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Deborah Bonham, a leading British soul blues and rock vocalist and sister of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, is looking forward to entertaining fans for the first time in Bahrain.
How many performances do you have lined up for Bahrain and where will
they be?
I have two shows, one at the Upstairs Downstairs Adliya, and one at The Dilmun
Club - both places look fantastic.
This is your first time to Bahrain, how does it feel?
I am very excited. I have had the great honour of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Bahrain supporting my charity in England - The Racehorse Sanctuary, which gives a future to injured or retired racehorses. I'm totally thrilled to be in his country.
Have you been to any other country in the Middle East before?
I was in Egypt 10 years ago, where I went on the Nile Cruise and visited some fantastic historic sites like Valley of the Kings. Truly wonderful and breath-taking.
Do you have any ideas or thoughts on the new culture and customs you
will be witnessing?
I very much welcome and respect all cultures and customs of any country that I am visiting. It's very important to learn and ingest how other countries embrace life. If the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain have only a fraction of the generosity of spirit of their Prince then it must be a wonderful kingdom and one that I cannot wait to visit
Having performed at various concerts in the West, what kind of an atmosphere are you expecting from Bahrain?
Our music is blues rock and soul - we've been likened to a mixture of Janis Joplin meets Free and all our influences are in there, so if the people of Bahrain love blues rock and soul, I'm hoping that the atmosphere will be electric!
With regards to your career, can you tell us a bit about your present
and future plans? Are you working on anything at the moment?
I'm in the process of travelling the world touring my new album Duchess on Rhino Records and I'm thrilled that I have been afforded the luxury of spending some free time in Bahrain and Dubai to experience the culture and hospitality. I have a couple of days in Dubai before I come to Bahrain attending the Queen concert as a guest of Paul Rodgers who is without doubt one of my vocal heroes. I toured with him last year and sang Cant Get Enough with him on the last night of tour - it was a dream come true!
He also sang the duet 'Hold On' of my album Duchess. There is also a track on the album that is being released as a single in the UK next year called 'Hole In My Heart' that I wrote with another of my heroes Steve Marriott, singer with the Small Faces and Humble Pie.
Aside from music, do you have any other passion?
Yes, I have a passion for thoroughbred ex-racehorses and have three of my own and am a founder trustee of the Racehorse Sanctuary and Re-Homing Centre near my home in West Sussex England. These beautiful creatures have given their all on the track and given much enjoyment to many of us. They deserve to have a life after racing and
that's what we offer - a life line to owners/trainers who may have no other choice then to have the animal destroyed. These horses can be rehabilitated into domestic horses as my three beauties prove.
Can you tell us something about Deborah as a musician and Deborah as an
individual?
As a musician I absolutely love to perform. I think the years of my brother John playing Janis Joplin, Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Otis Reading, Little Feat and of course Led Zeppelin to me when I was young has had a huge influence on me. Growing up with John in Zeppelin and after seeing them play when I was about six is when I first decided I
wanted to sing and perform.
I also have the privilege of playing with an incredible band which makes it very exciting for me. From the moment we walk on stage I feel at home wherever it is. As an individual, well music is my life so I guess it's one and the same although I'm very close to my family and love my home and animals. Saying that, I've been with my band for many years so they are like brothers to me and the guitarist Pete is my husband, so
when we tour it is never a hardship as it feels home from home and we have
such a great time together.
Bahrain has a lot of young talents especially in the rock genre. A word of advice for them.
Never give up, believe in your music and always hold onto your dream.
l Tickets for her Thursday evening show at the Dilmun Club are priced BD10 for members and BD12 for guests. For details call 17690926 or 17692986.
l Her album 'Duchess' will be available for sale from Upstairs Downstairs from Tuesday. Tickets for her Friday evening concert in Adliya are priced at BD25 and are inclusive of a three-course meal. The dinner will begin at 6.30pm and show will start at 9.30pm. For details contact 17713093.
