{"id":55137,"date":"2025-01-30T09:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=55137"},"modified":"2025-01-30T09:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:33:12","slug":"on-stage-vanessa-collier-comes-to-sellersville-with-songs-from-new-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=55137","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Vanessa Collier comes to Sellersville with songs from new album"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff,<\/strong> Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/div>\n
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Vanessa Collier<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Collier\u2019s sixth album, \u201cDo It My Own Way,\u201d was released September 13, <\/i>2024 via Phenix Fire Records. Now, Collier\u2019s fans can get to hear tracks from the new album performed live.<\/div>\n
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On February 1, Collier is headlining a show at Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com<\/a>).<\/div>\n
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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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m living in South Carolina now \u2013 just outsider of Columbia,\u201d 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.<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy mom got a job with the University of South Carolina teaching tax and finances. But I\u2019m going to move back up to your area soon. It\u2019s a better location for a touring musician.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The \u201cDo It My Own Way\u201d album has met with success in its first four months with good reviews and impressive streaming numbers.<\/div>\n
\u201cThe album is on my own label \u2013 Phenix Fire,\u201d said Collier. \u201cWith all the streaming, many people want to be able to have vinyl or CDs \u2013 and liner notes,\u201d said Collier. \u201cSo, I also did a vinyl issue with this record.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOf course, there was also streaming. I put three singles from the album out prior to its release \u2013 \u2018Take Me Back\u2019 in June, \u2018Wild As A Rainstorm\u2019 in July and \u2018Do It my Own Way\u2019 in August.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI recorded the album in March 2024. \u201cI used a studio in Camden, Maine. Mark Wessel, who was one of my college professors was my engineer.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s called HEARSTUDIOS and is owned by Jason Hearst, who also was one of Mark\u2019s students at Berklee College of Music. It\u2019s a great studio with a real recording console \u2013 and a vintage Hammond B-3.\u201d<\/div>\n
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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\u00a0century grain barn.<\/div>\n
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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).<\/div>\n
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Collier\u2019s 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe recorded the album in a day-and-a-half,\u201d said Collier. \u201cWe finished nine tracks and used eight of them on the album. It went smoothly. By the third take of each song, we had it.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was quick. It was the easiest recording session I\u2019ve ever done<\/div>\n
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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.<\/div>\n
Also, on the album are legendary Hi Records organ player Rev. Charles Hodges (Al Green, Bettye LaVette, Ann Peebles, Alex Chilton, Robert Cray).<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe did the tracks with Charles Hodges after the main recording session,\u201d said Collier. \u201cThen 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.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Collier is a highly acclaimed blues\/jazz sax player who spends a lot of time touring nationally and internationally.<\/div>\n
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Still in her 20s,\u00a0Collier\u00a0has 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.<\/div>\n
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Collier\u2019s impressive vocals and stinging saxophone work saw her light up stages as part of Joe Louis Walker\u2019s band in 2012 and 2013.<\/div>\n
In 2014, her debut album \u201cHeart Soul & Saxophone\u201d won her accolades as a \u201cBest of 2014 Blues Breaker.\u201d In March 2017, she released her sophomore album \u201cMeeting My Shadow.\u201d Collier\u2019s third album \u201cHoney Up\u201d was released on July 6, 2018.<\/div>\n
Collier\u00a0is primarily a sax player, singer and songwriter but is also well-versed in playing clavinet, flute, electric organ, and percussion.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhen I was little, I really wanted to play piano,\u201d said Collier. \u201cI don\u2019t know why. I started taking piano lessons but didn\u2019t like the teacher, so I quit after six months.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThen, I took lessons with Chris Vadala, who played sax with Chuck Mangione. I studied with him for seven years \u2013 classical, jazz and funk. He started me doubling on flute and clarinet. I still play those instruments. Mainly, I play sax \u2014 tenor, some soprano and some baritone.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Collier\u2019s album \u201cHoney Up\u201d was nominated for Blues Music Award (BMA) Contemporary Blues Album of the Year. Collier\u00a0was nominated in 2017 for a Blues Music Award in the \u201cInstrumental \u2014 Horn Player of the Year\u201d category. She also won first place in the \u201cLyrics Only\u201d category of the 2017 USA Songwriting Competition.<\/div>\n
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In 2018, Collier\u00a0was nominated in two categories at the Blues Music Awards \u2013 \u201cContemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year\u201d and \u201cInstrumental \u2014 Horn Player of the Year.\u201d In 2019, she was again nominated in same two categories at the Blues Music Awards \u2013 \u201cContemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year\u201d and \u201cInstrumental \u2013 Horn\u201d and claimed first place in the \u201cInstrumental \u2013 Horn\u201d category.<\/div>\n
The songwriter\/bandleader made her Chicago Blues Festival debut this year, in front of tens of thousands. Best known in the blues world \u2013 she\u2019s a twelve-time Blues Music Award nominee and four-time winner, including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2024.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWith jazz, the first player I was attracted to was Cannonball Adderley,\u201d said Collier. \u201cOther 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.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Collier\u00a0also is a music teacher and has been involved in various \u201cBlues in Schools\u201d programs.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI grew up in Clarksville, Maryland and then graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston,\u201d said Collier, who earned a dual degree in performance and music production, and engineering.<\/div>\n
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\u201cRight now, I\u2019m basically just playing and teaching. I really like teaching sax \u2013 soprano, tenor, alto and baritone. I feel like I have a lot to offer.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Video link for\u00a0Vanessa\u00a0Collier — https:\/\/youtu.be\/qz57R8qDA2w<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The opening act will be Katie Henry.<\/div>\n
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Katie Henry<\/p><\/div>\n

Henry is one of the bright new prospects in America\u2019s flourishing blues scene \u2014 a talented and versatile blues guitar player. Ironically, neither blues nor guitar were her starting points.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI grew up playing piano,\u201d said Henry, during a phone interview. \u201cI also played clarinet in middle school.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Henry\u2019s musical journey began when she was six and started taking piano lessons. She quickly became the \u201chouse\u201d piano player for all night family singalongs and very soon began crafting her own songs in the back of her school notebooks.<\/div>\n
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Heavily involved in school band, her passion for music continued to grow in college, where she also picked up the guitar.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI loved being in bands,\u201d said Henry, who grew up and attended high school in Vernon, New Jersey. \u201cI also loved playing for family and other gatherings. It was the best way to bond with other people.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI joined a jazz band in college playing piano and also went to open mics. It was just a way for me to continue playing.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOne 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy first guitar was a Strat and then I got an SG. Now, the Atele Guitar is my favorite.\u201d<\/div>\n
Henry\u2019s musical world had expanded.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhen I started playing guitar, I was listening with new ears,\u201d said Henry. \u201cI had listened to the Allman Brothers Band. Now, I was tuning in to Dickie Betts.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI like simple melody lines \u2013 like the playing of Robbie Robertson. I consider myself a melodic guitarist. Some of my biggest influences have been Freddie King and Susan Tedeschi.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Henry is part of a new generation currently reshaping the blues landscape. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist broke out with\u00a0\u201cOn My Way,\u201d the critically acclaimed release that earned her a spot on\u00a0Blues Rock Review\u2019s list of the Top 20 Albums of 2022. On her new project\u00a0\u201cGet Goin\u2019,\u201d\u00a0Henry is backed by the crack band of celebrated blues rocker Bernard Allison (who produced the album and contributed a pair of songs).<\/div>\n
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Video link for Katie Henry \u2014 https:\/\/youtu.be\/Br9hoDnQrjY<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show in Sellersville on February 1 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $29.50.<\/div>\n
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Other upcoming shows at the Sellersville Theater are Crack the Sky on January 31 and Zeppelin Re-Imagined on February 2.<\/div>\n
Influenced by a soon-to-be-released album, David Ramirez\u2019s music path has taken a different direction.<\/div>\n
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Fortunately for his area fans, his tour path has taken a familiar direction \u2013 a tour that swings through the Northeast with stops in Lancaster and Philadelphia.<\/div>\n
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The veteran singer-songwriter will play a show at West Art (816 Buchanan Avenue, Lancaster, www.westartlanc.com<\/a>) on February 2 followed by a show on February 5 at Johnny Brenda\u2019s (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia,www.johnnybrendas.com<\/a>).<\/div>\n
Ramirez took a little time to get back to himself, and now he\u2019s dead set on making music for himself\u2014for the sake of the music, and nothing else.<\/div>\n
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The result is \u201cAll The Not So Gentle Reminders\u201d \u2013 Ramirez\u2019s new album which will be released on March 21.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAll The Not So Gentle Reminders\u201d\u00a0is easily the most ambitious and liberating album he has made. The entire process was a creative revelation from writing to recording.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI approached it differently \u2013 approached it with sound and then lyrics,\u201d said Ramirez, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Milwaukee.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI often get bored with the process. I don\u2019t like a formula.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The album is Ramirez\u2019s sixth full-length album as a singer-songwriter. He also released a gospel album in 2021 \u2013 \u201cBackslider.\u201d<\/div>\n
According to Ramirez, \u201cI love all the records I\u2019ve 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/div>\n
With \u201cAll The Not So Gentle Reminders,\u201d the songs were driven by the music rather than the lyrics.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLyrically, it was different because I started with the music first,\u201d said Ramirez. \u201cAs a result, I found some roads I probably wouldn\u2019t have travelled.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe 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\u2019t wallow anymore. This music was for me because I need to be hopeful.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cAll the Not So Gentle Reminders\u201d was recorded art Spectra Studios in Cedar Park, Texas just outside of Austin.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI recorded it a year ago this month,\u201d said Ramirez. \u201cI produced it myself. It was the first time I did that. It was time for me to take the reins.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe songs had space, sounds and colors \u2013 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWith this album, every song started with music \u2013 with sound landscapes. When it got me to a point where I felt something, I\u2019d start writing the lyrics. Everything I do as a writer \u2013 the story is the most important.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The opening act at both shows will be Dylan LeBlanc, a singer-songwriter from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis will be my third tour with Dylan,\u201d said Ramirez. \u201cWe\u2019re good friends.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Video link for David Ramirez \u2013 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hyEXiiUT1tY<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show at West Art on February 2 will start at 7 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Tickets are $25.<\/div>\n
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The show at Johnny Brenda\u2019s on February 5 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Tickets are $22.<\/div>\n
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The Candlelight Dinner Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org<\/a>) has started the run of its<\/div>\n
brand-new mainstage production \u2013 \u201cSomething Rotten.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The show, which opened on January 18, will run through February 23.<\/div>\n
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Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org<\/a>) will present The Philly Keys on January 30 and Beginnings on January 31.<\/div>\n
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Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org<\/a>) 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<\/div>\n
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Jamey\u2019s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com<\/a>) will present The Dave Keyes Band featuring special guest\u00a0Benny Turner on January 31 and Blues People on February 1.<\/div>\n
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Every Sunday, Jamey\u2019s presents \u201cSUNDAY BLUES BRUNCH & JAM\u201d featuring the Philly Blues Kings. This Sunday, PBK will have Clarence Spady as a special guest.<\/div>\n
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Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com<\/a>) will host Charm City Junction on January 31 and Crystal Ship on February 1.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times 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\u2019s sixth album, \u201cDo It My Own Way,\u201d was released September 13, 2024 via Phenix Fire Records. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[7426,14075,11482],"class_list":["post-55137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-katie-henry","tag-vanessa-collier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55138,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55137\/revisions\/55138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}