CAROL is a multi-genre vocalist, pianist, composer, and arranger. Her music is an eclectic synthesis of jazz, hip-hop, soul, pop, classical, and world music. Carol has performed and recorded with some of the city’s leading artists such as Smino, Saba.
Carol work spans a wide range of musical styles including Jazz, Contemporary Classical, Jazz, Music for Film and Television, and songwriting. Her music has been featured on the PBS Limited Series “Music for Social Justice” and has been commissioned by the Juilliard School Preparatory Division, the New York Philharmonic, Michigan State University Bands, Axiom Brass, Detroit Chamber Strings among several other renowned ensembles & institutions. As an ambitious, hard-working artist with a passion for creating and performing music that promotes justice and inclusion, she has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Micheal Dease, Wycliffe Gordon, Etienne Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Maria Schneider, Jerome Jennings, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lin Manuel-Miranda, John Kander, Jaime Lozano, Shirazette Tinnin, Craig Harris & L Morgan Lee.
Carol immersed herself in writing screenplays and more songs, which eventually led her to move back to North Carolina to study at Salem College, and then on to Virginia to study with writer Richard Dillard at Hollins University, where she received her Master’s in Creative Writing. Her writing and love for music led her to create her album, The Kingdom Belongs to a Child. Focusing on the roots music of her native West Virginia, she recorded the album with her collaborator and guitarist husband Ryan MacLeod. No Depression gave rave reviews; Huffington Post called it “honest, evocative, and intoxicating”; and The Boot described it as “haunting and timely”. The next year, Carol wrote and recorded, Hunger. After its release in 2012, Rolling Stone named her an “Artist to Watch”, calling the album “the atmospheric soundtrack to late-night fever dreams.” Glide said Hunger “paints an ominous portrait of the dark underbelly of American privilege”. the Cab Calloway Band (2014), touring with Allen Stone (2015), playing on Jamison Ross’ (Jamison, 2015) and Joey Alexander’s (My Favorite Things, 2015) performing with the Count Basie Orchestra (2016), began touring with Rhiannon Giddens (2017). She recorded METAMORPHOSIS, created amidst this transformation, morphing into a stirring indie Americana that released in October of 2021. Carol now considers herself a multi-disciplinary artist. She is currently at work on her next project.
She has worked with many other young artists, held master classes, and led music-based projects to educate young people who are still discovering their love of music. With hard work and dedication to her craft, Davis has established herself as a shining light in the music industry who will continue to light the way for the next generation of musicians.