John Paul Davis

My name is John Paul Davis. I write poetry, build things on the web with code, make music and visual art. I love making things. This website is mostly about the things I make and do.

  1. A California Juniper in Balboa Park
    Run-on Sentence
    Posted on in Photography
  2. Dynamic, shapeshifting compositions that are also warm, catchy tunes with oblique memorable lyrics, sweetly sung, examining both inner turmoil & middle-aged revelation & joy.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp

  3. Sea Lavender in a front yard garden on 30th St in San Diego
    The Rays
    Posted on in Photography
  4. Lyrical, inventive, gentle interplay, tightly interlocked & playfully loose, between three masters of their instruments. Simultaneously adventurous & contemplative.

    Listen to the album on YouTube

  5. Resisting Spittlegib

    Friend,

    I’m trying to maintain some consistency here with this newsletter, and my informal goal is to send a little something out weekly, which goal feels, at times, improbable to me, because a voice inside me keeps insisting that I won’t have anything to... Continue Reading Resisting Spittlegib

  6. Pnceil cactus with pale orange stalks and purple drosantheum in a rock garden on Park Blvd in San Diego
    Texture vs. color
    Posted on in Photography
  7. Buckley's versatile, shapeshifting, aching singing & dexterous, stirring guitar playing elevate these gorgeously-written tunes of longing to emotional & spiritual transcendence.

    Listen to the album on YouTube

  8. Rose blossom with peach, yellow, cream and pink in its petals in the Balboa Park Rose Garden
    Honey Bouquet
    Posted on in Photography
  9. Infectious melodies & a swinging, nimble, boisterous band imbue these lean, expertly-crafted songs of losing love & finding oneself with joy in home, & the glittering world

    Listen to the album on YouTube

  10. Drosanthemum on a hill on Georgia St in Hillcrest, San Deigo
    Rise Rise Rise
    Posted on in Photography
  11. Necessary & sometimes difficult truths & steadfast resilience delivered in exquisite lyricism sung sweetly over finely-crafted, warm, textured beats.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp

  12. Pink and purple marguerite daisies with droplets of rainwater on them, in a home garden on Robinson Ave in San Diego
    Bursting
    Posted on in Photography
  13. Bright, jubilant singable songs of gratitude, reflection & joy in the face of mortality backed with arresting, winding, textured layers.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp

  14. Two shrubs decorated and trimmed to look like elephants on either side of a path between the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park
    Sentinels
    Posted on in Photography
  15. Deftly, gorgeously layered eclectic instrumentation supports the strophic songs' backbone of acoustic guitar & Sam Beam's impressionistic lyrics tenderly, achingly sung.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp

  16. Norfolk Island Pines in Balboa Park
    There Is Always Dancing
    Posted on in Photography
  17. Bird of Paradise on Park Blvd in San Diego
    Mimic
    Posted on in Photography
  18. The Uncomputable

    Recently (like, very recently, as in mere minutes ago) I responded to a friend who is contemplating starting their own newsletter but who also is feeling apprehensive about the prospect by saying “The world is full of voices and forces that will tell you not to write. Don’t li... Continue Reading The Uncomputable

  19. Hibiscus blossom in Balboar Park
    Evidently
    Posted on in Photography
  20. Heartbreak, anger, pain & longing fill this album of baroque, amibitous, sweeping moods achingly inhabited by Wainwright's powerful, emotive singing.

    Listen to the album on YouTube

  21. Stiff Bottlebrush against a blue sky in Balboa Park
    Exuberance
    Posted on in Photography
  22. Wit, wordplay, charm & character all woven together in these deceptively complex but catchy tunes. Sting is an arresting singer, baring his heart & having fun doing it.

    Listen to the album on YouTube

  23. California Tower against a blue sky with a few clouds, and two palm trees in the foreground, in Balboa Park
    Aspirations
    Posted on in Photography
  24. Expertly balanced between sincere, emotive philosophy & witty, cutting satire, captivatingly sung, set against gorgeous, lush arrangements.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp

  25. The brothers Gutiérrez play warmly, exploratoritavely, kaleidoscopically, expansively over spare percussion to craft a sound larger than the sum of its parts.

    Listen to the album on Bandcamp