Davina and The Vagabonds

Davina and the Vagabonds take over Crooked Pint Ale House

December 2nd, 2011 § Leave a Comment

Kathleen Watson
A&E Editor

It’s no surprise that Davina Sowers has been hailed by the Star Tribune as the “hardest-working Blues woman in Minnesota.” Averaging over 300 shows a year, Davina and the Vagabonds is a local favorite that is taking the nation by storm. Although DATV has been on numerous tours to every corner of the country, the band still frequently spends evenings performing for a loyal fan-base in the Twin Cities. And this loyal fan-base keeps growing.

Within seconds of putting her fingers to the piano keys and her mouth to the mike, Davina (accompanied by her all-male Vagabonds) takes control of the room and makes raving fans out of new listeners. With her expressive reactions, her sassy and playful piano riffs, and her powerhouse of a voice, it is impossible to not be sucked in by Davina’s charm.

This was particularly true on November 25 at the new Crooked Pint Ale House in Minneapolis. The band’s diverse fan base (swing dancers, punk drummers, older couples, and younger students) was joined by a new crowd of listeners, and everyone in the joint was either dancing enthusiastically or tapping their feet along to the beats laid down by drummer Connor McRae and bassist Michael Carvale (Davina’s husband, lucky man).

The sound of Davina and the Vagabonds is a unique form of Americana blues. The band does a mix of original songs and covers of old blues standards. While critics have likened Davina’s voice to Adele, Amy Winehouse, Etta James, and other women of high caliber, these comparisons do not do her justice. The mastered control Davina has over her vocal range and tone is utterly impressive. Her voice is comforting yet edgy, beautifully surprising, and simply unmatched by any other female singer. She can croon songs that will make you fall in love, such as “Sugar Moon,” and belt out sassy warnings to anyone who thinks about stealing her man with “Start Running.” Whenever she opens her mouth, it’s magic, pure and simple.

While Davina was definitely in the spotlight for most of the show, the work and talent of her back-up boys should not go unnoticed. The horn section, comprised of Dan Eikmeier on trumpet and Ben Link on trombone, add spice and pizzazz to Davina’s powerful voice. The men also provide solid back-up vocals for many of the songs, and they shine through featured solos (both instrumental and vocal). Add these four men to Davina’s talent and you have an unstoppable group of the finest, most passionate blues performers the Twin Cities has to offer.

Davina and the Vagabonds has become a staple in my events calendar. I try to see them perform at least once or twice a month, and I fall in love with them even more each time. I, like many other Twin Cities folk, simply cannot get enough of DATV. One audience member even confided in me that this was her 55th show. So what do they do that makes their performances simply irresistible? Head on over to davinaandthevagabonds.com to find out.

12/1/11 REVIEW

Davina and the Vagabonds: Black Cloud

When I first heard Davina and the Vagabonds the only description that popped into my head was “old-timey,” which I use to describe anything too old to be retro and not old enough to be classical. I didn’t know whether it was blues or jazz, whether it was from the ‘20s or ‘40s. So I did some research and found that they represent a healthy blend of all of the above.

But having completed my extensive research* I have to call them a jazz band with their largest influences being swing [traditional swing, not the resurgent ‘90s stuff] and Dixieland. They also have a heavy blues element mostly by way of the piano which also has enough ragtime in it to dip its toe in the ‘20s.

Fans of big brass and fast piano will be pleased with the album but the star of the show is Davina’s voice.  She sings with the power of diva but with a vaudeville playfulness making her performances simultaneously respectable and relatable. I have not yet seen them live but their studio performance paves for great expectations of a larger than life experience.

The Vagabonds don’t deliver an innovative** new genre nor do they offer mastery of a specific sub-genre from long ago. What they offer is a fun energetic smorgasbord of New Orleans music reminiscent of the early twentieth century that will add depth to any music library (particularly collections concentrated [on/with] local or recent original music).

*Two hours of browsing through Wikipedia and Spotify

**A lot of people judge music against a standard of innovation. There’s nothing wrong with that but there’s a lot of great music that doesn’t try to be innovative. Different standards apply to different forms of music based on what they’re going for. In that sense, “reverential” can be seen as a creative opposite to “innovative.” Its creative merit is based not on how it recreates but on how it recaptures and its success is based in large part on its reverence to an existing genre or media. I plan on writing more about how different standards apply to different music later.

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