Davina and the Vagabonds will perform from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Dec.19, at the Bluestem Stage.

Tickets are available at Eventbrite and at the door. Prices are $18 for students and $20 for adults.

Lead singer Davina Sowers has been writing songs for 20 years now, and she explained how music has influenced her life and how long she has been writing it.

“My mom was a folk singer and I’ve been playing piano since I was six. I didn’t consider myself a serious singer songwriter [until] maybe ten years ago,” Sowers said.

Sowers has been performing with the Vagabonds for about 12 years after she brought a group together in Minneapolis when a sound engineer offered her a job.

“A sound engineer said, ‘Do you have a band? I have a house gig every Wednesday at this venue and if you have a band I’d like for you to do it.’ And I totally lied and said I did have a band because I wanted that gig,” Sowers said.

She went on to tell about how the group formed around that.

“Then just from knowing a few people here and there in the Twin Cities, there’s jams and stuff like that, I kinda just invited people and asked them to be at this house gig and that’s how it started 12 years ago,” Sowers said.

Sowers said one of their missions is to be able to bring classic blues and jazz music to modern audiences, and she also commented on her goal as a musician.

“Really the only reason I play the music that I play is because I want to and because love it and I think it is a goal for me to bring it to a younger generation,” Sowers said. “I kinda just want to show them that this is phenomenal music and I don’t want it to get lost.” 

Sowers hopes to give audiences a chance to get away from the world for a while and for them to become happy after a show.

“I like to engage people. There are a few sad songs that we do as well, but I definitely that I want them to have all feelings,” Sowers said. “Smiles are a huge thing for me, and dancing – that’s a lot of fun to see people moving and I just really want to make people happy.”

To find out more about Davina and the Vagabonds visit the Bluestem website.