Thornetta had people singing, dancing and cheering at her recent Palmer Woods concert! Now our Detroit-based star is going global:

THORNETTA GOES TO MEMPHIS, with your help!
The Mid-North Michigan Blues Society asks all Thornetta fans to help raise funds so that she can represent Michigan and compete at The International Blues Challenge in Memphis January 21, 22, 23, 2010. More about the Challenge: www.blues.org and www.mnmbs.org Donations can be mailed to: The Mid-North Michigan Blues Society (non-profit 501-C3), P.O. Box 351 • Vanderbilt, MI 49795.

Vocalist Thornetta Davis with
Guitarist A. Spencer Barefield & Bassist Don Mayberry
Saturday, December 26, 2009, 8pm
Concert sponsor: Doss Foundation

By Larry Gabriel, www.gumbospot.com, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   
Photo by Cybelle Codish

It certainly would be a blue Christmas without Motor City Blues Queen Thornetta Davis to warm things up around the fireplace. Her powerful voice could be the best present of all these holidays. This past July Davis brightened up the Concert of Colors Detroit all-star showcase by headlining her own set, and backing up such legends as ? of the Mysterians as well as Sir Mack Rice as he took Mustang Sally out for another dream cruise.

Shining up the stars is nothing new for Davis, who has been busting out the blues in Detroit and nationally for more than two decades. Her set at the 1992 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival caught the ear of Bonnie Raitt who invited Thornetta to join her onstage with Katie Webster for an encore that evoked a standing ovation.

Davis’ 1996 Debut album as a leader on Seattle’s Sub Pop label, Sunday Morning Music, jetted her onto the national scene and the single “Cry” was featured on the soundtrack for HBO’s groundbreaking hit series The Sopranos.

Thornetta Davis has warmed up audiences for blues and R&B greats such as Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, Lonnie Brooks, and Johnnie Johnson among others, and she has won 20 Detroit music awards over the past 15 years. In 1999 she brought down the house at Pine Knob for the Lilith Fair, and followed up in 2000 by opening the VH1 Vogue fashion awards with Kid Rock at Madison Square Garden.

This beautiful, earthy songstress has been inducted into the Detroit Music Hall of Fame. That same voice has performed background vocals for Bob Seger (The Fire Inside), Nigerian reggae star Majeck Fashek, 2003’s eponymous Kid Rock recording and Sub Pop’s Big Chief. Her film and television soundtrack credits include Bill Murray’s  Osmosis Jones and Xena Warrior Princess,” not to mention commercials for the Michigan Lottery, Coca Cola and Pizza Hut.

Guitarist Spencer Barefield’s string explorations have been the backbone of the Creative Arts Collective for more than 30 years. He’s been heard around the world with his own ensembles and with jazz luminaries such as Roscoe Mitchell, Oliver Lake and others. Bassist Don Mayberry is a Detroit jazz elder with stellar associates, including Dorothy Ashby, Lena Horne, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and others, in addition to respected classical work with the Detroit and Scandinavian Symphony Orchestras.