Vanessa Collier

Blues legend Buddy Guy doesn’t remember where he was playing when Vanessa Collier came on stage with him, but he remembers her well. “There’s a young lady that came on stage with me,” he said. “I forgot where I was, but she’s playing an alto sax and man, she was amazing.”

The singer/songwriter has been winning accolades from her peers and audiences for years. She first picked up the saxophone at 9; a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, she earned dual degrees in Performance and Music Production and Engineering. While still completing her degree, she landed a position touring with Joe Louis Walker and went solo at his urging. Her debut solo album came out in 2014 and resulted in a national tour. She made her Chicago Blues Festival debut this year and is a 12-time Blues Music Award nominee and four-time winner, including the prestigious Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. In 2019-2020, she was named Horn Player of the Year and is a recipient of the B.B King Entertainer of the Year award, as well.

Collier was born in Texas, grew up in Maryland, launched her career in Philadelphia, and now lives in South Carolina. She grew up listening to an eclectic variety of musical styles and has made them her own. Widely respected by her peers, the multi-instrumentalist weaves funk, soul, rock, and blues into every performance. Midwest Records said that “this bluesy, singing, sax player knows how to bring the slinking funk to her captivating, award-winning sound that has echoes in young Bonnie Raitt/Maria Muldaur vocal sounds…it’s killer stuff on every level and sounds like one of the reasons you first became a music fan.”

Collier loves performing on stages around the world, hoping that she makes a difference with fans along the way. “I am driven to do this because I find it a total form of expression and connection,” she said. “I love connecting with the audience and feeling their energy and I hope to inspire people to follow their dreams and passions, to find what brings them joy, and then to pursue it doggedly.”

Collier’s latest album, 2024’s Do It My Own Way, recorded on analog gear, was inspired by the classic Memphis soul sound of Stax and Hi Records, and especially that of the Staples Singers. “It’s a warmer and darker sounding record, recorded intentionally to reflect a throwback to an older school, R & B, blues, and to the days of great song and songwriters, tube amps and analog gear,” she said.

The album takes listeners back to the heyday of music, with Memphis-soul-influenced arrangements, layers of vocals for color and poignant and powerful saxophone solos. She also pays tribute to women artists, including electric guitar pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She acknowledges the sexism she’s encountered in the music industry, including pressure to dress “sexy” and “not rock the boat.”

“I find that most artists I admire - Prince, James Brown, and Bonnie Raitt, went against the grain and did things that people hadn’t thought of before and hadn’t seen before, changing the industry as they went,” she noted. It’s a message she’s taken to heart. “I will continue to choose to fight quietly, or publicly if needed, to represent myself how I want to be represented in this industry and I will not allow anyone to define who I am,” she said. Of the song “Wild as a Rainstorm,” on this album, she said it is for the younger generation, including her sisters, who may feel out of place in the world. “I’m hoping that this song and my journey to recognize my own personal power might inspire another to choose to take their own path when repeatedly arriving at forks in the road.”

For Vanessa Collier, choosing her own path has taken her to a place where she is admired both for her talent and her refusal to take the easy path. Her journey is still ongoing. Join her for the ride.