If you sit back and close your eyes while listening to Davina and the Vagabonds, at one moment you feel like you are in the lively streets of New Orleans, at another moment in an underground blues club in Memphis. This Twin Cities quintet has been making their mark in jazz and blues festivals and venues since emerging in 2006 with their fresh take on classic sounds.
Davina Sowers, a classically trained pianist, has been performing since the age of 5. With influences including Fats Domino and Aretha Franklin, her sultry vocal performances ring with power, classic styling, and playful charm. Match that up with accomplished musicians on trumpet (Zack Lozier), trombone (Ben Link), drums (Connor McRae Hammergren), and upright bass (Matt Blake) and the result is a fresh flair on retro sounds with multigenerational appeal.
Davina and the Vagabonds released their first full length album Black Cloud in 2011. Featuring all original material, the album was acclaimed by the Minneapolis Star & Tribune as one of the top 10 albums of the year. The band followed up in 2014 with Sunshine, which climbed to number 13 on the Billboard Blues Chart. From the brassy New Orleans sound of “Flow” to the pouty crooning reminiscent of Eartha Kitt in “Fizzle Out”, to the smoky blues bar feel of “Away From Me”, the album capitalizes on the broad musical foundations of the band with a spin that is uniquely theirs.
Across the nation and around the world, Davina and the Vagabonds have stood out from the crowd. With Davina’s commanding presence and the band’s crisp jazz era-inspired attire their audiences are swept into a musical journey of high energy performance spanning time and space that one won’t soon forget.
