Welcome
Welcome to World Blues Letters.
For more than fifty years, music has taken me into concert halls, bars, clubs, schools, festivals, senior centers, mental institutions, homeless shelters, recording studios, and conversations with remarkable people from many walks of life. Along the way, I've learned that songs often begin long before the first note is played.
These Letters are where I share those stories.
You'll find reflections on my life as an immigrant to Hungary, the stories behind the songs, observations about creativity and culture, and the joys and challenges of building a meaningful life through music.
Whether we've met at a concert or you're discovering this work for the first time, I'm grateful you're here.
I hope these Letters become an ongoing conversation.
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Letter #1 - July 2026
Thank you for joining me for World Blues Letters, Edition #1.
I hope my experiences as both an immigrant and a musician since moving from California's Bay Area to Hungary in June 2024 will be interesting enough to share—and, over time, help build a community around.
The transition has been challenging, but I seem to have found the right paths to continue pursuing music while meeting remarkable people from around the world, especially here in Budapest, where I now have an apartment in the heart of the city, but split time between there and a quiet property in the countryside village of Moha, which is less than one hour away by train, where my wife is very happy to center herself and call “home”.
The question I'm asked most often is, "What made you decide to come to Hungary?"
The simple answer is that my wife, Zsuzsanna, is a Hungarian-American dual citizen. After a 30-year career in the dental field in the United States, she wanted to come home upon retirement.
The longer answer begins much earlier.
When I met Zsuzsa through one of the first online dating websites in 2007, I was already planning to move to Europe. I was looking for new horizons beyond the familiar boundaries of the Bay Area. My son, Zach, was fifteen years old and growing into an exceptional young musician, and I believed that a move abroad could expand both of our worlds. I simply felt my chances of building something meaningful were greater outside the United States than by staying where I was.
At the time, I was 49 years old and single for the first time in twenty-six years. I had built a successful private guitar teaching business, traveling to students' homes throughout the Bay Area, and I gave myself one to two years to pay off my debts before making the move.
In 2006, I attended MIDEM, the international music business conference in Cannes, France. I returned in 2007 with a renewed sense of purpose, met people from Germany who believed in my music, and began work on what would become my third album, Expose Your Self.
If life had continued on that path, everything might have turned out differently.
But life has a way of rewriting our plans.
Then came 2008—and with it, the Great Recession.
From the Road
World Blues at Sabar Winery
Káptalantóti, Hungary • June 27, 2026
Our concert at the beautiful Sabar Winery was a surprisingly wonderful experience. Beyond the music itself, I felt something even more meaningful beginning to take shape.
Sly booked the performance. Márton ("Márci") brought the PA system. Márci’s friend, guitarist Zsolt Bende, drove us in his perfectly sized van and, since he had brought one of his beautiful handmade guitars, joined us for a song in each set. It was a pleasure sharing the stage with him. Fortunately, I had packed two amplifiers, so I was able to play in stereo for the evening and Zsolt plugged into the extra amp for his contributions.
Something that had never happened to me before in more than fifty years of performing. It began as soon as I woke that morning wondering how to communicate with the driver I didn’t know yet to work out the schedule to pick up the band members. I looked at my phone and there was a message with all of the information I needed concerning our schedule. Also, we didn’t have a mic for the PA Márci was bringing - Sly figured that one out for us!
So many of the responsibilities that usually fell on my shoulders were being carried by the people around me.
It wasn't something I expected, nor is it something I'll ever take for granted. But it meant a great deal to me. Their willingness to invest their time, energy, and equipment wasn't just practical support—it was a vote of confidence in what we're building together.
Moments like these remind me that a band isn't simply a group of musicians playing songs. It's a group of people choosing to believe in the same vision.
What I'm Listening To: Mick Ronson
What I'm Listening To:
If you're a guitar fan—or simply curious about one of the great unsung architects of rock guitar—these two short videos above are well worth your time.
Throughout middle school and high school, I was drawn to music with crunchy, distorted guitars. Those were my formative years as both a guitarist and a songwriter, and I was captivated by musicians who inspired me to write and perform my own original songs.
While wandering through YouTube this past spring, I rediscovered someone who had quietly shaped my musical voice alongside the usual giants—Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Cream. I came across the documentary above about the life of Mick Ronson, who played on early David Bowie albums as well as the Bowie-produced band “Mott the Hoople”
I saw Ronson perform once in San Francisco at a club called The Old Waldorf, thanks to every young musician's dream friend, Greg Morlan. "Eg," as we called him, had an enormous influence on my musical tastes from high school into young adulthood. He was always the first to buy the newest Led Zeppelin or Who album, and we'd gather in his room for a proper listening session—with the appropriate "enhancements" close at hand.
Ronson was touring with Ian Hunter (formerly singer of Mott the Hoople), and he was every bit as extraordinary as I could have hoped.
Over more than fifty years, my harmony, rhythm, and songwriting have grown increasingly sophisticated. But at the heart of my guitar playing are still the same ingredients that first inspired me: power chords, Chuck Berry riffs filtered through The Rolling Stones, Hendrix double stops, octaves inspired by Curtis Mayfield and Wes Montgomery, and the glorious raw unpredictability of distortion, feedback and spontaneous improvisation.
Lately, I've been reintroducing that controlled chaos into Garrick Davis World Blues performances whenever the music invites it. Noise, sustain, and feedback aren't mistakes to me—they're part of what made electric guitar feel magical when I was a kid, and they still do today.
Mick Ronson left us far too soon, but his influence lives on in countless musicians. Beyond his remarkable playing, what moves me most is the way so many people describe him: talented, humble, generous, and kind.
In the end, those may be the “greatest hits” that matter most.
Rest in peace, Mick Ronson.
Upcoming Shows
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Closing Thought
I have much to be grateful for—including the challenges.
I've come to appreciate that there will never be a time to rest on my laurels. For me, living on yesterday's accomplishments is not enough. There is, however, every reason to slow down. To look back with gratitude. To notice what surrounds me today. To listen with intention. To let feeling become a guide. I've come to believe that every day is a special occasion. Life keeps inviting us forward, and there is a quiet freedom in accepting that invitation.
Moving to Hungary after spending the first sixty-six years of my life in the United States has given me an unexpected opportunity to grow and begin again. I still have the desire to create, to connect, and to contribute, but something about that desire has changed in ways I don't yet fully understand. I'm curious to discover where those changes will lead.
What excites me most is the feeling that I can still become better—better as a musician, a songwriter, a husband, a storyteller, and simply as a human being. Perhaps that is what continues to draw me toward the unknown.
I hope you'll join me on the road ahead as I perform music, tell stories, and meet people whose names I may not always remember, but whose smiles, kindness, and shared moments I'll carry with me long after we've parted.
I continue to aim high, inspired by the family, heroes, and musical influences that shaped my upcoming album and companion book, The Dignity Project.
Perhaps you also feel there is something only you can contribute to this world. If so, don't wait. Begin today.
With love,
Garrick Davis
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