Guy Davis wants to take in as much as he gives out during his time in Southern Arizona this week.
The seasoned blues musician, specializing in acoustic down-home roots music, will play the Javarita Coffee House at Sahuarita's Good Shepherd United Church of Christ tonight.
When he's not performing, he'll be touring the border area with the Good Shepherd's senior minister, the Rev. Randy J. Mayer, and the humanitarian group The Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans.
The plan is to take Davis to Sasabe and Nogales, with stops at some of the desert water stations set up for migrants, and the wall that separates the United States from Mexico.
"Living in the Bronx, I am a little insulated and isolated from this stuff," Davis said in a recent phone interview. "When you get to a place and you get to talk to the people, you get to hear these stories close up."
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Davis hopes to learn a thing or two about this hot-button issue, and the Samaritans hope Davis comes away with a knowledge that he can share with others.
"We want to bring artists to the border and help them understand the situation," said Mayer, who co-founded the Samaritans. "The border region has a special culture that is being trampled on. These artists have an audience and voice that can help teach and tell the story of what is going on here in ways that we might not be able to.
"Guy's music often sings about the human condition and human suffering. That is why we are bringing him in, to let him tell this story in a more authentic way."
Davis' ability to tell a story has led the 58-year-old guitarist, son of actors and civil-rights activists Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, on a vibrant career path, including time spent in music, theater and on the silver screen.
He comes to the Tucson area with a wide range of original and traditional songs in his repertoire, including tracks from his latest album, "Sweetheart Like You."
He spoke to the Star about his plans in Arizona and the state of blues music from his home in New York City.
What is your current position on the immigration issue?
"I can understand both sides of this issue. It would be ideal if we did not feel that we had to turn people away, yet I understand there are issues of drugs and other harmful substances coming into this country across the border.
"Even if folks have to be turned around, we as human beings have to make sure they get there safely and that their plight is understood."
When were you first exposed to the blues?
"When I first heard the blues, it was being played by white college boys. It was not played in my home growing up. We heard things like Harry Belafonte and stuff on the radio, like jazz. I wasn't being lied to. It just wasn't popular in my home at the time.
"The people who lived the blues turned out to be people like my grandparents. The blues I grew up with was more in the form of stories of the people whose lives were made up of the blues."
You came up leading a new pack of contemporary blues musicians, including Alvin Youngblood Hart, Chris Thomas King and Corey Harris. As this generation gets older, what is your take on the future of blues music?
"The blues is an endangered species. The people who invented it are dying out. The roots of the blues are in danger of being lost or forever misunderstood.
"The blues is like cultural DNA. It is a record of black folks' history in this country; therefore, it makes it part of a record of the overall history of this country. There are stories, a feeling coming from the people who invented it, that is getting moved out of the picture."
Do you see any hope?
"I think it is being salvaged on an individual basis. There are musicians doing blues in schools, telling about the history and letting kids get their hands on the instruments. It is being preserved in small increments."
What do you hope to find on your tour of the border?
"Right now, I am just trying to be an observer and see what my mind and my heart tell me."
IF YOU GO
Guy Davis in concert
• When: 7 tonight.
• Where: Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 17750 S. La Cañada Drive, Sahuarita.
• Tickets: $10 at the door.
• Info: thegoods hepherducc.com
Gerald M. Gay, a former Star reporter, is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
