Tony Coleman has had an illustrious career touring the world with B.B. King, Otis Clay, Bobby Blue Bland, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Albert Collins, Etta James, James Cotton, Katie Webster, Z.Z. Hill, O.V. Wright and Buddy Guy.
His early aspirations led to his meeting soul singer Otis Clay. He quickly joined Clay’s band and toured with him for a couple of years, recording a live album in Tokyo, Japan. Tony moved to Dallas, Texas in 1980 to play drums for Johnnie Taylor. Tony toured with Johnnie for a couple of years and was then asked to join Bobby Blue Bland, with whom he worked for a few years as well.
The next 25 years would define Tony’s life when he became the drummer for the legendary B.B. King. He played over 300 shows per year with B.B. before we lost B.B. in 2015.
In recent years, Tony’s friend Willie Nelson introduced him to one of a kind mega country star Jamey Johnson who he played drums and percussion with for over two and a half years. Being the multi talented drummer that he is, Tony proved once and for all he could play it all!
Tony has been working on his career with the Tony Coleman Band. His latest Cd Take Me As I Am is on sale now and features an array of musical geniuses! Recently, Tony came up with an idea for a tribute show in the memory of B.B. King. So, working with help from Blackbird Presents Tony Co Produced and performed The Thrill Is Gone; A Tribute To B.B. King at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York on February 16, 2020 with a knock out lineup of musicians including Warren Haynes, Bobby Rush, Bob Margolin, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Jamey Johnson, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Buddy Guy and many more!! Tony, has also produced albums for other artists and himself!
On July 4 2022 Little Village Foundation released a new Silent Partners Record that was Produced by Jim Pugh at Kid Anderson’s Greaseland Studio in San Jose, CA and Dave Boyle’s Studio outside of Portland, OR. The record has been getting rave reviews from around the world. And it also has been put in the top ten positions on several Blues music charts. And Radio France has ranked it as the top ten Blues & Soul music category. This is the second release for Silent Partners since 1989 with Russell Jackson, Tony TC Coleman and the newest Silent Partner, Jonathan Ellison. For more info on Silent Partners please check out our Website: www.silentpartnerstheband.com.
