Deborah Coleman (October 3, 1956 – April 12, 2018) RIP Deborah Coleman, ''Making a Scene!'', April 13, 2018
/ref> was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

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 Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

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 Deep Creek High School is a public secondary school in Chesapeake, Virginia. It is part of Chesapeake City Public Schools and is located on 2900 Margaret Booker Drive. History In 1845, Norfolk County, Virginia constructed the first public schoo ...

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

. 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 The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...

(2001),

Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 200 ...

(2000), Sarasota Blues Festival (1999), the San Francisco Blues Festival (1999), and the Fountain Blues Festival (1998). Coleman's

Blind Pig A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...

debut, ''I Can't Lose'' (1997), was an album of ballads, blues stories, guitar playing and singing. Her version of

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

'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 Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

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 Sue Foley (born March 29, 1968) is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer. She has released 15 albums since her debut with ''Young Girl Blues'' (1992). In May 2020, Foley won her first Blues Music Award, in the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues ...

and

Roxanne Potvin Roxanne Potvin (born March 31, 1982 in Regina, Saskatchewan) is a bilingual French-English Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Gatineau, Quebec. Potvin has earned a Juno nomination, seven Maple Blues awards nominations, making ap ...

. Coleman died unexpectedly on April 12, 2018, in a hospital in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, from complications brought on by bronchitis and pneumonia.

Selective discography

Albums

Compilation albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Deborah 1956 births 2018 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians American blues guitarists American blues singers American blues singer-songwriters Musicians from Portsmouth, Virginia Singer-songwriters from Virginia Contemporary blues musicians Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century women guitarists JSP Records artists Telarc Records artists Ruf Records artists Blind Pig Records artists 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century African-American women American electricians