Singer, songwriter Olivia Davis is 20 years old and just released her first CD: The Starting Line. Olivia was a year ahead of our daughter, Miranda, in high school at Marin Academy, San Rafael, California. For three years we enjoyed her music performances with various bands; always wanting to hear more from her. It’s wonderful to now own her CD and witness her in this wondrous amplification, which includes giving voice through song to her struggle with a disease that has plagued her since infancy: cystic fibrosis (CF). I’m so proud to know this phenomenal young woman and watch her embracing life and art.
“I’m trying this out as a career, and a big part of it is telling my story about cystic fibrosis, making it part of my identity as a musician…And it’s a really cool thing for me because it’s the first time in my life that I don’t want to hide my disease. I’m embracing it.” ~ Olivia, from Marin IJ interview
“I had been sick for months, I was in pain and I was scared,” she recalls. “I was so sick and tired of disappointment after disappointment, of never getting any good news. Then I realized that there are going to be a lot of disappointments in the rest of my life. And if this is going to a regular thing, I have to control how much I let it get to me. So I wrote this song, saying I refuse to be sad about this. I choose to be happy. It’s a powerful one for me. It’s my anthem, my comeback song.” ~ from Marin IJ interview, Olivia talking about track #5 on album: “I Choose Life”
READ ~ Paul Liberatore’s article on Olivia in The Marin IJ
BUY ~ Olivia’s debut CD: The Starting Line
VISIT ~ www.oliviadavismusic.com
Now that my two faithful readers have delivered their marked up manuscripts, I’m slugging away at the novel again, (the FINAL push after a two month break—2015 WILL be the year of the novel for me) so Olivia: know that I take much inspiration from you refusing to be defined and limited by CF. The one thing that real folk and fictional characters have in common is that true character is revealed when the going gets tough.
Respect means to see again and Olivia is seeing herself anew, starting over as the album title shows. Too often one can have plenty of respect to go around but little or none for themselves. So it does my heart good to see Olivia engulfing herself and her music with respect. Read Olivia’s incredible story in this article by Paul Liberatore.
Olivia Davis is made of strong stuff; a strength reflected in the songs she writes and sings. I wanna be like her when I grow up…
Why can’t a mother protect her own child
It feels so wrong in my eyes.
So all I can do now is stand by her side,
The rest is up to life.
The rest is up to life.
~ lyrics from song “For Mother” track #2 on album, The Starting Line
READ ~ Paul Liberatore’s article on Olivia in The Marin IJ
BUY ~ Olivia’s debut CD: The Starting Line
VISIT ~ www.oliviadavismusic.com
What a remarkable young lady. I loved the remark “I want to be like her when I grow up” and I feel the same way though at 77 I question whether I will ever grow up.
She is quite a person . Good luck to her .