Vanessa Collier became a \u201ctalk of the town\u201d after last year’s Notodden Blues Festival, and has already achieved a lot during her relatively short career as a solo artist. She has been nominated for the Blues Music Awards twelve times, and has won the award four times. It is a great honor to welcome her to Svalbard for the first time. With her comes Blues Music Awards-winner and guitar maestro Laura Chavez, last seen and heard with Nikki Hill under last year\u2019s Dark Season Blues festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Do It My Own Way” (2024) is the title of her sixth album, and it fits in well with her style of doing things. For example, she’s one of the few blues artists to combine vocals and saxophone, and she hasn’t bowed to the music industry’s “demands” to dress sexier. The album is inspired by R&B, blues and classic Memphis soul a la Staple Singers. One of the songs, the gospel-inspired “Rosetta,” is a tribute to one of Collier’s heroes, guitar pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. On the album she\u2019s written the songs, sings, choruses, plays acoustic and electric guitar and alto and tenor saxophone and is also responsible for arrangements and production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa was born in Texas, grew up in Maryland, started her career in Philadelphia and now lives in South Carolina. After graduating from the renowned Berklee College of Music, she played in blues legend Joe Louis Walker\u2019s band before, encouraged by Walker, embarking on a solo career that has taken her far – and now to Longyearbyen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n