Guy Davis

Guy Davis (born May 12, 1952) is an American blues guitarist, banjo player, and actor. He is the second child and the only son of the actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

Davis says his blues music is inspired by the Southern speech of his grandmother. Though raised in the New York City area, he grew up hearing accounts of life in the rural South from his parents and especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and watching other musicians. One night on a train from Boston to New York, he picked up finger picking from a nine-fingered guitar player. His first exposure to the blues was at a summer camp in Vermont run by Pete Seeger’s brother John Seeger, where he learned how to play the five-string banjo.