On Stage: Vanessa Collier comes to Sellersville with songs from new album

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

Vanessa Collier

Vanessa Collier released five studio albums over the last decade and then followed with a live album in September 2023. Exactly a year later, Collier treated fans to another studio album.

Collier’s sixth album, “Do It My Own Way,” was released September 13, 2024 via Phenix Fire Records. Now, Collier’s fans can get to hear tracks from the new album performed live.
On February 1, Collier is headlining a show at Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com).
In the early years of this decade, Collier was a resident of Chadds Ford while her mother was a professor at the University of Delaware.
“I’m living in South Carolina now – just outsider of Columbia,” said Collier, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon as she waited in her car for her retinas to recover from a just-completed eye examination.

“My mom got a job with the University of South Carolina teaching tax and finances. But I’m going to move back up to your area soon. It’s a better location for a touring musician.”
The “Do It My Own Way” album has met with success in its first four months with good reviews and impressive streaming numbers.
“The album is on my own label – Phenix Fire,” said Collier. “With all the streaming, many people want to be able to have vinyl or CDs – and liner notes,” said Collier. “So, I also did a vinyl issue with this record.
“Of course, there was also streaming. I put three singles from the album out prior to its release – ‘Take Me Back’ in June, ‘Wild As A Rainstorm’ in July and ‘Do It my Own Way’ in August.
“I recorded the album in March 2024. “I used a studio in Camden, Maine. Mark Wessel, who was one of my college professors was my engineer.
“It’s called HEARSTUDIOS and is owned by Jason Hearst, who also was one of Mark’s students at Berklee College of Music. It’s a great studio with a real recording console – and a vintage Hammond B-3.”
HEARSTUDIOS represents a new standard for professional recording and audio/music production services in the northern New England region. Located in the rustic coastal harbor community of Camden Village, Maine , HEARSTUDIOS was constructed in a reconditioned 19th century grain barn.
HEARSTUDIOS brings together state-of-the-art recording equipment, one of the largest natural sonic spaces in New England (24,000 c.f. live room) and an extensive keyboard and instrument selection (including a pristine Yamaha C7 Concert Grand Piano, vintage Hammond B3, Rhodes 88, classic amps, guitars, pedals and more).
Collier’s studio band has been stable in recent years with features Byron Cage on drums and background vocals, Scott Sutherland on bass, Laura Chavez on guitar and Collier on saxophones, vocals and Resonator guitar.
“We recorded the album in a day-and-a-half,” said Collier. “We finished nine tracks and used eight of them on the album. It went smoothly. By the third take of each song, we had it.
“It was quick. It was the easiest recording session I’ve ever done
Collier takes on multiple roles, writing the songs, producing the album, arranging horns and all instrumental and vocal parts, playing acoustic and electric guitars and alto and tenor saxophones, flute, as well as singing the lead and background vocals.
Also, on the album are legendary Hi Records organ player Rev. Charles Hodges (Al Green, Bettye LaVette, Ann Peebles, Alex Chilton, Robert Cray).
“We did the tracks with Charles Hodges after the main recording session,” said Collier. “Then I recorded sax and vocals at home. Most of the lyrics were written from home. Some were ideas from years ago but most of them were from crunch time.”
Collier is a highly acclaimed blues/jazz sax player who spends a lot of time touring nationally and internationally.
Still in her 20s, Collier has toured all over the world numerous times and has released six solo albums. With searing saxophone solos, soulful vocals, and witty lyrics, her songwriting features a blend of blues, funk, rock, and soul.
Collier’s impressive vocals and stinging saxophone work saw her light up stages as part of Joe Louis Walker’s band in 2012 and 2013.
In 2014, her debut album “Heart Soul & Saxophone” won her accolades as a “Best of 2014 Blues Breaker.” In March 2017, she released her sophomore album “Meeting My Shadow.” Collier’s third album “Honey Up” was released on July 6, 2018.
Collier is primarily a sax player, singer and songwriter but is also well-versed in playing clavinet, flute, electric organ, and percussion.
“When I was little, I really wanted to play piano,” said Collier. “I don’t know why. I started taking piano lessons but didn’t like the teacher, so I quit after six months.
“I saw someone playing sax on television and fell in love with it. We rented a sax for me when I was in fourth grade. That was in school. Then, I studied with a private instructor for a few years.
“Then, I took lessons with Chris Vadala, who played sax with Chuck Mangione. I studied with him for seven years – classical, jazz and funk. He started me doubling on flute and clarinet. I still play those instruments. Mainly, I play sax — tenor, some soprano and some baritone.”
Collier’s album “Honey Up” was nominated for Blues Music Award (BMA) Contemporary Blues Album of the Year. Collier was nominated in 2017 for a Blues Music Award in the “Instrumental — Horn Player of the Year” category. She also won first place in the “Lyrics Only” category of the 2017 USA Songwriting Competition.
In 2018, Collier was nominated in two categories at the Blues Music Awards – “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year” and “Instrumental — Horn Player of the Year.” In 2019, she was again nominated in same two categories at the Blues Music Awards – “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year” and “Instrumental – Horn” and claimed first place in the “Instrumental – Horn” category.
The songwriter/bandleader made her Chicago Blues Festival debut this year, in front of tens of thousands. Best known in the blues world – she’s a twelve-time Blues Music Award nominee and four-time winner, including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2024.
“With jazz, the first player I was attracted to was Cannonball Adderley,” said Collier. “Other major influences were John Coltrane, Junior Walker, and Maceo Parker. Vocally, I started with Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and that morphed into Norah Jones and Bonnie Raitt.”
Collier also is a music teacher and has been involved in various “Blues in Schools” programs.
“I grew up in Clarksville, Maryland and then graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston,” said Collier, who earned a dual degree in performance and music production, and engineering.
“Right now, I’m basically just playing and teaching. I really like teaching sax – soprano, tenor, alto and baritone. I feel like I have a lot to offer.”
Video link for Vanessa Collier — https://youtu.be/qz57R8qDA2w.
The opening act will be Katie Henry.

Katie Henry

Henry is one of the bright new prospects in America’s flourishing blues scene — a talented and versatile blues guitar player. Ironically, neither blues nor guitar were her starting points.

“I grew up playing piano,” said Henry, during a phone interview. “I also played clarinet in middle school.”
Henry’s musical journey began when she was six and started taking piano lessons. She quickly became the “house” piano player for all night family singalongs and very soon began crafting her own songs in the back of her school notebooks.
Heavily involved in school band, her passion for music continued to grow in college, where she also picked up the guitar.
“I loved being in bands,” said Henry, who grew up and attended high school in Vernon, New Jersey. “I also loved playing for family and other gatherings. It was the best way to bond with other people.
“I went to Manhattan College in the Bronx. I graduated in 2014 with a degree in education. I was a teacher for three years in Riverdale in the Bronx.
“I joined a jazz band in college playing piano and also went to open mics. It was just a way for me to continue playing.
“One night, I was at an open mic at the Bitter End and met Antar. We had similar interests, so we started a blues band. I was playing piano at the time. He put a guitar in my hand, and I started playing chords. He opened the door, and I stepped through. That was five years ago.
“My first guitar was a Strat and then I got an SG. Now, the Atele Guitar is my favorite.”
Henry’s musical world had expanded.
“When I started playing guitar, I was listening with new ears,” said Henry. “I had listened to the Allman Brothers Band. Now, I was tuning in to Dickie Betts.
“I like simple melody lines – like the playing of Robbie Robertson. I consider myself a melodic guitarist. Some of my biggest influences have been Freddie King and Susan Tedeschi.”
Henry is part of a new generation currently reshaping the blues landscape. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist broke out with “On My Way,” the critically acclaimed release that earned her a spot on Blues Rock Review’s list of the Top 20 Albums of 2022. On her new project “Get Goin’,” Henry is backed by the crack band of celebrated blues rocker Bernard Allison (who produced the album and contributed a pair of songs).
Video link for Katie Henry — https://youtu.be/Br9hoDnQrjY.
The show in Sellersville on February 1 will start at 8 p.m.
Ticket prices start at $29.50.
Other upcoming shows at the Sellersville Theater are Crack the Sky on January 31 and Zeppelin Re-Imagined on February 2.
Influenced by a soon-to-be-released album, David Ramirez’s music path has taken a different direction.
Fortunately for his area fans, his tour path has taken a familiar direction – a tour that swings through the Northeast with stops in Lancaster and Philadelphia.
The veteran singer-songwriter will play a show at West Art (816 Buchanan Avenue, Lancaster, www.westartlanc.com) on February 2 followed by a show on February 5 at Johnny Brenda’s (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia,www.johnnybrendas.com).
Ramirez took a little time to get back to himself, and now he’s dead set on making music for himself—for the sake of the music, and nothing else.
The result is “All The Not So Gentle Reminders” – Ramirez’s new album which will be released on March 21.
“All The Not So Gentle Reminders” is easily the most ambitious and liberating album he has made. The entire process was a creative revelation from writing to recording.
“I approached it differently – approached it with sound and then lyrics,” said Ramirez, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Milwaukee.
“I often get bored with the process. I don’t like a formula.”
The album is Ramirez’s sixth full-length album as a singer-songwriter. He also released a gospel album in 2021 – “Backslider.”
According to Ramirez, “I love all the records I’ve made in the past. But in making them, there was always the thought in the back of my mind of where and what it could get me.
“I made both creative and business decisions with a goal in mind; a goal that often never came. This time it was all about just the joy of making it, about having fun with it.
“The last thing I wanted was to write a heartbreak record. So, I stopped writing altogether, and I just waited until I saw my heart start coming back to life. I wanted the next thing to be hopeful and sweet and beautiful — a testament to music and my love for it.”
With “All The Not So Gentle Reminders,” the songs were driven by the music rather than the lyrics.
“Lyrically, it was different because I started with the music first,” said Ramirez. “As a result, I found some roads I probably wouldn’t have travelled.
“The songs were hopeful and not about heartbreak. It was more for me to be positive — not so downtrodden and melancholic. It was time for my spirit. I couldn’t wallow anymore. This music was for me because I need to be hopeful.”
“All the Not So Gentle Reminders” was recorded art Spectra Studios in Cedar Park, Texas just outside of Austin.
“I recorded it a year ago this month,” said Ramirez. “I produced it myself. It was the first time I did that. It was time for me to take the reins.
“The songs had space, sounds and colors – not just verse-chorus-verse-chorus. There are long musical intros and outros. In the past, I just sat down with acoustic guitar and piano.
“With this album, every song started with music – with sound landscapes. When it got me to a point where I felt something, I’d start writing the lyrics. Everything I do as a writer – the story is the most important.”
The opening act at both shows will be Dylan LeBlanc, a singer-songwriter from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“This will be my third tour with Dylan,” said Ramirez. “We’re good friends.”
Video link for David Ramirez – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyEXiiUT1tY.
The show at West Art on February 2 will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $25.
The show at Johnny Brenda’s on February 5 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $22.
The Candlelight Dinner Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) has started the run of its
brand-new mainstage production – “Something Rotten.”
The show, which opened on January 18, will run through February 23.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will present The Philly Keys on January 30 and Beginnings on January 31.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will present The Collingwood with special guest Gina Graves on January 31, METALLURGY: THE ART OF METAL feat. What Are the Odds?, After All, World of Chaos on February 1 and The Legendary Kennett Flash Open Mic Night w/ Jerry Rocker & Cherie Roberts on February 2
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will present The Dave Keyes Band featuring special guest Benny Turner on January 31 and Blues People on February 1.
Every Sunday, Jamey’s presents “SUNDAY BLUES BRUNCH & JAM” featuring the Philly Blues Kings. This Sunday, PBK will have Clarence Spady as a special guest.
Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will host Charm City Junction on January 31 and Crystal Ship on February 1.
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