Cover photo © 2024 Laura Carbone
Winner of multiple Blues Music Awards, Vanessa Collier consistently portrays an excellent role model for the young women in the world. She is a bright, extraordinarily talented musician and songwriter, with a positive personality who has held true to her values, battled sexist attitudes, and has maintained control over her music and her career.
Vanessa was born in Texas and while her parents were not serious musicians (her mother played a little flute in high school and her grandmother played piano in church), she was exposed to a variety of music. After picking up the saxophone at age nine, she was hooked, although for a while she was equally as passionate about basketball.
“I loved playing basketball, and I was fairly good. I played all through high school and some division one schools were looking at me, but my love of the saxophone won out.”
She attended Berklee College of Music where she noted that one of the most influential teachers was Livingston Taylor.
“He had a lot to do with helping me get over stage fright. He stressed eye contact, which was hard for me, because I tended to look at the floor, but that disconnects you from the audience. He taught me to finish my lyrical phrase looking at someone in the eyes. It changes the connection between the artist and the audience. He taught me a lot of those little things. Being an introvert, I tended to make myself small and not want to be noticed. I liked corners—just listening and watching everything that was happening. So, learning to be the front person took a different kind of energy. I had to learn how to take up space, spreading my arms out wide and gesturing to emphasize the lyrics. I learned to make everything more powerful and still be me and genuine.”
Vanessa graduated from Berklee College of Music with a double major in performance and production engineering, and the latter has proven to be extremely useful for her when it came time to record her albums. She also learned some important details about the industry of which many are unaware.
“I did learn a lot of general business practices. You learn the different scales of pay for session musicians, and how to work within unions. I wanted to understand contracts and learn about things like breakage clauses. Those started when we only had LPs and about 10 percent would break, so the artist would never see the revenue from that ten percent. But now that we have CDs, none really breaks, but the ten percent clause is often still in there. Those are the little contractual things to watch out for. A musical career as a band leader and touring artist is like running a small, but quite complex business, but nothing prepares you totally for what the real world is like.”
Having that extra knowledge likely helped to give Vanessa the confidence to stand up to some sexist attitudes that are unfortunately still present many places in the music industry.
“The more you are hands-on, the more in control of your actual career you will be. Record labels want to hold on to an antiquated view of women’s roles. One thing that baffled me coming straight out of college and working with an independent label was the comment, ‘we can’t sell records with a serious looking woman on the cover’. They said you had to be smiling and look cute, but they don’t ask that of my male counterparts. You look at male artists and they often look ‘bad ass’ on their album covers. Another comment came as recently as 2021, when I was scheduled to play at a festival and there was another woman on the bill. The festival coordinator actually said, ‘we can’t have two women back-to-back’. That didn’t make sense to me–she plays guitar, and I play saxophone, and festivals always have male artists playing back-to-back.”
After graduating from Berklee, Vanessa toured with Joe Louis Walker, including shows in numerous different countries. The tour ended with them spending a month in Turkey, which was an especially fond memory for Vanessa.
“It was my first experience with food outside of the US and it tasted so fresh, and the people were so kind. And Joe pointed out something important to me. He said, ‘you’re 22 years old and the women in this country aren’t allowed to do what you’re doing. The fact that you are in front of eighteen-year-olds who get to see you doing it, that’s something special.’ I hadn’t realized it until he pointed it out, but it was something special. He always treated me like a daughter, and I appreciated that.”
Another extremely important mentor for Vanessa is her mother, who is a college professor and a CPA, and currently serves as Vanessa’s manager. Vanessa noted that a lot of her decisions have been guided by her mother. Her mother’s background in finance and knowledge of contract law makes her an excellent selection for her role as manager, although Vanessa notes that her mother “uses both sides of her brain more than what you might assume from a CPA. She’s very open-minded and creative”.
Vanessa often mentions her admiration for her mother during her shows, and frequently performs her song which is a tribute to her mother, ‘Two Parts Sugar and One Part Lime”.
Vanessa is a favorite at blues festivals and this past year she was booked at many of them. While each has their own personality, and all are appreciated, she noted that one stood out a bit more than the others. It felt like a special honor that she was asked to play at the Chicago Blues Festival.
“When I signed with a booking agent seven years ago, I was asked what festivals I hoped to play, and I had said that the Chicago Blues Festival and Jazzfest have always been on the top of my list. To get there and have this surreal moment on the big stage, it was just a dream come true. Most of my band hadn’t played it either, so they thought it was cool to finally get to play there. We were all feeling so blessed, so grateful to be there. Even though it was raining, the Chicago crowd was right there with you.”
Vanessa’s fans were very excited when she began collaborating with the remarkably talented guitarist, Laura Chavez, who appears on her last five albums and often tours with her.
“We met when I was making my second record with Ruf Records. Laura gets hired for a lot of Ruf releases, since Thomas Ruf is such a big fan of hers. I went with the studio band for the album and there she was on guitar. Laura is a ‘one-take wonder’. We’re built similarly too—we both just want to be respected for the craft.”
Some songwriters talk about being grateful for the “notes” app on their smart phones, as they are constantly jotting down ideas for potential songs. Others carve out a time and sometimes even a special place to do their writing. For Vanessa, it’s a combination of both.
“My first two records were written while I was driving. I would teach lessons and go out on the road for three days and come back and teach for three days, six hours straight. I had ten students and taught back-to-back. I drove an hour and a half each way and would come up with either a lyrical idea or a melody while driving and record it on my phone. You spend days in the car having these melodies bouncing around in your head. I’ve written a lot that way, with just a little nugget to start it out. But I have to set aside a time to sit down to fully write it out. I had also started a practice this year, called ‘Object Writes’. I was introduced to this technique in my songwriting and lyric writing classes at Berklee, and I have some information about it up on my website. You pick any object—literally anything. It could be a clock or a pencil. And then you write sense bound, using your five senses. For example, if the object is a ladder leaning against the house, you write what you are hearing and what you are smelling and then it doesn’t have to be a ladder anymore; it can be summers at your grandmother’s house smelling the cinnamon. It really helps your writing take you to a certain place. My songwriting teacher has a metaphor—‘let your first line be a bag of dye that drips through the rest of the verse.’ And, when you write sense-bound, it tends to do that.”
The influence of this technique can easily be spotted in many of her songs. For example, the song, ‘When it Don’t Come Easy’, offers a powerful visual image:
“There’s a hooked nose man hidin’ in the craters of the moon.
He’s been aimin’ his spotlight on all my faults.
I try to slip in between the slats of the light, but I’m havin’ no luck at all.”
And Vanessa’s frustration with individuals in the industry who try to pressure her to present an overly sexualized image rather than focusing on the music, or otherwise try to control aspects of her artistic expression can be heard in several of her songs, such as the following excerpt from ‘Honey Up’:
I’ve tried it your way, but now I’m gonna try it mine
Cause I’m tired of spinnin’ my wheels just to grease your palms
When you’ve been tryin’ to hold me down all along
See, I already was somebody before you came along
Thinkin’ you built me, nah…now you’re just wrong.
As a gifted songwriter, Vanessa often finds people inspired or obtaining a sense of healing from her songs.
“When they come to the merch table, it’s often the song ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ that they mention. But the song that was probably the most cathartic for me to write was ‘When it Don’t Come Easy’. I was going through one of the most challenging times when I wrote it. It was very visceral. I can still feel the pain when I play it.”
Her gift for songwriting is highlighted on her newest album, Do it My Way, which was just released on Phenix Fire Records and contains eight original tracks. On this album, Vanessa again collaborates with Chavez, along with many other impressive artists.
“This one is a little bit of a left turn—a little more soulful and funky. I was inspired by Sharon Jones, James Brown, a little bit of Aretha and old school Memphis soul, with lots of horns and lots of background vocals. In addition to Laura on guitar, I’ve got Doug Woolverton on Trumpet, Scot Sutherland on bass, Byron Cage on drums, Charles Hodges (from Memphis) doing some organ work, Maureen Murphy (from the Zac Brown Band) doing some background vocals. I also play flute on it and resonator guitar. I’m very proud of this record. It is an album that is very focused on songwriting. ‘Wild as the Rainstorm’ is a song for my sisters, but also a song for all young women. It says, ‘who cares what social media says—be weird and be awesome’. ‘Take Me Back’ is one of my favorites, and has an old school Memphis type of vibe, and ‘Rosetta’ celebrates Sister Rosetta Tharpe.”
Vanessa also wrote a song for her mom on her new album, Do It My Own Way, called “Warrior”. This song celebrates her mother’s courage to stand up to injustice, noting
“She’s goin’ out. Gonna stand up for what she believes.
She’s goin’ out. Gonna dig a trench and dig it deep
Cause if nobody cares, oh then evil succeeds.”
“My mom has always been an absolute warrior– strong and steadfast and smart. I’ve watched her fight for me, for my sisters, for her students, and in general for anyone who doesn’t have a voice. She can’t help but to speak up when something isn’t fair or just and she is first to offer help, even when it causes issues in her own life to do so. This song ‘Warrior’ is about her own legal battle standing up against a major university she used to work for. I’ve watched from the sidelines as the university took her job away after she made multiple reports of discrimination and retaliation. Let me also share that my mom works hard, and she is an exceptional teacher and is beloved by her students, earning top evaluations for the entirety of her career.
When asked about her plans for the future, Vanessa discussed her desire to do an acoustic duo album with Laura Chavez.
“During the pandemic, I did a lot of shows with Shemekia Copeland’s guitarist, Arthur Neilson, and some with Laura and I felt how different and cool it can be when you are not in a full band structure. So, then I had this idea of just playing with different guest guitarists. Or maybe some record in a different vein entirely. Maybe it wouldn’t even have to be under my name. Maybe it will be completely out of left field. I’ve been listening to a lot of different stuff because I have a wide varied musical taste. Lately I’ve been listening to Hermanos Gutierrez, an instrumental band with two guys playing guitars. My boyfriend got me into that band.”
Most full-time musicians find it very difficult to make a dating relationship work, but Vanessa may have discovered the formula for success.
“He is in the military, so he is used to deployment. That makes it so much easier, when someone understands that I need to be away. Like I am home for a week, and then out on the road again in October for another three-week tour, but he understands about that. We have been together now for almost a year and a half.”
Vanessa noted that she has seen numerous changes in the music industry post COVID, from the disappearance of CD players in cars, to venues being much more hesitant to take a chance on newer artists.
“A lot more venues are canceling shows when they don’t have pre-sale tickets that are high enough. I know a lot of people might want to purchase tickets at the last minute, but they should understand that it can be very important to the artist not to wait until the day of the show, or you might not get to see them. Buying early helps make sure your favorite artists can stay on the road.”
When asked if there was any artist with whom she hoped to be able to one day share the stage, she did not hesitate in answering.
“Bonnie Raitt. I have so much respect for Bonnie Raitt as a human and humanitarian for women and for social change and doing the right thing. Plus, she plays crazy good slide guitar and seems like a bad ass. I would also love to play with the Wood Brothers out of Nashville (Oliver and Chris Wood). Oliver has been a big influence on my songwriting, and they put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.”
With her abundant talent as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, it’s not surprising that Vanessa Collier is gaining fans at an exponential rate, and that she was described as simply “amazing” by Buddy Guy when he shared the stage with her on the Legendary Blues Cruise. As audience members, we are fortunate that she also is extremely conscious of the power inherent in her status and her influence on young women. We can be certain that she will continue to show them that she can, in fact, do it her way. Do yourself a favor and go see Vanessa Collier soon. And, if you have a daughter, bring her too.
To learn more about ‘object writes’, view Vanessa’s tour schedule and merchandise, or access her lyrics, visit www.vanessacollier.com
