By James Murphy
Is there anything sadder than a travelling band of blues vagabonds being confined to their homes for two years by a global pandemic? Maybe a global pandemic. Or Maybe Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. Despite her self-deprecating protestations to the contrary, Davina Sowers can sing Etta, Aretha, the Great American Songbook or the phone book and make those words her own; backed by a quartet of Vagabonds let loose on the road again, the blues never sounded happier.
For 16 years, Davina and the Vagabonds have brought the New Orleans sound to their hometown of Twin Cities, Minnesota, and then the world. The 2022 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, though, was their first foray to our shores, but judging by their reception, it was unlikely to be their last. Davina, with her raven bee-hive wrapped in a pink bow, shortly after she took her seat at the piano, asked if anyone had a big backyard they could play in their two days off in Adelaide after the conclusion of their run? The band enjoys playing for the sake of playing, and perhaps now more than ever, and it showed.
With her proliferation of tattoos and old soul voice, Davina is inevitably compared to Amy Winehouse, and certainly she did breathe new life into the timeless ‘As Time Goes By’, ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ and ‘Dr Feelgood’ like Amy did. Davina is not a one-woman band though; her Vagabonds share the spotlight and are virtuosos themselves. Davina’s husband, Zach Lozier, when not lovingly listening to his wife sing, played the Louie Armstrong, scatting and trumpeting on ‘Shake That Thing’ and ‘St. James Infirmery’ while drummer Connor “Chops” (maybe for his mutton chops, maybe for his drumming chops) Hammergren brought back Elvis’ ‘Little Less Conversation’ 20 years after the Junkie XL remix, and 30 or so more since Elvis swivelled and jiggled in his jump suit Phase. Matt Hanzelka on trombone and Andrew Foreman on the upright bass didn’t get any vocal leads but each received at least one solo, which is more than most bass players can usually expect. The re-imagined classics were interspersed with original compositions ‘Start Runnin’, ‘Devil Horns’ and ‘Pockets’, where Davina displayed the wit and sass that helped the band climb the Billboard Blues charts. While self-conscious of her cabaret stage banter, citing her lack of theatrical credentials, Adelaide fans loved Davina just as she was.
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