MIDDLETOWN RESIDENT MONTRE DAVIS FINDS SUCCESS WITH LINKIN’ BRIDGE Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided
For as long as he can remember, Montre Davis has loved to sing. Growing up, he listened to Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, The Beatles and Sam Cooke - the father of soul. The first time he saw a video of Elvis Presley performing, he was mesmerized and said, “I want to do that!” Though he adored music, he also pursued another passion - cooking. “I started cooking when I was 10 years old,” Davis says. “My grandmother taught me how. I became a cook, and I thought that if I could make it in the music business, I could buy myself a restaurant and fund it with the music money. If I didn’t make it with the music, I could start a restaurant and fund my music with my restaurant money.” Fast forward to 2015, when a man named Darius Towns contacted Davis to inform him of an audition opportunity to create a prank video called “Brothers Bring the Hood to the ‘Burbs at Christmas.” In the video, Davis and his friends, dressed in hoodies, knock on doors in the suburbs, and proceed to beautifully belt out Christmas carols.
“The video was all about crushing stereotypes - the whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ type of message,” says Davis, a Middletown resident.
Davis says forming a band is not an easy process. Not only do members have to make sure all voices harmonize beautifully, but there is also the mixing of personalities.
When the video scored half a billion views, the guys realized they needed to form a band.
“Everyone has a different attitude and opinion,” Davis says. “Inevitably, you’ve got two guys who want to do something and two guys who don’t, or three who do and one who doesn’t. We just take a vote and it works out.”
Davis, a baritone soul singer, paired with his cousin Shon “China” Lacy, a rhythmic, gritty tenor, along with Ralph “Big Rome” Kimbrough, a vocal powerhouse who sings first tenor, and Ekoe Alexanda. In November of 2018, Elliott “The Kid” Nichols, an energetic and versatile vocalist, joined the group, and in December of 2019 they added Louisville-based beatboxer Raul “Rayul” Lopez. When choosing a name for their band, the men thought back to all the people who reached out to them following their prank video to say how much they appreciated the message about not judging others. Some even called them heroes for doing their part to crush stereotypes. “That’s what we wanted to always do - be the bridge that brings people together by way of music, no matter the color of skin or background,” Davis says. “Like a linking bridge but without the ‘g’ in it. We all loved it.”
When determining the type of music the band would create, the men longed to be different. “We wanted to do music that was not always in our wheelhouse and not always what people would expect from us,” Davis says. “We sang soul and hip-hop when we first started out, but we were an instant crossover success when people realized that we could do anything.” The band writes their own songs. In fact, it’s not uncommon for music or lyrics to materialize in their subconscious. “Sometimes I’ll wake up and write down words that have popped into my head,” Davis says. “I’ll get my voice recorder out and sing.”
6 / MIDDLETOWN MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2020 / atMiddletown.com
