see sprawled across the top of this website --Brian J. N. Davis.
I've lived in the Midwest my entire life. Google AI has decided this detail "informs much of Davis' work," so you can look forward to whatever that actually means. I love (song)writing, video games, baseball, and write about those things regularly.
I have written two books-- a gaming memoir, A Link to the Past: Stories of Growing Up Gamer, and a novel, The Grand Revolution of Lakeside. I occasionally get things published, but more often than not I tire of the process (and of rejections) and just self-publish things. It has kind of become part of my creative identity to be mostly DIY --a version of myself that I am constantly seeking to better define and understand.
I do not use social media. Though I did for years, I came to loathe the version of myself I saw in that setting --not to mention the streams of ads, curated algorithmic content, and general nonsense that sat alongside. I have proven to myself time and again that social media leaves me with a pretty hollow feeling --both about myself and the world around me-- and so I have ventured to try and survive without it.
Instead, I opt for this website and a monthly email newsletter as the extent of my digital intrusions upon the world. I pour a lot of effort into the content here, and I hope that over time, others will come to find value in it.
That's a little about me and the writing. Now, let me tell you a bit about the music.
About A Metropolitan Guide
I've been writing songs since 2008. Those songs were bad, but that is when it started. In those early years, I performed cover songs and scattered originals while I developed something resembling musical competence and basic songwriting craft.
That pattern carried until 2011. After two EPs --The Part to Play (2010) and After the War (2011)-- I played in the band Something with Trees in 2011-12, writing songs and performing around the Midwest. Once the band ended, I began looking for my next musical step.
I was sure that I didn't want to just use my real name. Search "Brian Davis" on Google and try to find me. The search for a stage name started in earnest.
At the same time, I was writing a lot of poetry for my college classes. One of those poems was "Metropolitan Guide", a poem about a tour guide who only gives tours of things no one particularly cares about. Hmmm, I thought, this is uncomfortably similar to how I write songs. And so, "A Metropolitan Guide" was born: "Tours you never asked for."
The name itself roots from the Tom Waits song, "Metropolitan Glide." Someone many years ago posted a live video of Waits performing the song, but mistitled it "Metropolitan Guide." Funny how someone's tiny little error set off something so significant in my life. Twelve years, seven albums, and one EP later, A Metropolitan Guide is still going strong. Within the walls of my office, anyway.
I write a lot about my songs, as well as the psychological and emotional path of what it has meant to be a songwriter, in the song journal around here. Though I don't necessarily presume such things are of interest to everyone, I do hope that my explorations provide some interesting context around the songs, and offer relatable commentary on the whole process of creating things.
I hope you enjoy the many words and tunes.