With them headed back to the Dakota this Friday and Saturday night for another two-night stand at their hometown venue of choice, it seems like a good time to break the news that Davina & the Vagabonds' next album will be a live collection recorded at – you guessed it – the Dakota.
The Southern-baked, hard-working, harder-boogieing soul-rock big band will issue "Nicollet and Tenth" on March 25, an 18-song set recorded over various nights at the address referred to in the tile. Songs on it include the title tracks of the group's two prior studio albums, "Sunshine" and "Black Cloud," other choice originals such as "Lipstick and Chrome" and "Pocket," plus a couple of the New Orleans standards they often throw into the mix, "Ain't That a Shame" and "His Eye Is On the Sparrow." Those two studio albums showed off frontwoman Davina Sowers' prowess as a vocalist and songwriter, but neither fully captured the energy of the live band. So the album makes perfect sense.
Here's the version of "Pocket" from the live collection posted below. Pre-orders are now available with special bonus bundles on the group's site.
The Dakota is also where TPT taped its "MN Original" profile on Sowers & Co. After this weekend's four Dakota shows (7 and 9 p.m. each night, $15), the group has a bevy of tour dates ranging from West Virginia to Seattle in March and then will be back to play a proper hometown release party on April 24. You can probably guess the venue.