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VANESSA COLLIER – SHINES HER LIGHT ON FUNKY BLUES

Grab your shades, folks! Vanessa Collier’s future is so bright it’s
absolutely blinding!

The 20-something musician/singer/songwriter/arranger/producer

packs a whole lot of musical maturity in her playing and her
artistry. Ms. Collier graces stages and recording studios with
players twice her age and experience … and holds her own. It’s no
wonder she’s racking up the awards and nominations, including
two Blues Music Awards for “Horn Player of the Year”, seven
Blues Music Award Nominations (BMAs), and a Blues Blast Award

nomination.

Around her 2013 graduation from the prestigious
Berklee College of Music, Vanessa was tapped by Joe
Louis Walker to play sax in his touring band, which
she did for almost 2 years before striking out on her

own. Since then, she’s released four critically
acclaimed albums; 2014’s Heart, Soul & Saxophone,
2017’s Meeting My Shadow, 2018’s Honey Up, and
her 2020 highly anticipated fourth album, Heart On
The Line.

I asked Vanessa to tell me a bit about herself and her
new release Heart On The Line. This is what she told
me …

LL: So, please tell us about your family and

growing up in Clarksville, Maryland, USA. What
did your parents do? What kind of music were you Anthony Geraci
exposed to while growing up?

VC: We moved to Clarksville from Texas when I was

seven or eight. The next school year I started
saxophone. [The school] band led me to form some
of the greatest friendships of my life! Still to this
day, my two best friends are people I met in

B elementary and middle school! My parents were both college professors and my mom ran her own
tax business on the side. I sat at the back of quite a few tax classes growing up, doing my math
homework and watching my mom teach. It was so cool because I’d just watch her get the whole class
laughing and answering questions. There was so much positive and vibrant energy in the room, and I
knew I wanted to be just like her!

We listened to a lot of different kinds of music when I was growing up. LeAnn Rimes, Christina

Aguilera, the 90’s boy bands, George Straight and old school country, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles,
The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffet. I’m sure there’s more!

LL: When did you first get interested in playing music? When did you begin your music
education? What instruments do you play?

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