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When guitarist, singer and songwriter Garrick Davis takes to the stage with his fellow musicians on April 28 at Redwood City’s Club Fox, he will give the audience two things: music and a message.
The concert has roots in a personal tragedy. Davis is organizing it in memory of his late son, Zachary Davis-Price, a nursing student who passed away in 2020 due to an opioid overdose. That’s why the concert is called Zach Fest.
Bands that will perform are Garrick Davis World Blues and The Good Time Collective. Guest speakers will talk about health, longevity and addiction recovery.
“The pandemic isolated him from a lot of things,” Davis said of Zach. For instance, his favorite band, Phish, wasn’t performing due to the pandemic; he used to watch them live in New York every New Year’s Eve. Moreover, just weeks before his passing, Zach’s close friend died by suicide. “So there was a lot of despair obviously in that period of time,” Davis said.
Zach Fest honors the spirit of community, something that was important to Zach because it’s at the heart of both music as well as addiction recovery.
“He was a music fanatic, he developed himself into being a great musician,” Davis said. “Zach went to lots of concerts. It was important that he see bands play live, because that’s when you can really tell if a band is good … Zach loved the community of concert-goers.” He enjoyed going to Dave Matthews and Bruce Springsteen concerts, Davis said.
This will be the second edition of Zach Fest. The first event was held in April 2022, as a memorial concert at the Fox Theatre. Nearly 500 people attended.
“It was a very moving experience,” Davis said.
The concert he tried putting together last year didn’t work out due to lack of ticket sales and inadequate promotions.
“Last year I realized that we need to do something different … it has to be some kind of cause, that we will do some good,” he said. That’s how it transitioned from a memorial concert to a community benefit concert.
Through the show Davis will raise funds for two nonprofit beneficiaries this year: The Tim Griffith Foundation, which provides services to people affected by addiction, violence and loss, and Kara Grief Support, which provides help to the bereaved. Funds will be raised through a silent auction at the concert.
This selection of nonprofits has deep ties with Davis’ own story. He received grief support from Kara for a year after Zach’s passing. The counseling he received there helped him immensely, he said, and he grew close to his counselor. He was keen to express his gratitude by contributing to the organization in some way.
He also felt the need to help people in their addiction recovery journey.
“I wanted to find a way that maybe this concert could sponsor someone who needed to get a bed for recovery, find a place to be so that they could get clean,” Davis said. Through Jim Santucci, the executive director of Kara, he got in touch with the late Tim Griffith’s mother Stacey Redman, who started the foundation in Griffith’s name and memory.
“Zach was really into doing something of good to help people; he’d always been that way,” Davis said. “And this is what I’m trying to do here — I’m trying to make music, bring people together and do good things.”
Davis, who has lived in Redwood City since 1986, will be moving to a village called Moha in Hungary to continue his career. “My wife is Hungarian,” he said. “She just retired (as a dental assistant) and wanted to move back,” something she’d always planned on doing. Davis didn’t think she would go through with her plan of retiring in her home country, but is glad she did.
He is confident about growing his career in Eastern Europe.
“It’s just a different art scene and music culture there, as opposed to America. The attitude there is if you’re good, they don’t care how old you are!” he said, pleased with the fact that people there understand the “language of blues,” a genre his own music is founded in.
Speaking of language, he’s been trying to learn Hungarian for a while.
“It’s a crazy challenge!” he said.
Davis is committed to continuing Zach Fest even after moving.
“My goal is actually to be able to come back here and put it on,” he said. “I would like to be able to do this consistently and I would like to see it grow.”
Davis’ fellow musicians are aligned with his vision for Zach Fest. Artis “AJ” Joyce, bassist for Davis’ band, said the concert is partly about spreading awareness about addiction, “a problem we have in the country that the government doesn’t seem that concerned about.”
AJ had a good relationship with Zach.
“He’s Garrick’s son but was a good friend to me, too. He was just a really great guy, a little quiet, soft spoken, the opposite of me!” he said about Zach, who was also a member of the band. “He used to help me through the gigs; a lot of times there were parts of songs that I couldn’t remember and I’d just ask him and he had a real cool way of letting me know what the part was so that I could get to it and make it through the gig.”
The two shared a camaraderie that he now recalls fondly.
“I used to tease him all the time. My career has been in the blues and he used to play more modern music, like young stuff. He was aware of dubstep, which is a genre that not a lot of people my age are into, and I used to always tease him about playing dubstep,” said AJ.
For him, the days leading up to Zach Fest ’24 are understandably busy.
“For me, I’m reviewing constantly just to make sure that I have what we’re going to do in my mind and I’m ready for it,” he said.
The music they will play at the concert, AJ said, is not really genre-defined.
“It’s not rock, it’s not punk, it’s not soul, it’s not jazz, it’s not country, but it’s vibrant, energetic music that incorporates most of those ideas,” he said. “Art is in the eyes or ears of the beholder. Come with an open mind.”
Zach Fest ’24 Community Benefit Concert takes place April 28, 6 p.m., at Club Fox, 2209 Broadway St., Redwood City. Tickets are $55 until April 26; $60 starting April 27. For more information, visit gdworldblues.com.