David Davis, who had led the Warrior River Boys since 1984, has died from injuries sustained yesterday in an automobile accident in Snead, AL, not far from his home in Cullman. He was 63 years of age.
A life long grasser, David was raised in the thick of the music. His father, Leddell, played mandolin and sang, and his uncle Cleo was one of Bill Monroe’s early Blue Grass Boys. His maternal grandfather, J.H. Bailey, was an old time fiddler and banjo player, so the music was always there in his home growing up in Cullman.
In church the young Davis learned to sing harmony parts, but it was seeing Bill Monroe live at age 12 that set the course for this young protege. He learned the mandolin in the Monroe style, and found himself working with guitarist Gary Thurmond’s Warrior River Boys in his early twenties. Gary turned the band over to David when poor health forced him to stop touring in 1984.
With the Warrior River Boys, Davis toured up and down, and back and forth across the US, and was rewarded by a contract with Rounder Records in 1989. During his tenure at the helm, the band also recorded for Wango and Rebel Records, and for his own Davis Music label. In 2018 he returned to Rounder for a Charlie Poole tribute album, Didn’t He Ramble.
David’s wife, Cindy, was injured in the accident as well, and is being treated in a local hospital.
David’s sudden and unexpected passing is a tremendous shock to the bluegrass community in north Alabama, and across the country where his traditional bluegrass music was performed and played.
In addition to his contributions to bluegrass music, David drove a school bus for Brewer High School. He will be long and well remembered as a musician, bandleader, and friend to his many personal and bluegrass acquaintances.
R.I.P., David Davis.
