On Broadway - Kyle Austin Davis and Baked Goods

On Broadway is a bi-monthly web series that delves into the food memories of the talented musicians of Broadway in downtown Nashville. Every other week, we’ll pair those memories with a relevant recipe and information on how to listen to each musician’s material. Our aim is to connect the passion of food to the passion of music—two mediums that evoke instant reactions and memories, and remind us of the incredible people that pour their heart out every day to make their living in our backyard.

I moved to Nashville exactly one year ago. I came, as most do, with a dream. I longed to be a food writer and had a serious passion for music. I had spent a near-obnoxious amount of time on Broadway the year before, flying in every two and a half months just to soak it in; not the partying, but the voices and the talent -- like an invisible defibrillator to my chest that I could only spend so much time without. Shortly after relocating, I thought hard (more like obsessed) about the similarities between food and music and this column was born.

Kyle Austin Davis is the embodiment of this column. He is so passionate about both food and music that you feel it in his very presence; in the air around him. I was excited about this interview from the jump, since his enthusiasm was potent at the very mention of it. And let me tell you – it did not disappoint.

Here are some things about Kyle: He looks like he just stepped off a major tour with Mötley Crüe or off the set of the popular Brad Pitt film, Rock Star. Except it isn’t contrived or forced – it simply is who he is. He would dress that way even if he were an accountant and it works for him. As a bonus- he’s insufferably humble and genuine.

Though he is now a professional musician, Kyle’s earliest memories are centered around food. His parents bought a restaurant in Texas when he was just six years old - the brick and mortar had been there for over one hundred years- servicing people from all over, including Bonnie and Clyde. “I grew up there and was raised by all the people in the restaurant,” he muses. By eight years old, he was waking up early in the morning with his dad to make things by hand, thus beginning his appreciation for such things. “One of my first jobs was pressing fried pie dough,” he muses. “[It was] my dad’s specialty. And the coolest thing with that is that he never had a recipe. Whenever he showed me, he said, ‘Kyle, I can’t tell you the recipe, I can just tell you what it feels like.’ So we’d make the ball, we’d knead the dough.. and that was always the coolest thing to me. It was magic. He was the only one who knew how to do it. And so, he would teach me.”

I’m gonna repeat that for you folks. I can’t tell you the recipe, I can just tell you what it feels like. Ugh, just put my heart strings through a pasta crank why don’t you. This is the beauty and the magic of cooking summed up in one sentence and I am eating it up so fast I’m about to ask for seconds.

Apparently, Kyle’s parents taught him to be passionate about whatever he did. He started piano in Kindergarten and hated it because it was too rigid. But at age fourteen, he felt the call to return to the keys. “There was a movie from ‘85 or ‘86- a Jerry Lee Lewis film. I saw this guy play with such ferocity and I was like, that’s it! That’s what I want to do. I sat down at the piano and tried to mimic what I saw. He would kick the bench and he would stand up on the piano and he would light it on fire and it was the coolest thing to me in the world. From that moment on I dedicated every second to learning that. I would stay up and watch YouTube videos all night and anybody who’s ever lived in the woods like how I grew up knows how slow the internet connection is. It took a lot of time to watch any videos online. I would wait forever just to watch a thirty-second video about how to do something on piano. And thank God my parents were either deaf or they were super patient because I would play through the night.”

Kyle is from Mineola, a “small, unassuming” town in East Texas. It was a dry town until Kyle turned nineteen. “You still can’t buy a bottle of Jack Daniels,” he says. “You can buy beer and wine but that’s it.” About two years ago, he knew it was time for a musical change and to pursue his passion on a professional level (and maybe go somewhere that makes a decent cocktail). “I had visited Nashville in January of 2017 with my mom and dad and I was playing an open mic at Puckett’s in Leiper’s Fork. I ended up meeting a couple people that are still my best friends in the city. Before I knew it, I was playing in a band with these guys and sleeping in my car because I had no apartment. All I knew was I was in this band and I was supposed to be in Nashville. I put my name in for an apartment and they said it would be about 6 months, but 4 days later they called and said they had a spot for me. I had an air mattress that I bought from Target and a tiger painting that I bought from a re-sale shop and that was it.” Three months later he was opening for Chase Rice. Three months after that, he was playing with him. “Within eight months of not knowing anyone and not having a place to live, that one open mic in Leiper’s Fork changed my life.” God, I love Nashville.

His philosophy is “I believe in the moments between moments. That’s where the magic truly lies in everything.” (I had to take a swig of my beer. Who is this kid??) And honestly, it couldn’t sum Kyle up more. He refuses to take anything for granted in his life. “I learned from anybody and everybody I could. There were so many people that have taught me musically that I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without.”

Since he is very close to his family, when Kyle’s grandmother had to have a heart transplant and they put her on a very specific diet that included eating gluten-free, it really threw them for a loop. But they handled it the way any good food family would; They started a business. “With my love of desserts and her new dietary restrictions, we started developing a gluten free muffin that really kicked ass. We wanted to make it rock and roll so we started doing these booze-infused, gluten-free muffins and novelty and specialty baked goods. We make rum cakes, muffins, cake balls, and such.” The name? Flour Sucks -  Damn Fine Muffins. (Kyle brought some to this interview and I can tell you first hand- they do kick ass.) For Kyle, it was just another way to appreciate his family. “It gave me another connection to my grandparents because they really got me into 50s music and rockabilly music. My grandfather was a disc jockey in the 50s and we would talk about music all the time. It was really special to me, to have that connection to them through food and through music.”

We have a beautiful recipe for a gluten-free coconut cake with white chocolate whipped cream icing on our website, perfect for all your upcoming summer gatherings and guaranteed to have everyone in attendance appreciating life with every bite like Kyle does. You can also order any of the delicious, edgy items from Kyle’s family business at easttexasburger.com.

For all information on how you can watch Kyle shred the ivories, follow him @99redkeys.