In his Netrhythms review of Deb's solo album "My Prayer" Mike Davies says  "She's got a soft, breathy autumnal evening and raindrops voice of deceptive depth that is brimful of assured poise and the confidence of experience but can, as with 'Don't Leave For The City' and the closing 'My Prayer', still sound beguilingly innocent and wearily vulnerable".

The quality of Deb’s singing voice was apparent to her musical family from a very early age and she was encouraged to develop her natural talent.  Deb's performing career started when she teamed up with long-time friend Julie Thurman, and started performing in and around their home town of Tamworth in the West Midlands as an unaccompanied duo, heavily influenced by the work of June Tabor, Maddy Prior, Nick Cave et al.

The duo became known as the Aqua Sisters (see the gallery page for pics) and many local bookings followed, including a highly acclaimed appearance at the Tamworth Assembly Rooms in support of Julie Felix.

The Aqua Sisters eventually grew to a 5 piece band with the addition of guitar, fiddle, bass and drums. Further bookings followed including support slots for Harvey Andrews and Show Of Hands among others and festival appearances at Glastonbury, Larmer Tree and Cambridge.

At around the turn of the millennium however, it was decided that the Aqua Sisters had run its course and reluctantly they went their separate musical ways. The sparks created by the combined voices of Deb and Julie are fondly remembered though and there have been many calls for the two cassette albums and one cassette "EP" released during the Aqua's short existence to be made available on CD format. When time permits therefore we will be delving into the archives and putting together a "Best Of The Aqua Sisters" CD. 

After the Aqua Sisters, Julie went on to front a Birmingham-based indie band whilst Deb started working with long time friend and mentor Phil Beer of Show Of Hands.

Phil and Deb worked as a duo and often as a trio with melodeon wizard Gareth Turner who has since formed the successful folk/rock band Little Johnny England. Eventually Deb became a full time member of the Phil Beer Band, which at the time comprised bass player Nick Quarmby, drummer Steve Crickett and guitarist and harmonica player Charlotte Ayrton along with Phil and Gareth. A limited edition trio CD, "BST", was released in the winter of 2000. Only 100 were pressed and this recording has become something of a collector's item.

BST was followed by a full band release "Mandorock 2000", a sensational album recorded live at Worcester's Huntingdon Hall and Cheltenham's Town Hall on which Deb demonstrates with a powerful performance on the gospel tinged "Gone At Last" that her vocal range reaches well beyond the lower registers that she usually inhabits to such dramatic effect.

When Charlotte left the Phil Beer Band to concentrate on her nursing career her place was taken by Emily Slade who is carving out a successful solo career for herself as a singer/writer/musician of quality. Emily and Deb gelled immediately and the combination of the two female voices along with that of Phil and Nick's added a new and very satisfying dimension to the band's sound.  Subsequently Emily has left the Band to concentrate on her twin careers as solo artist and mother, and she has been replaced by the very capable Miranda Sykes...the twin female vocals therefore being maintained.

In 2000 Phil and Deb recorded a version of Lal Waterson's "The Scarecrow" for the stunning "Heart Of England" compilation CD which has raised a substantial sum for the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. The track has been singled out by many as the highlight of this excellent collection and it was no surprise when the request for a contribution to the recently released "Heart Of England Volume Two" was received. This time the request was met with a beautiful unaccompanied version of Jackson Browne's lovely "Lady Of The Well".

Phil and Deb recently also donated a version of the Steve Knightley classic "White Tribes" to another charity CD, "Huntingdon Hall 3" which will raise much-needed funds to assist in the upkeep of the fabulous Worcester venue.

Deb's ability to slip into a range of vocal styles has her in demand as a session vocalist and purchasers of the latest "Lego" computer game will hear her extolling the virtues of the popular toy in two songs, "Lego Heat" and "Lego Is All You Need", but you probably wouldn't have recognised it as Deb if we hadn't told you. 

It's not surprising that Deb chose to follow a musical path given the talent surrounding her during her early years. Her father, a popular and accomplished musician, has played double bass and bass guitar in various jazz bands over the years and her mother plays the cello.

One brother followed in his father's footsteps to become firstly a bass guitarist and ultimately a multi-instrumentalist in various bands. Another brother studied at the Royal College of Music in London and secured a place in various brass ensembles including the British Tuba Quartet. He was also been a member of various orchestras over the years and a music teacher. Currently he is working in the music department of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon. 

These days Deb is based in South Oxfordshire, an area rich in musical talent, where she is very much part of the local music scene - she appeared as backing vocalist on the Andy Guttridge Band album "Sundance".

Deb's long awaited first solo album "My Prayer" was released in September 2003 to much critical acclaim. Details of the album along with some MP3 files can be found on the My Prayer page on this site. 

Deb's next recording project, a solo album entitled "Semer Water" and featuring songs with a supernatural theme, has just been released (Sept 2004). It features many fine guest musicians including Phil Beer, Gareth Turner, Miranda Sykes, Martin Green and Simon Thomas. This album was engineered and co-produced by Deb's brother Ralph, who also contributes some very fine guitar and mandolin.

This month (Sept 2004), Deb will embark on a duo tour with Phil Beer which looks set to consolidate here position as one of the leading voices on the current roots scene.