Includes five bonus tracks.
SUGAR DROPS is the first album on Red House Records from Davina and the Vagabonds and marks the first time singer/songwriter/pianist Davina Sowers entered a proper studio to record an album. The Minneapolis-based artist holed up in Nashville’s Compass Sound Studio with producer (and Compass Records co-founder) Garry West, along with her trumpeter, string arranger and husband, Zack Lozier, and a rotating cast of powerhouse players including Todd Phillips (David Grisman, Robbie Fulks) on bass, Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt, Tom Jones) on guitar and Reese Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa) on Hammond B3.
Sugar Drops is distillation of bluesy barroom baritone and bravado, graveyard jazz grooves, and noir-ish confessional lyricism backed by boisterous piano, guitar, and strings. Eclectic, engaging and instilled with a deep respect and knowledge for the Great American Songbook, SUGAR DROPS is the actualization of longstanding intent for Davina.
“It represents about 100 years of Americana; I did exactly what I wanted to do,” she says.
“It represents about 100 years of Americana; I did exactly what I wanted to do,” she says.Davina and the band are constantly on the road, touring throughout the world they’ve earned feverish acclaim from the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and more in addition to performing on BBC’s international favorite late-night program Later…with Jools Holland and appearing on PBS’s Bluegrass Underground.“... part Bonnie Raitt, part Etta James and a little Amy Winehouse” —Star Tribune“Davina Sowers is a one-of-a-kind performer whose singing… has a sassiness bearing some comparison to that of heart-thumping blues queens Ma Rainey and Ida Cox.” —Downbeat
credits
released August 2, 2019
Davina Lozier – vocals, piano
Doug Lancio – guitars
Todd Phillips – acoustic bass
Jordan Perlson – drums
Zack Lozier – trumpet, cornet
Roland Barber – trombone
Jim Hoke – clarinet, baritone sax, flute, pedal steel, Hammond B3 (“Deep End)"
Reese Wynans – Hammond B3 (“I Can’t Believe I Let You Go”, “Little Miss Moonshine”, “Another Lonely Day")
Strings (“Mr. Big Talker”): Karen Winkelman – violin, David Davidson – violin, Betsy Lamb – viola, Carole Rabinowitz – cello
Produced by Garry West
Recorded and mixed by Matt Coles
at Compass Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Additional recording by Zack Lozier at Lewshwa Music
Mastered by Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park, Takoma Park, Maryland
Horns and strings arranged by Zach Lozier
Photography by Christi Williams / Grinkie Girl Photography
Design by Robert Hakalskilicense