THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 8, 1996 TAG: 9601060070
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
``THIS PARTICULAR CD,'' blueswoman Deborah Coleman says of her debut set, ``Takin' a Stand,'' ``this album is sort of a - '' She pauses, then finishes her sentence, laughing. ``I don't know if I'd call it a complainin' album.''
After decades of dues-paying, including stints in Hampton Roads rock bands such as Mis Behaven and Moxxie, Coleman is finding less and less to gripe about in the music world.
Following an amateur-contest triumph at the Charleston, S.C., Blind Willie Memorial Blues Festival, the Chesapeake-based singer/guitarist landed a deal with the small New Moon label and issued ``Stand.'' The album has met with widespread acclaim in the blues press, and along with her near-constant live performances, has helped win interest from higher-profile blues record companies such as Alligator and Blind Pig.
This week, she'll end a short stay at home in Virginia with her daughter, Misao Marie, 14, a student at Deep Creek High School, with a gig Wednesday night at Norfolk's Bait Shack. It's one of the first dates of the New Year for Coleman and her band, the Thrill Seekers - but hardly the last.
She calls her 1996 tour itinerary ``Festival City.'' Coleman will hit the Charleston throwdown again, as well as others around the country. She also plans two months of gigs in Italy, France and Germany.
Of an Italian visit last year, she says, ``They love the blues. It's almost an obsession. They show their appreciation in ways you'd never see in the States'' - like sending bouquets backstage every night.
Although Coleman agrees that some Americans do take this native art form for granted, she's also aware that ``a lot of younger kids are getting into it. I go down to the jams at the Jewish Mother, and I see these young kids really watching.''
Coleman's musical life began with a glimpse of the Monkees on TV. After Micky Dolenz and friends opened her awareness, she began digging deeper into rock and blues. From there, she worked gigs good and bad, on both bass and guitar. Membership in an R&B outfit helped solidify her attraction to the blues.
``I said, `Hey, this is pretty cool.' I needed to work on my rhythm chops, and that's definitely the way to do it.''
On the other hand, she recalls musically fallow periods, too.
``I've played in show bands, which I absolutely hated,'' she says.
Coleman intends to have a second album out by the spring. She says it will showcase more of the in-your-face style she displays onstage.
``They still say things like, `Wow, you play good for a woman.' I say, `I'd play good if I was a man.' But they respect me now. They say, `I've never seen a woman play like that.' I eat that one up.''
As for what she seeks from other people's music, Coleman says, ``Just more emotions in the songs, true humanness, as opposed to made-up stuff. People who write songs sometimes just think they can make up something.''
Coleman seems satisfied that her own compositions are for real, based on audience response.
``They react like I'm givin' 'em somethin' that they really want.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by TAMARA VONINSKI/ The Virginian-Pilot
Chesapeake native Deborah Coleman has received national acclaim in
the blues press.
by CNB