WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Eight divas and a powerhouse band rock Center Stage Feb. 3, 2005 KALAMAZOO--Detroit Women with Motor City Express--eight of Detroit's hottest divas, backed by a powerhouse band--perform on the Bronco Mall Center Stage in the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University. The show begins at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, and is free and open to the public. Grammy-nominated singer Kate Hart created Detroit Women with Motor City Express based on the successful group Seattle Women in Rhythm and Blues. The Seattle ensemble of outstanding women singers was pulled together for a single show and is still going strong 18 years later. Hart returned to Detroit and formed an all-star revue of the top women singers in the Metro-Detroit area. The Detroit Women are Ping Spells, Elena Papillo, Rhonda Bantsimba, Terrie Lea, Lady T, Stacia Petrie, Valerie Barrymore, and Kathi McDonald. The women take turns singing lead while the others provide back-up vocals. They are backed by the renowned Motor City Express band. The members have appeared and toured with such notables as Meatloaf, Kenny Loggins, Delbert McClinton, Bob Seger, Roy Orbison and Hall and Oates. Detroit Women with Motor City Express won the 2004 Detroit Music Awards for Best Rhythm and Blues Band, Best Rhythm and Blues Album and Outstanding Live Performance. Collectively, the members of the group have been featured on more than 300 recordings and have been nominated for or won more than 50 regional and international music awards. Visit the Web at <www.detroitwomen.org> for more about the group. Detroit Women with Motor City Express is presented by the WMU Student Entertainment Team. For more information, visit SET on the Web at <www.rso.wmich.edu/set>. Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news