Sonny & Honey Davis

(The Davis Twins)

Sonny Davis, 1926-2021 • Honey Davis, 1926-2019
New Lexington, OH 

With mandolin, guitar and close sibling harmonies, this popular brother-sister duo began their career at age 12 after winning the Ohio State Fair Amateur Contest in 1938. They were recruited by the WWVA Jamboree, but their parents felt they were too young. Two years later, at 14, they moved to Wheeling – accompanied by their mother – to join the WWVA Jamboree.

After making their radio debut on WWVA in 1940, they moved to Fairmont, where they played with Grandpa Jones at the Sagebrush Roundup. After stints on WKBN in Youngstown, OH, and KTBS in Shreveport, LA, they moved to Charleston where they performed on WTIP with Honey’s husband, well known musician Sleepy Jeffers.

Sonny was also a popular disc jockey on Charleston station WCHS and Logan station WVOW, and was the first DJ on St. Albans station WKLC.

The Davis Twins released three 45s, and their late 1960s release, “Pretending is a Game,” has been included on at least five rockabilly compilations. At one point they had their own fan club and were receiving close to 7,000 pieces of mail in a single day. Within one year, they were the No. 2 duo in the country.

In the early 1960s, The Davis Twins became regulars on a live daily morning television show at WCHS-TV in Charleston, WV.