Mikaela Davis is the kind of songwriter who routinely defies expectations. The 25 year-old artist is a composer of striking maturity. Her arrangements deftly combine elements of rock, folk and pop, and her vocals display a wisdom and a ruefulness that belie her years. Davis’ instrument of choice is the harp, which she has played since she was eight years old, right about the time she could actually get her hands around the instrument. A native of Rochester, New York, she spent her formative years in youth orchestras rather than in garage bands and later earned a degree from the Crane School of Music.
Though Davis is clearly well-versed in the classical canon and is accustomed to performing in a recital setting, her approach to the harp is an unorthodox one. She often employs her instrument as a pulse, a rhythm or as texture as muscular as a guitar’s. Even in high school, Davis was thinking outside the box in regards to her instrument: Despite her rigorous schedule, she often managed to
