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BiTS INTERVIEW: GINA COLEMAN

Gina is a graduate of Williams College, a liberal arts college in

Williamsburg, VA. She began singing in 1990 on a dare by her co-
workers and hasn’t turned back since. She began performing in a duo,

The Siblings. Gina shortly later formed her own duo, Cole-Connection,
which blossomed to a five-piece band allowing her to showcase some

of her original music. Gina has performed in the Williamstown Theater

Festival as the lead gospel singer in “A Raisin in the Sun”, Gina has been
nominated for two Independent Blues Awards.

Ian McKenzie spoke to her on the telephone at her home.

GC: Hello.

BiTS: Gina? Hello. It's Ian McKenzie.

GC: Hi, Ian. How are you doing?

BiTS: I’m doing fine, thanks. Gina, What I want to
do is to talk to you about your career and about the
n e w record, and then
about a record which is
special to you and

me, the one that you
did in a tribute to Odetta.
Is that Okay?

GC: Absolutely.

BiTS: Okay. Well, let's start
by asking you a very simple

question. How did you get
into singing music in the first place? Was there
a lot of music in your family when you were
growing up?

GC: Yes, music was the backdrop of my
childhood growing up in the South Bronx of

New York City. I was raised in the time when
hip-hop was starting, but I was never really
drawn to hip-hop music. In my household,
there was just a healthy supply of R&B and
Motown, but also my neighbourhood is
Picture: Roger Stephenson predominantly Puerto Rican, so I couldn't

escape salsa music and the music of Tito
Puente and Celia Cruz.