Deborah Yambala, also known as ‘Debbie the Drummer’ is a self- taught drummer, born and
raised in Zambia. She has been playing drums since she was 14 years Old. She started playing
drums in Church where she grew further as a musician and nurtured her gift. After graduating
high school at Chengelo in Zambia, she went back to intern as a Music assistant teacher for two
semesters before moving to New York City to pursue a degree in Finance. For Debbie, her first
big moment as a real musician happened in 2012 when she toured Sweden with the St. Ignitious
Choir and got to perform in front of thousands of people. That tour remains the most amazing
experience of her life. In 2016 she was awarded the Mwape Peer Talent Award. This was to recognize her as an emerging female drummer in various music genres.

Although self-taught, Deborah is an eclectic drummer and is always looking to expand her
musical edge. She has played for Zambian artists such as, Ephraim, Esther Chungu, Go Center
Choir, Mikrophone7, Magg44, Pastor Israel, Les Diplomatique and Chileshe Bwalya. Other
international artists she is working with include Ruben Gonzalez an Argentinian singer and
songwriter and Eric Miranda. Her resent work with Eric and Kenyon Phillips was at Joe's Pub in a show called A NIGHT OF A THOUSAND ACID QUEENS. A queer concert version of THE WHO'S TOMMY featuring performances by Cheryl Freeman (who originated the role of the Acid Queen in the Broadway production), Tony Award winner Cady Huffman (The Producers), Erik Liberman (War Paint) Michael Musto, Justin Sams (ABC’s When We Rise), and Joe’s Pub regular Kenyon Phillips as Tommy. Debbie was the leading drummer in this project and executed her role well.

She is currently playing with Robert Mwamba, a renowned Jazz artist who has performed at the Blue Note, and is also currently playing as a co drummer for the
Brooklyn Tabernacle kids. She is also currently playing in a band called "Handmade" in New York, and is looking to further her music career.Her stylistic repertoire includes R&B, Gospel, Hip-hop, Rock, Funk, Samba, South African Kwaito, Jazz and Congolese Rumba.