Beau Davidson

Beau Davidson (born June 7, 1981) is an American recording artist,^[1] actor, songwriter, and host. He has appeared on Country Music Television (CMT), Great American Country (GAC), MTV, and Vh1, as well as television shows and print magazines.

Beau Davidson Promotional Photo/Credit: David J. Roth

Early life and education

Davidson was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and began taking classical piano lessons at age four. In spite of his classical training, he learned to play popular music by ear. He was a finalist in the Mid-South Fair Youth Talent Contest, held annually in Memphis. Elvis Presley and Justin Timberlake were also veterans of this contest.

In 1999, Davidson graduated from the all-male private preparatory Memphis University School.^[2]

Educational background

Davidson attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, graduating in 2003, magna cum laude, earning a Bachelor of Music and minors in musical theatre and political science. He studied opera and vocal performance with renowned baritone Bruce Hall and was coached by Richard Boldrey. At Northwestern, Davidson appeared in the role of Danny Zuko in Grease, and as the leading man in many other productions, including the Chicago Premiere of Titanic (Barrett) and Into the Woods.

During his Northwestern days, Davidson began writing music, primarily for Northwestern's student-produced revue, The Waa-Mu Show. In his junior year, he wrote and performed his first country-inspired song, "The Dixie in Me".

In the summer of his junior year, Davidson starred as "Frid" in the Ravinia Festival's production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music^[3] with George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Zoe Caldwell, and Marc Kudisch. Upon graduation, Davidson starred in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's production of The Little Mermaid,^[4] playing the role of the Prince.

Davidson is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Professional background

Rather than move to New York to pursue a career on Broadway, Davidson moved to Los Angeles. He guest-starred on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives and The WB Television Network's Gilmore Girls.

In between projects, Davidson wrote music that he later released as a digital EP titled The Good Hurt. His debut single, "More Than I Can Give", was the song that catapulted his career. Independent of any record label or production company, the corresponding music video landed on the websites of CMT,^[5] Great American Country,^[6] MTV,^[7] and VH1,^[8] indicative of the fact that Davidson's music appealed to a diverse audience from contemporary country to pop/rock. The song was featured on the in-flight audio programs of Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Cathay Pacific Airways, as well as the Subway sandwich franchise's own radio station. This success gave rise to interviews and performances on radio stations all across the country.

In 2008, Davidson moved to Nashville and won CMT's Music City Madness^[9] original song contest with his song "Mr. Wrong", and opened for Josh Gracin and Craig Morgan in Southaven, Mississippi

Philanthropy and community service

In August 2008, Davidson was featured in Country Weekly magazine and gained international media attention when asked to write an honorary lullaby for Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's daughter, Sunday Rose. This lullaby aired on New Zealand and Australia's number one morning television show, Sunrise.^[10]

Davidson has partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, performing at the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk in Atlanta.

In 2010, Clear Channel Communications and Muscular Dystrophy Association selected Davidson to perform at the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon live in Las Vegas over Labor Day. Davidson's other philanthropic involvement and performances include National Wildlife Federation, Old West Special Trails, Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee, and The American Spirit Pageant, benefiting the HAVlife Foundation.

Beau Davidson sings for a Veteran at the West Palm VA Medical Center (West Palm Beach, FL)

Veterans Causes and Advocacy Davidson has been a partner and advocate for "Purple Hearts Reunited", a nonprofit military initiative created by Army Captain Zachariah Fike. PHR returns lost or stolen purple heart medals to their original recipients or next of kin in special ceremonies. Davidson sang on D-Day 2014 for PFC Joseph Jordan's return ceremony, who had died on the beaches of Normandy saving another soldier's life. Jordan was part of the famous Band of Brothers company. Davidson has also performed for PHR events on Memorial Day in Washington DC and Veterans Day in New York City.

Davidson also performed at the 2015 "Wish for our Heroes" G3 Bash in Indianapolis, IN, and gave a free concert in March, 2016 at the West Palm Beach Veterans Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2016) Davidson partnered with National Geographic's explorers-in-residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert to co-produce a music video featuring lions in the wild. The Jouberts' "Big Cats Initiative" at NatGeo will be the prime beneficiary, raising awareness of poaching and trophy hunting, as well as the US Fish and Wildlife's recent classification of lions as an endangered subspecies. The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a hybrid video containing the re-imagination recording process at Starstruck Studios with Davidson and the 1961 hitmakers- The Tokens- and The Joubert's archive documentary footage of lions in Botswana and South Africa.

The documentary style videos of "Blessed" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" began airing as interstitial short films on PBS affiliates throughout the country, in markets such as Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, and Nevada in 2016.

Performances and awards

Awards
In 2008, Davidson was named one of Nashville's "25 Most Beautiful People" by Nashville Lifestyles magazine,^[11] along with fellow recording artists Jewel and Chuck Wicks.

Davidson was also named one of Cosmopolitan Magazine's "51 Hottest Bachelors of 2009",^[12] representing his home state of Tennessee.

He has been a judge for the Daytime Emmy Awards.

In December 2012, his independent music video, "Blessed" was nominated for the 29th Annual Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards.

Davidson was selected as one of the US Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Americans for 2013, an honor also received by his hometown musical hero Elvis Presley, as well as Presidents John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as Wayne Newton, Peyton Manning, Nelson D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford II, and Pat Boone.

In 2014, Davidson was named a recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Performing Arts Fellowship.

In November, 2015, Davidson was nominated for his second Emmy Award, this time in the composer category for his song "Blessed," which is featured in the PBS documentary, "The Space Shuttle: Flying For Me."

Notable Performances
Davidson has appeared and/or performed on The Today Show, Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends and The Strategy Room, Entertainment Tonight, and the nationally syndicated morning TV show, The Daily Buzz.

He performed at the 2010 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, as his alma mater Northwestern was playing Auburn. Davidson was a featured music pick in In Touch Weekly magazine's "Can't Miss Guide" in 2009, and an "Artist to Watch" on Clear Channel's iheartradio playlist, where his song "More Than I Can Give" charted at #6.

In May 2009, Davidson was featured on Oprah, due to their mutual love of Skype.

In April 2010, Davidson guest-starred as himself on the CBS daytime drama, The Bold and the Beautiful,^[13] where he performed a song written by his producer, Frank J. Myers, called "You're All I Ever Wanted".

In 2011, he returned to The Bold and the Beautiful to premiere his original song, "BLESSED" on a special Veterans Day episode. He later performed it at the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl in December, 2011 at Sam Boyd Stadium for 40,000 fans. The music video for the song debuted on CMT on July 4, 2012. It was also featured as part of the Boston Pops July 4 Spectacular.

In 2011, he became a vocalist on the Season 3 cast of The Singing Bee on CMT. He was a cast member for two years before the show was canceled in 2013.

He performed with Kristin Chenoweth for her Grand Ole Opry debut in 2011, as well as with her for 2011 CMA Music Festival at the Wildhorse Saloon and on television for the finale of CMT's Next Superstar.

He served as Master of Ceremonies and special entertainer to the Miss Louisiana USA, Miss Alabama USA, Miss South Carolina USA, and the Miss North Carolina USA pageants, all state preliminaries to Miss USA in Donald Trump's Miss Universe Organization, under the direction of RPM Productions.

On July 4, 2014, Davidson sang The Star-Spangled Banner before a crowd of 50,000 at Turner Field for the Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game, and on December 26 for the Memphis Grizzlies game versus the Houston Rockets

On May 25, 2015, Davidson sang at the annual American Veterans Center National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. televised live on Reelz, with Gary Sinese and Rita Cosby. That morning, he sang "Blessed" on WJLA-TV Washington.

Davidson played the role of "Maximilian Swayne" in the 2016 Hallmark Channel film, "The Ultimate Legacy", starring Raquel Welch. Brian Dennehy, Lee Meriwether, and Bill Cobbs. He sings his composition "Blessed" in the film. It premiered January 31, 2016 on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel.

On January 27, 2016, Davidson interviewed and performed "Blessed" on the Hallmark Channel's lifestyle show, The Home and Family Show.

In March, 2016, he performed a free concert at the West Palm Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center

Davidson has performed for the Atlanta Braves on July 4, 2014, as well as the Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers

Political involvement (Patriotism and Veterans Advocate)

Davidson has been a highly requested performer at many political events due to his song "Blessed" that was written to honor the American Armed Forces and veterans. As a result, many groups and politicians have asked him to sing at their events.

In 2012, Davidson was appointed by Presidential candidate and Governor Mitt Romney to the advisory board of a coalition called "Young Americans for Romney," chaired by Romney's son Craig, and lists eight young Congressmen on its team, and Jeb Bush Jr.

As a surrogate, Davidson performed at a number of campaign events for Governor Romney, raising awareness and particularly engaging first time voters in the 2012 presidential election. He performed the song "Blessed" on the third day of the 2012 Republican National Convention, and at the presidential debates in New York City and Palm Beach, Florida.

In 2013, Davidson sang at the Presidential Dinner at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

In April 2014, Davidson sang and spoke at the Republican Party Western Leadership Conference in Salt Lake City, with other keynote speakers Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Mia Love, and Reince Priebus.

In January 2015, he sang for the inauguration of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, which also featured Buddy Guy and Toby Keith.

He has performed twice for the Tennessee Republican Party's "Tennessee Statesmen's Dinner" in Nashville at Music City Center, with keynote speakers Governor Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

In 2016, Davidson performed The Star-Spangled Banner, his original patriotic song "Blessed," "Stand by Me", and "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables at the 2016 Palm Beach Republican Lincoln Dinner, which honors Abraham Lincoln at Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, with keynote speeches by Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

Discography

The Good Hurt EP (2002)
-More Than I Can Give
-Rain
-She's Not You

The Good Hurt (2013)
-Feels So Good
-More Than I Can Give
-You're All I Ever Wanted
-Blessed
-Over You
-Our Days In The Sun
-Crazy As Me
-Lay You Down
-Louisiana Girl
-Never Say Never
-Dangerous
-The One
-Say Goonight
-She's Not You
-With You
-Tupelo Honey

The American Gentleman (2016)
-The Lion Sleeps Tonight (featuring Jay Siegel's Tokens)
-I Cross My Heart
-She's Got a Way
-Stand By Me
-Blessed

Official website

http://www.beaudavidson.com

References