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Deborah Coleman

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American singer-songwriter
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Deborah Coleman
Coleman in concert, 2009Coleman in concert, 2009
Background information
Birth nameDeborah Francine Coleman
Born(1956-10-03)October 3, 1956
Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
DiedApril 12, 2018(2018-04-12) (aged 61)
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
GenresBlues, rock
OccupationMusician
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1995–2018
LabelsBlind Pig, Telarc, JSP, Ruf
Musical artist

Deborah Coleman (October 3, 1956 – April 12, 2018) was an American blues musician. Coleman won the Orville Gibson Award for "Best Blues Guitarist, Female" in 2001, and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Music Award nine times.

Biography

Coleman was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in a music-loving military family that lived in San Diego, San Francisco, Bremerton, Washington, and the Chicago area. With her father playing piano, two brothers on guitar, and a sister who played guitar and keyboards, Deborah picked up guitar at age eight. She graduated in 1974 from Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. She worked in various professions, including as a master electrician, before pursuing a career in the music business.

She played at top music venues: North Atlantic Blues Festival (2007), Waterfront Blues Festival (2002), the Monterey Jazz Festival (2001), Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival (2000), Sarasota Blues Festival (1999), the San Francisco Blues Festival (1999), and the Fountain Blues Festival (1998).

Coleman's Blind Pig debut, I Can't Lose (1997), was an album of ballads, blues stories, guitar playing and singing. Her version of Billie Holiday's "Fine and Mellow" was heard on college and public radio stations around the U.S. The album Soul Be It (2002) included the opener "Brick", "My Heart Bleeds Blue", "Don't Lie to Me," and a jump blues track, "I Believe". These was followed by What About Love? (2004) and Stop the Game (2007). Time Bomb (2007) featured three women blues musicians: Coleman, Sue Foley and Roxanne Potvin.

Coleman died unexpectedly on April 12, 2018, in a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, from complications brought on by bronchitis and pneumonia.

Selective discography

Albums

Year Title Genre Label
1995 Takin' a Stand Blues/Rock New Moon
1997 I Can't Lose Blues-Rock Blind Pig
1998 Where Blue Begins Blues/Rock Blind Pig
2000 Soft Place to Fall Blues/Rock Blind Pig
2001 Livin' on Love Blues/Rock New Moon
2002 Soul Be It Blues/Rock Blind Pig
2004 What About Love? Blues Telarc
2007 Stop the Game Blues/Rock JSP

Compilation albums

Year Title Genre Label Notes
2007 Time Bomb Blues Rock Ruf (Idn) with Sue Foley & Roxanne Potvin

References

  1. ^ RIP Deborah Coleman, Making a Scene!, April 13, 2018
  2. ^ "Deborah Francine Coleman (1956–2018)". The Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. April 18, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  3. "Gibson Guitar Awards: "And the Winner Is ..."". Nyrock.com. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  4. "Blues Foundation :: Past Blues Music Awards". Archived from the original on November 8, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
  5. "Leap in the Dark: Music Review: Sue Foley, Deborah Coleman, and Roxanne Potvin Time Bomb". Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
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