Listen to Thornetta Davis perform live in WDET’s Studio A

Detroit’s Queen of Blues joined CultureShift for a live performance and to talk about the importance of keeping Detroit’s blues legacy alive.

Thornetta Davis and her five backing musicians smile with Tia Graham in WDET's live studio

Thornetta Davis (front right) and her band smile with CultureShift's Tia Graham in WDET's Studio A on Feb. 10, 2023.

Detroit’s Queen of Blues, Thornetta Davis, will be performing two live shows at The Carr Center on Feb. 16 and 17, as part of the center’s Black History Month programming. The intimate space holds roughly 130 people, and will include something for everyone. Later in the month, Davis will also be performing in the Black Bottom Jazz Showcase happening in Bert’s Warehouse Theater.

The soulful songstress has won more than 30 Detroit Music Awards and is hoping to add a prestigious Blues Foundation Blues Music Award to her collection. She’s been nominated nine times, but never won. Blues Foundation members can vote for Davis online.

Davis and her band joined CultureShift to give us a taste of what to expect from her upcoming performances, and to talk about the importance of keeping Detroit’s blues legacy alive.

“I want to represent my city out there. They think Detroit has only one genre, that’s R&B, but we got blues, rock, funk, jazz, and I’m out here supporting [and] representing blues.” — Thornetta Davis


Related: The Carr Center’s Black History Month programming highlights esteemed Black artists


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Author

  • Tia Graham is a reporter and Weekend Edition Host for 101.9 WDET. She graduated from Michigan State University where she had the unique privilege of covering former President Barack Obama and his trip to Lansing in 2014.