The daughter of two opera singers, Debbie Davis never had a chance. She was born a singer. Making her first professional singing appearance at the age of two, her childhood was peppered with performances in opera and musical theater. As a young adult she was on track for a career as an actress, singer and dancer when a knee injury diverted her energies toward singing exclusively. She became well known in her native New Jersey as a rock and roll singer in several bands, dabbling in jazz standards when opportunity allowed.
Moving to New Orleans in 1997, Debbie began making a name for herself in the local music community singing jazz and all manner of musical styles. She's gone on to record with people like John Boutte, New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Dukes of Dixieland, Leigh "Lil Queenie" Harris, Paul Sanchez (Cowboy Mouth), Kevin Clark, Tom McDermott, 3 Manisha, All That, Tin Men, Lil Band of Gold (CC Adcock), Marc Stone, Mike West, Harry Shearer and Alex McMurray and was the jingle singer for the 2003 Zatarains ad campaign produced by David Torkanowski. In 1999 she joined the world renowned vocal group,The Pfister Sisters, and has spent the last 12 years performing locally and internationally with the group.
In 2009, Debbie began work with one of the most ambitious and critically acclaimed local projects to date, Nine Lives- the Musical, singing several character roles and assisting in the vocal arrangements, not only for the 39 song recording but for the numerous subsequent live productions. In 2010 she played herself on the critically acclaimed HBO series, TREME, and sang on the Grammy nominated soundtrack. She was nominated for Best Female Vocalist of 2010 by Offbeat Magazine along with Susan Cowsill and "the Soul Queen of New Orleans", Irma Thomas. In January 2012, Debbie and her ukulele traveled to Jazz at Lincoln Center for a one night only performance with friend and Tony Award winner and star of Broadway's EVITA, Michael Cerveris.
Debbie's first solo recording, It's Not the Years, It's the Miles, was released in March 2012 on Threadhead Records to rave reviews from the New Orleans press. Featuring a who's who of New Orleans finest players (Jon Cleary, Bobby Lounge, Tom McDermott, Todd Duke, Evan Christopher, Aurora Nealand and more) and songs spanning from Irving Berlin to Amy Winehouse as well as the talents of local songsmiths, Alex McMurray and Paul Sanchez and arrangements by Matt Perrine.
Debbie is New Orleans' premier female ukulelist and is proud to endorse Southcoast Ukes. She is also married to tubist, bassist, composer, arranger and Threadhead artist, Matt Perrine. They live in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans with their sons, Ben and Henry and their dogs, Cosimo and Daisy Mae.
