MINNEAPOLIS – For many, the extra time spent at home during the pandemic led to reflection on one’s life up to that point.
For Davina Sowers, the leader of Minnesota fan-favorites Davina and the Vagabonds, it brought up difficult memories of her childhood and past addiction. And even though she jokes about cliches of artists “shedding their past,” her honest depictions of the trying times on the new album Shoot for the Moon helped the singer to move forward.
“It’s really genuinely what I feel needed to be done,” said the singer on Centerstage Minnesota, “so I couldn’t hold on to the BS anymore.”
"I’ve been clean for many, many years, and even many, many years later, sometimes I just want to dig a hole and I want to burn a town."
Davina was speaking about the song “Life Lessons,” a chronological telling of her four father figures during her childhood in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Just her and her piano, the subject matter has nowhere to hide. It is so on the nose that prior to the album’s release, Davina was nervous for her mother to hear it and says it most likely won’t show up on many setlists.
Elsewhere, “Mighty Scar” digs into the trauma that remains after addiction, even when you’ve been clean for years.
“I don’t know who deals with addiction, but I think that there’s this level of....sitting with your sadness and where that line is,” Davina said, “I’ve been clean for many, many years, and even many, many years later, sometimes I just want to dig a hole and want to burn a town.”
Alongside the heavier subjects, Davina and the Vagabonds turned to familiar favorites to provide levity on Shoot for the Moon. From John Prine’s “Please Don’t Bury Me” to “Build Me Up Buttercup” and more, the covered songs were balms for Davina during the pandemic.
The album closes with “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” first sung in 1911 by the Peerless Quartet. It’s vintage Davina and the Vagabonds, making an American classic modern without losing the aura of the era it came from.
It’s a song that Davina learned from father figure number four, referred to in “Life Lessons” as “C.B.S.” From the lyrics of that song...
C.B.S was an angel.
Sent from above.
Never said a mean word,
All he showed was love.
The Heavens opened up,
Took him back home.
Now I know he’s with me
Where-ever I roam
...to the way Davina spoke about him throughout the interview, her love for C.B.S and his role in her life is clear. He owned an Edison phonograph and a large collection of 78s, and Davina’s love of early twentieth century music comes from him.
If you are listening to Shoot for the Moon on CD or vinyl, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” is included as a hidden track at the end of the album.
The heavy subject matter juxtaposed with levity throughout the album is not all Davina originals for the former and covers for the latter. The centerpiece of the album is lead single “Find My Love,” a song Davina wrote during a low period to remind herself that love is out there. The chorus is a simple yet effective repetition of the title, something Davina began as a mantra for herself.
“It was really a hope call for me,” Davina said, “not a person, not a place. Just the feeling of it.”
Catch Davina and the Vagabonds at the Bemidji Block Party, Saturday, June 22, 2024. Hosted by KBXE and Bemidji Brewing, it is free and open to all, and along with this interview made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
