Blues On Stage - Deborah Coleman

Deborah Coleman
Blues Profile

Profiled in Living Blues magazine as one of the top up-and-coming blues artists under the age of 40, Deborah Coleman is among the growing number of outstanding female blues guitarists on the scene today. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1956, Coleman started playing rock and roll guitar at age 15. She cites Jimi Hendrix as a major influence. It wasn’t until her twenties that Coleman was introduced to the blues and realized that the blues was the foundation of all the rock and roul she had been playing. She spent several years touring with the all female group Moxxie and later with an R&B trio called Misbehavin’ where she began to develop her own guitar style. Coleman then got the big break she was looking for in 1993. She gathered some musicians, did a quick rehearsal on several songs and headed to South Carolina where she entered the Charleston Blues Festival’s National Amateur Talent Search. Winning the contest in a show stopping performance Coleman received six hours of free recording time. This allowed her to record a demo that was picked up and released in 1994 as "Takin’ A Stand." Today Coleman’s accomplished style reflects the influences of Jimi Hendrix, The Isley Brothers, Buddy Guy, and Larry Carlton. With Coleman’s 1997 Blind Pig release "I Can’t Loose," featuring her powerful vocals, searing guitar licks, and engaging songwriting, Coleman is poised for big-time success in the blues world.

E-mail Ray Stiles at: mnblues@aol.com

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Copyright © 1997 by Ray M. Stiles
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