Joshua Davis / Tolėdo

A tried-and-true Michigan musician, Joshua Davis is set to release a new album, The Way Back Home, in September. Produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, The Way Back Home is Davis’s first album since his 2015 appearance as a top-three finalist on season eight of NBC’s The Voice. The 11 original Americana songs featured on the album reflect an honest, hardworking family man scribing scenes of life through dark, broken, hopeful, and triumphant times.

Davis was raised in the urban landscapes of Detroit, but spent summers in the wilderness on the southern tip of Lake Superior in Marquette. The Way Back Home follows a series of singular recordings (Fool Rooster, Magnolia Belles, A Miracle of Birds) by the prolific songwriter who has shared the stage with American folk icons such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Greg Brown, and Abigail Washburn. Recorded in East Lansing by legendary engineer Glenn Brown, The Way Back Home highlights Davis’s longtime collaboration with bassist Dominic John Davis, pianist Mike Lynch, and drummer Mike Shimmin.

Already a heavily touring/recording artist with his previous band, Steppin’ In It (which released five albums), and as a solo act, getting a call from The Voice was completely out of the blue. After being convinced by his wife, Davis signed up for an incredible six months in the national television spotlight. He went on to sing high-profile duets with Sheryl Crow (“Give It to Me”) and Adam Levine (“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”).

Daniel Alvarez de Toledo and Jordan Dunn-Pilz have been writing music together since 2009. Now the duo spearheads Tolėdo—an indie folk group based in Boston. Blending their singer-songwriter roots with a contemporary folk sound, this young group presents a mature understanding of the genre with hybrid sounds and emotional stories.