Daryl Davis and Josh Christina: Piano Rock Marvels

Award winning Daryl Davis absorbed the style of blues musicians from the Mississippi Delta who had migrated north. In 1980, he earned a bachelor of music degree from Howard University, where he was a member of the Howard University Choir and Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Davis "was mentored by legendary pianists Pinetop Perkins and Johnnie Johnson, who both claimed him as their godson and praised his ability to master a piano style that was popular long before he was born", according to his Kennedy Center profile.

Davis was Chuck Berry’s band leader and piano player for a quarter of a century and has shared the stage with Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King and Muddy Waters to name a few. He has toured all 50 states and around the world.

Every artist has their influences, but Josh Christina is one of the few who can say he’s won a seal of approval from the peers of his heroes. Christina is living proof that while heroes are remembered, legends never die. Quite literally the last of a dying breed, the piano rock phenomenon is carrying the torch passed down by the genre’s founding fathers; the legacy left behind by pioneers Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and more will live on through Josh Christina. The piano-wielding front man combines the soul of what was once the most controversial musical movement of its time with his own distinct, magnetic performance style, reaching audiences nationwide and beyond. Making his television debut on Ireland’s Late Late Show, Christina soon recognized the limitless impact of his art. From recording at the iconic Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis, where he played a piano once blessed by the hands of Jerry Lee Lewis himself, Christina has fostered an unparalleled respect for his craft. Through profound tracks like “Old Piano” and “Rockstar,” he pays homage to the ones who made him the artist he is today.

Daryl Davis proclaimed, “in 20th century 1955, it took several young men to create and define Rock ‘n’ Roll. 65 years later and it only takes one young man who embodies all the pioneers to introduce it to the 21st century– that man is Josh Christina.”