Chosen as the Music Artist of the Year 2022 by The Southland Music Line, the singing/songwriting/playing/performing/recording artist husband-wife duo of Ricky & Micol Davis, known internationally as Blue Mother Tupelo has a natural way of sharing their musical spirit in a celebration of real-life that can be a raucous & tender joy.
In late 2023, Blue Mother Tupelo released their 7th full-length album called, TAKE ME WITH YOU. Riding the cusp of Rock ’n’ Roll, Country Rock, Hill Country Blues, & Ballad, this is the most exciting album of BMT's career. BMT’s TAKE ME WITH YOU has consistently been chosen in the Top 10 Favorite Albums by music critic/writer Johnny Cole, reaching #1 on his chart (alongside new albums by The Rolling Stones, The Pretenders and Lucinda Williams to name a few). BMT’s TAKE ME WITH YOU album has also reached #15 on The Roots Music Report's Country Album Chart and #10 on the RMR Americana Country Album Chart; and songs from the new BMT album have charted in the RMR Top 20. Recorded mostly live in Nashville's Blackbird Studio and Hillbilly Central Studio, with additional tracking in BMT's JukeTonk Studio in Como, Mississippi, Blue Mother Tupelo rises to the occasion entreating rhythm and movement, freedom and fun. All is not frivolous, though. There is a deeper chapter that acknowledges a longing for love and a hunger for faith that hits on all sides of our being human. The soulfully charged energy comes from Ricky Davis (guitars, vocals, drums, production), Micol Davis (vocals, keyboard, percussion), Phil Skipper (bass), and Rick Shelton (drums); with the additional styling of Anthony Crawford (pedal steel) on one of the tunes.
You may have heard BMT’s music in some movies & across the airwaves.
One of the many live concert highlights of 2023 has been a sold-out show, “An Evening With Blue Mother Tupelo” at the legendary consummate listening room, The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rising up from the bluffs of Memphis and the mountains of east Tennessee, through the Mississippi Delta, Nashville, & now Como, Mississippi, Blue Mother Tupelo oozes a deep kind of blue southern soul & roots rock sound that's been described as truly Americana. BMT brings a seasoned edge to American Roots Rock. Often acoustic duo & sometimes band electrified, listening audiences experience an authentic connection on this refreshing music journey known as Blue Mother Tupelo.
Click here to listen to Blue Mother Tupelo's new album TAKE ME WITH YOU on Spotify
BMT has performed at numerous music venues across the U.S.A. and in Switzerland.
Here are some festivals where Blue Mother Tupelo has performed:
CMA Music Festival (Nashville, Tennessee)
King Biscuit Blues Festival (Helena, Arkansas)
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion (Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia)
The Big State Festival (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic (Waterford, Mississippi)
The Juke Joint Festival (Clarksdale, Mississippi)
G.A.B.B.A. Fest (Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association - Macon, Georgia)
The Winter Park Folk Festival (Winter Park, Colorado)
And here are some of the various songwriter festivals where BMT has also performed:
30A Songwriters Festival (Florida)
Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival (Nashville)
Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival (Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast)
Panama City Songwriters Festival (Panama City, Florida)
Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival (Pensacola Beach, Florida)
Key West Songwriters Festival (Key West, Florida)
And Blue Mother Tupelo has accompanied Mindy Smith on The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
MORE BACKGROUND ON BLUE MOTHER TUPELO:
Both Ricky and Micol came by their musical inclinations honestly. Micol, a preacher’s daughter, polished her natural talents as vocalist, pianist and writer in church choirs and the like. Eventually she earned her degree in music from the University of Tennessee and set out to make a living making music, first by teaching elementary school music.
Ricky’s musical family roots set him on the path at a young age. Inspired by down-home family jam sessions with his dad, uncles, aunt and cousins; he was drumming and strumming by age 7 and playing in just about every kind of band imaginable (Country, Rock & Blues cover bands; as well as Jazz, concert & marching bands while in school) making music in honkytonks, roadhouse joints, his aunt & uncle’s cabin, and in the Baptist church by his teen years. He was offered a Jazz scholarship to the University of Tennessee but opted to study Recording Industry Management at Middle Tennessee State University and earned his stripes by forming and playing in a handful of working bands before he & Micol formed Blue Mother Tupelo.
Ricky & Micol write, record & perform their original music with Blue Mother Tupelo. As well, they've been staff songwriters for a Music Row publisher in Nashville, and also do session work for film/TV/movies; and as well, they do sessions & recording projects for other artists (vocal & instrumental - and Ricky as a producer).
Ricky & Micol met in the vibrant music scene in Knoxville, Tennessee. A shared love of music proved to run much deeper; the pair married in 1994 and formed their musical duo called Blue Mother Tupelo a year later. They’ve been making beautiful music together ever since. Almost a year after Ricky and Micol Davis married, they began their musical life together as Blue Mother Tupelo at an open mic night at Sassy Ann's in Knoxville, Tennessee, which proved to be the beginning of something very special. They began doing regular shows in Knoxville, east Tennessee and western North Carolina, realizing a growing fanbase. After releasing their debut album, "My Side Of The Road" (now out-of-print/download only via iTunes), in 1997, they moved to Nashville in 1998. Their friend Mindy Smith, who was a Vanguard Records artist at the time, had just moved from Knoxville to Nashville a few months earlier, encouraged Ricky and Micol to move to Music City, where open mics, jam sessions and songwriter rounds found the duo ready for BMT's second album, "Delta Low ~ Mountain High". The Miramax film, "Daltry Calhoun", features Blue Mother Tupelo's dreamy rendition of the Paul Anka classic, "Put Your Head On My Shoulder". And the movie soundtrack features two BMT versions of "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"; the second being an uptempo foot-stomping bluesy version. Their album, "Love Live ~ 5 Songs From The Road", showcases some live favorites recorded between 2001 and 2006, and highlights BMT's penchant for spontaneous musical sincerity. Blue Mother Tupelo’s album “Heaven & Earth" (featuring 10 songs written by Ricky & Micol Davis) debuted at #2 behind Kris Kristofferson’s album on the EuroAmericana Chart; and reached #5 on Americana radio in the USA, and remained in the Top 40 of Roots Music Report's "Roots Rock" Chart for a year. Ricky & Micol Davis co-wrote the song, "Playin' With Fire" with Country artist Katie Armiger. Katie Armiger’s single release of the song reached the Top 50 on the U.S. Country Airplay Chart and remained there for weeks. Blue Mother Tupelo's album "Only Sunshine", featuring 10 original songs was announced by Something Else Reviews as "Best of The Year (Non-Jazz)" album.
Blue Mother Tupelo’s sound is a Southern Soul stew with Universal appeal – Mississippi stomp, earthy funk, bittersweet melancholy, sunny soul-rock, Appalachian attitude.
Blue Mother Tupelo Nominations & Awards received:
Americana HEMI Awards nomination: “Best Band/Duo”
Nashville’s Music City Blues Awards nominations:
"Acoustic Blues Act of the Year" (five consecutive years)
Micol Davis “Female Vocalist Of The Year" (four consecutive years)
Micol Davis “Keyboard Player of the Year"
Knoxville, Tennessee’s Metro Pulse Readers' Poll nominations:
“Best Blues Band” (nine consecutive years)
Micol Davis “Best Female Vocalist” (five consecutive years)
Ricky Davis “Best Guitarist”
Ricky Davis is endorsed by and plays: National Res-O-Phonic Guitars, GHS Strings, and Martin Guitars
https://www.bluemothertupelo.com
Damn Ole’ Cool Breeze & John Krupa Project’ 
Delta Blues Museum Arts & Education Students 
James 'Super Chikan' Johnson (solo) 
Joe Austin & The Tallahatchies 
Miss Australia 'Honeybee' Jones 
