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xplore the music of the blind blues musician Reverend Gary Davis. Rev. Gary Davis performed on the streets of Harlem from the late 1940s until his death in 1972. He is one of those curious figures in music history who should be famous, but who’s also a lot better known than you might think. Overcoming poverty, racial discrimination and blindness, Davis made influential recordings and festival appearances, and his songs have been covered by The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Peter Paul & Mary, and Bob Dylan. Davis himself recorded as Blind Gary Davis and Rev. Gary Davis – he was ordained as a minister in the 1930s – and the two names seem to reflect the two halves of his personality.  Religious imagery fills his songs, and his version of the blues is heavily colored by the sounds of early gospel music.  But his guitar picking had a strong ragtime feel, and Mr. Davis was known to be, shall we say, a very secular guy when Mrs. Davis wasn’t around.  We know this because for most of the 60s and until his death in 1972, his Harlem apartment became a pilgrimage site for dozens of young guitarists eager to learn from someone who had lived the blues and played them from birth.  David Bromberg, Stefan Grossman, Dave Van Ronk, and Bob Weir are just some of the many students who left his apartment with new skills and often colorful, and occasionally off-color, stories.  A strikingly gifted multi-instrumentalist with an intuitive understanding of American root music styles and sly sense of humor, David Bromberg has earned a following for his many solo recordings and has served as a sideman and collaborator with some of the most respected artists in his field. He stepped out as a solo artists in 1972 with an eponymous album on Columbia that featured “The Holdup,” a popular song he co-wrote with George Harrison. Throughout the decade he managed a hectic schedule releasing numerous solo albums for Columbia and Fantasy while playing everything from dobro to fiddle on songs by an array of acts including Gordon Lightfoot, Ringo Starr, and Bob Dylan. Since then, Bromberg has continued to collaborate with many artists such as Carly Simon, the Eagles, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Doug Sahm, John Hiatt, Guy Clark, Dr. John, Keb’Mo, Larry Campbell, and more.   The NYGF and the performing artists are asking viewers to donate to MusiCares. Learn more about the charitable foundation of The Recording Academy’s MusicCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, and donate to help the music community affected by the pandemic, here:  www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief-fund Tune in each day at 4pm EDT on our YouTube channel beginning July 13th. PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Discourse by DJ Spooky (Paul D. Miller)  - Monday, July 13 Jontavius Willis - Tuesday, July 14 Chris Thile - Wednesday, July 15 Jim James - Thursday, July 16 Dave Bromberg - Friday, July 17 Peidmont Blūz  - Saturday, July 18 TBA - Sunday, July 19 #NYGF2020 #HarlemStreetSinger #ReverendGaryDavis