DIUNNA GREENLEAF
Diunna Greenleaf (born October 6, 1957) is an African American blues singer and songwriter.
At the 2014 Blues Music Awards, Greenleaf won the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female), beating fellow nominees Teeny Tucker, Lavelle White, Trudy Lynn, and Zora Young.
Diunna Fay Greenleaf was born in Houston, Texas, United States. Her parents, Ben and Mary Ella Greenleaf (née Travis), were religiously devout and involved in gospel music. Her early musical influences included Sam Cooke, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Koko Taylor, and Aretha Franklin. Before her musical career, Greenleaf obtained a degree in Mass Communications at the Prairie View A&M University.
Greenleaf and her backing band, Blue Mercy, have performed on the international stage for a number of years. In 2005, they took part and triumphed at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.
She was President of the Houston Blues Society for three years, becoming the first woman to undertake that role. Greenleaf initiated the now annual Houston Blues Society Founders Day, and continues to support the Blues in Schools Program. She was also one of the founders of the Friends of Blues Montgomery County.
She performed as a backing vocalist for Pinetop Perkins, on his segment of the Grammy Award winning album, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas (2007). The same year Greenleaf and Blue Mercy issued their debut studio album, Cotton Field to Coffee House.
In 2008 at the Blues Music Awards, Greenleaf won the 'Best New Artist Debut' award for Cotton Field to Coffee House. At the same ceremony the following year, she was nominated for the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female)'. In 2012, Greenleaf was nominated again for the 'Koko Taylor Award', and in the 'Traditional Blues Album' category for Trying to Hold On. The album included fourteen songs, of which Greenleaf wrote ten and co-wrote another. The album was recorded in Tempe, Arizona.
Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne's Rollin' with the Blues Boss (2014), included guest vocal contributions from Greenleaf and Eric Bibb.
Festivals
Greenleaf has performed at many music festivals. These include the Blues to Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (2009), the Bern Jazz Festival, the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (2007), Boundary Waters Blues Festival, Sarasota Blues Fest (2008), Notodden Blues Festival (2008), Long Beach Blues Festival (2009), the DC Blues Festival (2010), the Tinner Hill Blues Festival (2012), and the Bikes Blues and BBQ (2014).
Diunna Greenleaf, the leader of Blue Mercy, is a native Texan (Houston) who has a background steeped in gospel music. Influenced by Koko Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Rosetta Thorpe, Sam Cooke, Charles Brown and her own parents Ben & Mary Ella Greenleaf (Gospel). She has developed "Diunna's style of Blues" in the same tradition as so many other great Texas blues men and women. She combines intricate patches of jazz, gospel and heartfelt soul to create a kind of blues that takes one on an emotional roller coaster ride.
Diunna and her band Blue Mercy have performed throughout the United States and Internationally. She has performed all over Europe, Australia, Canada, Brazil and The Caribbean. She will tell you she travels and plays the Blues anywhere she is invited with a beneficial contract.
Performing with Bob Margolin, Keb Mo, Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, James Cotton, Carrie Bell, Big Bill Morganfield, Smoking Joe Kubek and B’Nois King, Anson Funderburge, Sam Meyers and the Rockets, Bernard Allison, Odetta, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, I.J. Gosey, Sherman Robertson, Kenny Neal, the late great Teddy “Cry Cry” Reynolds, Mud Morganfield and numerous others has truly been an honor in her career.
Her commitment to Blues goes well beyond performing on stage. She served for three years as President of the Houston Blues Society, making history as the first woman ever elected to this position. During her presidency she used her professional guidance and grant writing skills to produce the Willie Mae "Big Momma" Thornton Blues Festival, bringing in the talents of “The Queen Of Blues” Mrs. Koko Taylor, Mr. Bernard Allison, Texas Johnny Brown, I.J. Gosey, Diane Price, Mel Waiters, Betty Lewis, Gary Clark, Jr., Jeremy And The Hotboys, along with many others. Diunna started the annual Houston Blues Society Founders Day and actively continued the Blues In Schools Program throughout the state, as well as many of the countries where she and her band perform. She also played an integral in founding Friends of Blues of Montgomery County.
Winner of "Best New Artist Debut" at the 2008 Blues Music Awards
Winner of the "Koko Taylor Award-Traditional Blues Female" in 2014 and 2017.
Her latest CD "Trying To Hold On" reached #1 on XM/Sirius Radio Bluesville Chart, #1 on French Blues charts, #1 on Living Blues charts for the month of December 2012, and reached the top of Blues charts in UK, Australia and USA.
In addition to being an accomplished performer, Diunna is also a very talented song writer making the semi-finals and finals of the International Songwriting competition.
KOKO TAYLOR AWARD WINNER
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