Vanessa Collier

Vanessa Collier Releases Her New Album Heart On The Line

By Kevin Wildman Saxophonist Vanessa Collier has just released her new album, Heart On The Line. Heart On The Line is Vanessa’s fourth album release. Her previous albums include Heart, Soul & Saxophone (2014), Meeting My Shadow (2017, and Honey Up (2018). Honey Up spent 9 weeks on the Billboard Blues Album Charts Top 15 and another 3 months on the Living Blues Charts.

It’s been a busy year for Vanessa. Besides releasing her new album, she has also won a 2020 Blues Music Award (BMA) for Instrumentalist - Horn Player of the Year. This is the second year in a row for Vanessa to win this award. Last year in 2019 she won it as well. In addition to winning those awards, Vanessa has received seven Blues Music Award (BMA’s) nominations and a Blues Blast Award nomination. She has also won First Place for lyrics in the International Songwriting Competition, the Jamminest Pro Award by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, and the Best of 2014 Blues Breaker on Dan Aykroyd’s BluesMobile. Not bad for a young lady still in the infancy of her career. It’s hard to believe that she just graduated the Berklee College of Music seven years ago in 2013. Before getting her degree, she also found herself touring with the legendary Joe Louis Walker for a year and a half, a time that she is very proud of. In fact, It was Joe who encouraged her to strike out on her own with a solo career. She’s certainly come a long way in just a short time.

As I said, Vanessa is back with a new album for us now. The new album is titled Heart On The Line and is filled with a heavy dose of blues, funk, soul and rock infused to create a very memorable album filled with beautiful vocals, amazing sax solos, and some very soulful and impressive writing. The 11-song album features 8 great originals along with 3 specially chosen covers, “Super Bad,” “I Don’t Want Anything To Change,” and “Leave Your Hat On”.

The album starts out with the legendary James Brown’s “Super Bad,” which Vanessa tells us is a throwback to her college days. “I had done a James Brown the first ones I heard that was like kind of Ensemble back in college, so I was really into accepting it, and just kind of living with the his music. I really loved the layering of parts. memory. the good memories that you have. I was driving down the road one day in my And so I just thought that was such a car and I had “Super Bad” stuck in my head, beautiful song. It’s another one I did earlier, but it was slower and I could hear all these like five years ago when I started doing Stax vocal harmonies. I thought ‘oh, that longer sets. I would use it as sort of a would be really cool!’ I think that had been a breakdown point in the set. I’ve always voice memo on my phone for like three years. wanted to put on the record. So again, this When it came to this record, I was like, ‘oh it one was like, yeah, that’s a good fit. Why might be a cool tune to try and flush out and not?” see what happens, so it’s sort of a James Brown song done slowly, more modern and The last cover song that Vanessa chose slightly with a more swing kind of thing. I’m for the album, was the Randy Newman happy with how it turned out. It’s a little penned song, “Leave Your Hat On,” which funky.” seems like a very odd choice, but the way Vanessa changes the song around to suit a The next cover song she picked out woman’s point of view with the man, it was “I Don’t Want Anything To Change,” makes perfect sense. As a matter of fact, which was written by three Nashville Vanessa had never heard the original Randy songwriters, Elizabeth Wagner Rose, Maia Newman song before. It was a cover version Sharp, and Stephanie Chapman and was of the song that turned her on to it. “The recorded by Bonnie Raitt. “The first time I version that I first heard was in college and I heard it was on the Bonnie Raitt live DVD”, was doing a sound-alike project where you says Vanessa. “It’s like Bonnie Raitt and work with an engineer and you try and get it friends and she does this song. There was a to sound just like the record. Well, here I was bunch of songs on this that I love, but the one working with the engineer and he was like that is on this record she did with Norah ‘check this out,’ and he played me the Etta Jones live. She was another one of my James version of “Leave Your Hat On. The favorite artists and favorite voices to listen to. bassline, which you hear on my record as I used to emulate her for a while, so when I well, is one of my favorite bass lines of all saw them time. It just caught me. I think it’s one of the both do this grooviest tunes ever done. Etta James’ song, the version is fantastic and she changes some of song hit me the lyrics, which is where my lyric comes because I from and she’d tell it from a female point of just think view. I often find that if like if you tell a story the story is that was originally from a man’s point of so great. view, like “Love You Like A Man” is a great It’s like example. It was written by Chris Smither and you hear a then Bonnie Raitt took it and flipped it and lot of now it’s a staple for every female performer. I heartbreak think “Leave Your Hat On” is super dope songs, but from a female perspective as well.” this one was Although Vanessa does a fantastic job different re-interpreting these three artist’s work, for me. It was one of continued on next page December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 11

Vanessa Collier continued from previous page

however the real jewels on Heart On The think that one is a lot of the people’s favorite. Line are her original pieces. There are some It’s really funny, but it’s more like Amerireal heavy emotional songs on this album, cana. It’s more kind of just laid back. It’s got such as the song “Weep And Moan.” Vanessa a very singer-songwriter kind of vibe, and tells us that she was going for that real then it’s built up with the horns and the ‘heavy’ feeling on this one in particular. background vocals and stuff. I had a lot of “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was going for. fun with keeping it simple towards the I’m a huge fan of New Orleans music and beginning and then really flushing it out particularly the old stuff too. I love all the towards the end.” piano stuff like James Booker and all that stuff. That’s a little bit more modern, but in For the song, “What Makes You the beginning where the horns are really Beautiful,” Vanessa digs more into her Soul heavy and it’s really swanky, it’s almost like a side, and projects it on this song which she dirge. I’ve done a lot of soul Blues. I’ve wrote for her sisters. “That was more like a always put one in my last set and I was like, soul thing. I have so many influences that I oh, it’d be kind of fun to write one that’s think came out on this record. That one that more in the New Orleans kind of almost dirge was written for my sisters and I have three style. And so I’ve got heavy horns, heavy sisters, but two of them are in middle school background vocals and just a sense of space at the moment. I joke because I don’t think on the record, production wise. So I think that I’ve met anyone who loved their time in one just kind of pieced itself together. Laura middle school. It’s just not a great time for Chavez is a fantastic guitarist and she kills anybody. Your body’s changing and awkevery slow Blues she plays, and I just thought ward. People tend to be a little bit more rude It would be right up her alley. And you know, during that time period and don’t say very Will Gorman’s just great on the keys and the nice things. And so I kind of wanted to write organ on this one too. I just figured I’d write a song for them, you know, saying like I’ve a song about people just complaining that been in your shoes. I’ve gone through all the nothing’s ever enough. It’s just such a things that you’re going through. Just negative outlook on life.” remember that you’re beautiful inside now, and most of all that you have a voice that Another song on the album that is deserves to be heard and it matters, so that’s somewhat similar to “Weep And Moan” is “If how that song came about.” Only.” Only this one is told with more of an Americana feel. Again, it deals with On “Bloodhound,” Vanessa chose to somebody who just can’t see all the good go with a more traditional Blues style. The they really have in their life. “Yeah, “If song had been written a while back when Only” is sort of in a similar vein of “Weep Vanessa was dabbling with a new guitar that And Moan”. It’s written about somebody she had bought, a resonator. “ I absolutely who just can’t see all the good they have in love that song. I had that song again, as a their life. It’s sort of taken from the perspec- voice memo on my phone for a couple years. tive that this person is like, ‘if only I were I don’t say that I play guitar, but I dabble. I given all these great things and maybe I’d be had bought a resonator for my second record happy. I could only be happy, maybe then.’ I and I wrote this song. I bought a resonator 12 Rock and Blues International • December 2020 because I’ve always wanted to play slide. I’ve always loved slide guitar and I kind of wanted to understand how it worked. I was fooling around with the slide on this resonator guitar and came up with the opening line that you hear, the vocal double. I just kind of thought, ‘well, what is this about? I Love This Groove and I can hear something very traditional, like Southern.’ It’s not a clean blues sound, you know what I mean? It’s kind of like a little bit dirtier. I love the stuff from the Delta, the stuff from Mississippi, from the south. It has always spoken to me and this story came together about a guy who just can’t get away from trouble. It’s like calling him, like the howl of The Bloodhounds, calling him back every time he’s got a foot out, you know what I mean. So it was really fun to write and put together and probably the most fun for me to produce and layer stuff on, just to make it sound huge.”

When it comes to the song “Take A Chance On Me,” Vanessa was thinking a bit about the people that were going to listen to this album. She had wanted to do things a bit differently with this album and show a different side to her songwriting. She literally wanted her listeners to take a chance on her. Give her a break with this album and check out her a new style of writing. “One thing with this record is that it’s a little bit different than all the other records I’ve made previously, especially the last record I did. Honey Up is more in your face. I think the solos are ‘get after it.’ The writing here is more like ‘here we go’, and it’s very pointed and pushes you forward. For this record I wanted to show the flip side of my voice, of my songwriting, of the saxophone and the different tones you can get. It’s just kind of another side of my songwriting. There’s a Doctor John song that I love with the same sort of like odd beat pattern and this song was kind of like, ‘hey take a chance on me with this record as well and just go with me, just explore with me.’ Hopefully you’ll hear the other side and like this other side too. I’ve been very introverted my whole life. I’m not on stage, but I have found that a lot of people see that as a weakness or they see that as a drawback for whatever reason. I think it’s sort of my superpower. So it’s kind of a little bit of both of those things like ‘take a chance on the record, but also like pay attention and take a chance on me.’”

While the song, “Who’s In Power” may have some people looking for a political message about the current election, its not so. It’s really more about who makes decisions about your well being. Should you make your own decisions or allow someone else to. Vanessa tell us that “it’s more so a statement about society. It was funny that it comes along with the presidential election, but I didn’t intend it to be specifically. It’s more about how we get outraged about these large egregious kind of injustices. It’s kind of like if they’re in our daily life, we tend to let them pass if they don’t affect us. You might see

someone affected in a small way and you’re just like, ‘oh somebody else will take care of that’. So “Who’s In Power” is kind of like, ‘well, why do we let other people make decisions as to what’s important for us?’ I think it’s important to pay attention to who your elected officials are in your community and also, to just support people and call out injustice even in the small moments. That’s what that whole song is more about.”

I have to admit, when I saw the title of the song, “Freshly Squozen,” I had no idea what to expect. Was this going to be about juice? What in the world could it be? Well, it was somewhat inspired by juice… in a way, but that is far from what the song is really about. Vanessa tells us that the inspiration for the song “was kind of inspired by a friend of mine. I love juices, like freshly squeezed juices, and he handed one to me and said, oh here’s a freshly squozen orange juice. I was like ‘squozen?’ I have never heard that before in my life, but I thought that’s a really cool writing idea and so initially when I started writing the record, it was actually centered around this idea of like ‘freshly squozen’. And what could that be, and what kind of story could that be, and all that? Anyway, it ended up being a story about kind of a mom and a daughter having this great relationship and squozen stands as a metaphor for getting hugged, so they squeeze each other through these very turbulent or changing times in the story.”

The last song on the album is titled “Heart On The Line.” You never really know what song means until all the questions are asked. Sometimes a title means something totally different than what you might think, so I asked Vanessa if her ‘heart was on the line for this album, “Yeah, you know I think in a way yes. It’s funny again. The timing is hilarious to me because you know, I’ve been going really, really strong for five years touring. Last year we did like a hundred and fifty tour dates and then we got off the road and I think I had like two weeks to finish writing the record. Then we went into the studio and then like a week later, we’re back on the road. So I really haven’t had a break in a long time and it was kind of writing to that idea about how I’ve put myself out there and I kind of need to go back home and kind of rest up a little bit again. It’s the introvert things like, how you regain your energy. Did you go back home? And you gotta spend some time by yourself and then you can care even more for the people around you so that’s part of it. It’s really just a call for other people to do the same because I think we’ve been in a society that’s just ‘go, go, go,’ and you don’t pay attention to how you feel. It’s man up or whatever term you want to use, maybe woman up. I think it’s worthwhile to sit and put my heart on the line. I gotta take care of it and, I’ll put it back there too, but I just need some time and that was just a really fun New Orleans kind of song.” On The Line, as well as being proud of all the musicians that helped her produce this album. Well, I think it’s important to note the players on this record because this was kind of the first record where I really was kind of writing for the players. I know how Laura Chavez plays. I hear her guitar work as I’m writing and I’m like… she’ll kill it there. She’ll get what I’m getting and that was true of this record, you know in the sort of pre-auditioning phase where we’re demoing. When I had a demo and we’re working out the songs in the rehearsal, she often would call up the record that I used as a reference to write the track. Similarly to what I mentioned before, such as the Dr. John record that I was referencing earlier. She picked it up immediately and she was like, ‘oh yeah, you need to do this thing.’ She always brings a ton to my records and somehow she knows where I’m going musically which is really cool. I love working with her. It’s the same with William So, now that the new album is out and Gorman. I think he’s a fantastic all-around Vanessa’s touring schedule has dwindled keyboard player, be it at piano, Wurlitzer, or down like what’s happened to most of the organ. He has a really great voice on the musicians the world over. So what is she up instrument and I love working with him. He’s to now? Vanessa tells us that she’s brushing a really fantastic player and he kind of knows up on her piano playing by taking lessons what it takes to make records, which is again. She’s practicing on her guitar more exactly why I work with him. And then the often. She’s practicing bass and drums and three bass players on here are fantastic. C.C. well on her way to truly becoming a multiEllis is a Berkeley grad and my touring instrumentalist. She even worked on an bassist. He is awesome. Scot Sutherland, of organic farm, growing, harvesting, just doing course, has played with everybody and I just whatever comes her way. She’s even started think he’s one of the funkiest. He just holds a yoga practice four days a week. When it it down on the bass for sure. I was really comes to performing, she was even a bit excited to get Cornell Williams on the bass lucky in that regard and has been performing for this one. Cornell is from John Clery’s some duo gigs with Arthur Nielsen, who has band, whom I’ve admired for a number of been Shemekia Copeland’s guitarist for 22 years. I just needed that on “Heart On The years. Line.” I needed somebody from New Orleans that knew exactly what I was going If you’re into a saxophone driven for. He nailed it. And then Nick Stevens is a album spearheaded by a great singer with a high school friend. And he’s also been my sultry and perky voice, then you really need touring drummer for the last couple of years, to give Vanessa Collier’s new album a listen. and then Quinn Carson and Doug Wolverton This fine album is truly going to amaze you. on horns. They’re both fantastic players and Every song on this album has been brilliantly just amazing people. So it’s such a great written and produced and is sure to shake up celebration of the whole crew. I think it your emotions as well. Give Heart On The shows off my songwriting and all the playing, Line a listen today. but I think it’s such a great band behind me. December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 13