Zsa' Davis: The Journey is the Thing

For Zsa’ (pronounced Ja) Davis, music is a calling. It’s the thing that’s been ingrained in her since birth. The child of a pastor and a minister of music, she grew up in church choirs, pews, and rehearsals. By the time she was 5, she was learning the piano. By the time she was 13, she was a Minister of Music all her own. “I was teaching the choir songs, playing them on Sunday mornings. I did that all through college. Even in high school, I had a full-time job playing for a church.”

When she wanted to venture into R&B, it came with some hesitation. Given her background, she wasn’t sure how her mother or grandmother would respond to her performing secular music. “I know how my grandmother is. She believed that we don't need to be doing nothing if it ain't glorifying God. So I never explored it until college.” 

While in college, she began writing songs to tracks her producer uncle would send her. She would spend hours with her uncle and his music partner writing in the studio they created in her grandmother’s basement. “We would just go down there for hours just making music.”

During her college career, she would often travel to Memphis to sing whenever given the opportunity. “Nobody really gave me an opportunity right off because they didn't know who I was. After a year or so, I started singing a lot more in the Mid-South.”

Since then, her career has progressed steadily. She has had the chance to sing for Vincent Tharpe and Knossos, made appearances at the Stella Awards, and sung behind legends such as Marvin Sapp, Kiera Sherard, and Monica, among others. 

After many years of finding her voice, she now leans more into R&B and neo soul with a mix of funk. The singles she has released over the years have been a combination of genres, some reminiscent of the sounds from the 60s to the 80s pulled from finding inspiration from artists like Prince, Johnny Taylor, and Aretha Franklin. 

Her latest single, “Feelings for You”, is no different. The upbeat is a love-laced ballad written about her boyfriend at the time. “I didn't tell him that I was writing. It just kind of came to me while I was there. All I was hearing was the music. I came back to it months later. I didn't even finish the songwriting there. But then when I knew I had it, I was like, you know, let me just go into the studio.”

A meticulous and slow writer, Zsa' often finds herself taking her time with writing in order to “make sure that people can feel what I'm saying. I'm never in a rush to write something [or put something out].”

Her patience has left her with a full catalog waiting to be released in the next year. “I have definitely recorded enough songs for an album.” She hopes when people hear her music, they feel an emotional connection to it as she explores themes of grief, love, and relationships. “I’ve experienced love on many different spectrums. I want people to be able to sit and listen because they can feel my heart through my songs.” 

While keeping details of her upcoming releases to herself, she does hint that they listeners should expect a mixture of her soulful church background to be intertwined with neo soul and funk in the new year. "God gives me things in spurts [so] I have a lot of different material."

With a vast catalog of material waiting to be released, she waits in anticipation for her audience to know her on a deeper level and experience a part of the journey she's been on. "I can say have lived through these stories. We're on this journey because I want people to feel connected to me."