‘He deserves to be remembered’: Mural honoring late Spokane-based percussionist to be unveiled on West Main

Every morning before school, Erica Davis told her son the same thing.

“You’re destined for greatness.”

Quindrey “Drey” Davis was just a kid who couldn’t stop drumming.

He drummed on pots and pans at home. He drummed on toys at daycare. He drummed on desks in school, sometimes earning trips to the principal’s office as rhythms constantly ran through his head.

“It wasn’t just a phase,” Erica Davis said. “Early on, we knew that this was something different.”

Drey Davis died Oct. 14, 2023, four days after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was 29 years old.

Nearly three years later, Spokane is preparing a permanent reminder of the impact he left behind.

A mural honoring the musician, educator and father is being painted on the side of a downtown Spokane building at 22 W. Main Ave. There is a bar inside the building called Zola, a venue where Davis frequently performed. The mural will be unveiled July 11 as part of this year’s “Drey Day” celebration, an annual remembrance held on July 14: the date proclaimed Drey Day in Spokane and Airway Heights, chosen because it was his birthday.

For Drey’s family, the mural is about preserving his legacy. It is about giving future generations a chance to know the man behind the stories. It is about making sure Spokane never forgets someone who was “a light” in the community.

“I’m doing this for my family, his children and the community,” Erica Davis said. “I want them to remember him and remember the work that he did.”

The suddenness of his death stunned family members, friends and musicians across the Inland Northwest. For many, the loss remains difficult to comprehend.

“We all took a hit when Drey passed,” Spokane musician Blake Braley said. “Not only musically, but just a force of good and light in our community was no longer here with us.”

His influence stretches beyond music.

“I still have people coming up to me now saying what an awesome person he was and telling their story of how they met him and how he influenced their lives,” Erica Davis said.

Born July 14, 1994, Davis fell in love with music almost as soon as he could walk.

Eventually, his grandfather, Earon Davis, bought him his first drum set from Hoffman’s Music Store. From there, the obsession only grew. While other children moved from hobby to hobby, Davis spent hours pounding the drums.

Music began to consume his thoughts.

“He was a musical genius,” Erica Davis said.

Davis attended Cheney High School, where his talent became impossible to ignore.

His senior year, members of the school community and outside organizations raised money to send him to Boston to audition for the prestigious New England Conservatory. Despite being admitted to the school, he ultimately chose to stay closer to home and continue his education at Eastern Washington University.

After college, Davis built a career that spanned nearly every corner of Spokane’s music scene. He taught students in grades 5 through 12 at Northwest Christian School. He taught at Bartell Music Academy. He gave private lessons from home.

He juggled all this while being a husband, a father, and while becoming one of the area’s most sought-after musicians.

Drey also performed gospel music in church. He played jazz, rock, soul and pop. He played with three-time Grammy winner Donnie McClurkin, as well as Grammy nominees such as Teddy Swims and Allen Stone. He performed in the Broadway production of “Ain’t Too Proud” when it came to Spokane, as well.

Yet the people closest to him say the qualities they remember most had little to do with awards or accomplishments.

They remember his humility. They remember his kindness. They remember his infectious smile.

“He was a light,” Erica Davis said.

The phrase surfaces repeatedly when people describe him. His mother says it. His wife said his smile could light up a room.

To those who knew him, Davis possessed a rare ability to make people feel seen.

“He was kind and polite,” said Drey’s wife, Allyson Davis. “Everybody felt respected by him and loved by him.”

The couple met through mutual friends in Eastern Washington University’s music department during the 2015-16 school year. What began as a friendship gradually became something more.

“We just literally became best friends,” Allyson Davis said.

They attended gigs together. They spent time with the same circle of friends. They built a life together. In 2017, their son, Cairo, was born. Three years later, they got married.

One of Allyson Davis’ favorite memories with her husband is when he proposed to her on July 4 at Grand Coulee Dam. She thought she would know exactly when he planned to propose. Instead, he surprised her.

“Our son was sleeping in the car,” Allyson Davis said. “He said, ‘You should go look at this view.’ ”

She said typically she would have chosen to stay in the car. For reasons she cannot explain, she got out. Moments later, he was on one knee.

“It completely caught me off guard,” she said.

What stands out most to her now is the way he approached life.

“He was my whole world, my whole heart. I really would have done anything for that man,” Allyson Davis said. “He was one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever met.”

Music was both a passion and a profession.

“He would practice every single day without fail,” Allyson Davis said. “Even when he was sick, he was still drumming every single day.”

That work ethic extended beyond music.

When Allyson Davis learned she was pregnant with their daughter, Rhythm, she remembers his immediate response.

“ ‘All right, let’s do this. I’m going to go get another job and we’ll figure this out.’ ”

“He would always make it work,” she said. “I never worried about our future because I knew I had him.”

She wasn’t the only one who remarked at his determination.

Braley first heard about Drey shortly after entering the local music scene a decade ago.

Everywhere he went, musicians seemed to be talking about the same drummer. Finally, in 2017, he saw him perform at the Red Room.

“I couldn’t stop watching Drey. I don’t think I’d ever really seen somebody play the drums like that,” Braley said. “The way he plays the drums was just so musical. He always knew what to do.”

After the show, Drey invited him to hang out the next day. The two spent eight hours together while Drey worked on a solo project. A friendship formed almost immediately.

Over the years, Braley watched Drey do things behind a drum set that seemed impossible. One memory stands above the rest. Shortly before Drey died, he filled in for Braley’s band, Mister Sister.

During a drum solo, he broke a drumstick. Somehow, he managed to recover.

“He broke his stick and didn’t even miss a beat,” Braley said. “He was able to continue his drum solo and grab another stick and just continue on like nothing happened.”

But Braley says what made Drey special had less to do with talent than character.

“He was just the kindest human I think that I’ve ever met and probably ever will meet,” Braley said.

His impact extended beyond stages and rehearsal rooms. As a teacher, Drey influenced a plethora of young musicians. One symbol of his role as an educator will appear prominently in the mural: a golden gong.

To Drey and his students, it became a tradition. After each lesson, students would ring the gong. The mural will include the gong as a tribute not only to Drey but to the students whose lives he helped shape.

For his family, that is one reason a public mural feels like the perfect tribute. The people he impacted will be able to visit it for years to come.

Perhaps no one will feel that more deeply than Rhythm Davis. Drey and Allyson’s daughter was born Dec. 19, 2023, two months after her father’s death.

Not only will she get to know him through stories, photographs, and videos. She will know him through a mural that will stand in the city he loved.

“I think it’s important to show kids, especially his kids, that you know who your daddy was,” Erica Davis said.

The project received support from Spokane Arts, which awarded $6,000 toward the effort. The Spokane Jazz Orchestra is sponsoring the mural. Northwest Christian School and Cheney High School have also participated in honoring Drey through performances and memorial events.

The mural is only the latest effort to ensure his memory endures. There have been annual Drey Day celebrations since his passing. There are plans for a documentary that will be shown at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in 2027.

For Erica Davis, the mural is one more way to continue a mission she began almost immediately after losing her son.

She wants people to remember him.

Not simply because he was talented. Not because he performed with famous musicians. Not because “he accomplished more by age 29 than many people accomplish in a lifetime.”

She wants people to remember the person he was. The son who loved God. The husband and father who worked tirelessly for his family. The musician who made everyone around him better.

“He loved life,” Erica Davis said. “He was so full of life.”

On July 11, family, friends and community members will gather beneath the mural for its unveiling.

“He deserves to be remembered,” Braley said. “I’m incredibly grateful that there’s going to be a huge piece of artwork on a building downtown. We can go see it and say what’s up to him anytime we want.”