John Davenport will perform songs from his new album at RiverFront Live on Aug. 1. (Submitted photo)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – When John Davenport steps before the RiverFront Live audience in downtown Port Clinton on Friday, Aug. 1, at 6 p.m., he will perform original music from the album he just finished recording on July 21, called “Songs from My Backdoor.” It’s full of songs he never liked.

Until now.

“’Songs from My Backdoor’ has songs I never liked, songs I never finished,” Davenport said. “But the last three or four years, I started working on them. These songs have now become my favorite songs.”

Davenport recorded the album at Galena Street Records, a recording studio in Sandusky owned by David Givens, a bass guitarist and founding member of the 1960s hard rock band, Zephyr. The band was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

“David played with Carly Simon and was in the recording studio ready to record with Jimi Hendrix when Hendrix died,” Davenport said. “With David’s help, ‘Songs from My Backdoor’ became a really incredible album.”

Davenport said he “rewrote and rewrote” the album’s songs until they were ready “for the listener’s ear.”

“It’s all about the hook,” he said. “If you can get them to tap their feet and hum along, it’s good.”

The album’s theme is about enjoying life.

“The theme is ‘fly.’ My wife and I are in the health industry, and I try to get people to get strong, to trust in themselves, and fly,” he said.

The album includes a song called “Coming Home” that is based on his experiences living far from home when he served in the military.

“It’s about coming home on leave. Coming home for me was such an exciting event because I missed my family,” he said.

A song about aging called “I Don’t Want to Wake Up Dead,” is a fun, upbeat song with a serious message about enjoying life.

“I’m getting older, and I don’t want to wake up dead and realize I missed life,” he said. “The songs on this album are about everything I live.”

The album is simply Davenport, his guitar, and his original music. He even does all his own harmonies, but it’s just a portion of his work. He has a repertoire of 300 songs, and 72 of them are on Spotify and iTunes.

“Plus, I have 13 coming soon from this album,” he said. “And I have two albums ready to record. The next two are island party songs.”

Davenport hopes his music will soon reach an even bigger audience with Givens’ help.

“One of the things David is trying to do is send my music out west. He’s hoping it will be picked up by the music industry,” Davenport said.

For now, he keeps playing around Ottawa County, and he’s keeping busy with his new business, JD Island Destinations, which gives historic tours of the Lake Erie islands on his 33-foot Boston Whaler.

More information on Davenport’s music can be found at www.islandsongwriter.com. His music can be found on Spotify under John Davenport and John Crash Davenport. More information on RiverFront Live’s free Friday performances in downtown Port Clinton can be found on the RiverFront Live Group Facebook page.