Vanessa Collier
“Favorite musician, performer, and human being … Vanessa Collier is the hardest working woman in show business. Her tenor sax solos bring an overture of sonic bliss.” – Elmore Magazine

– Live and Onstage @ World Records Saturday March 21, 2026

The songwriter/bandleader made her Chicago Blues Festival 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 for the monumental Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year, Horn Player of the Year, and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year this year – Do It My Own Way finds her influenced by soul artists like Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin.

Singer/songwriter Vanessa Collier’s sixth album Do It My Own Way comes out via Phenix Fire Records. Recorded on analog gear with the musicians largely in one room, Do It My Own Way is sonically inspired by the classic Memphis soul sound of Stax and Hi Records, especially that of the Staples Singers.

Talking about the album, Collier adds, “It’s a warmer and darker sounding a record, recorded intentionally to reflect a throwback to older school soul, R&B, blues, and to the days of great songs and songwriters, tube amps and analog gear.”

Do It My Own Way takes listeners back to the heyday of music with Memphis soul-influenced horn arrangements, layers of vocals for color, with poignant and powerful saxophone solos that deliver a quietly powerful undercurrent to each song and the album as a whole. Minor key Americana/noir “Take Me Back” served as the first single. The album kicks off with the funk workout “Elbow Grease.” On an album full of incredible grooves, “Shoulda Known Better” stands out while “Just One More” sways to a rhumba beat.

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.

“The opening lines are a piercing statement of the overused, antiquated, and tired views within the industry. And the lyrics of the second verse demonstrate how the industry attempts to put and keep women ‘in their place’ by undermining them,” she recounts, continuing, “I find that most artists I admire – namely, Prince, James Brown, and Bonnie Raitt, went against the grain and did things that people hadn’t thought of before and that people hadn’t seen before, changing the industry as they went. This song is an assurance that 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 that I will not allow someone else to define who I am. It’s also a statement of hope that the industry is, can, and will continue to progress.” – Vanessa Collier

Blues Blast Mag said, “Vanessa is an important part of the future of the blues.” Born in Texas, growing up in Maryland, launching her career in Philadelphia, and now residing in South Carolina, Collier grew up listening to an eclectic variety of music. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, she joined blues legend Joe Louis Walker’s band, going solo at his urging, and has become a notable artist “whose rise to the top is nothing short of meteoric” (Making a Scene). She has opened concerts for Blues Traveler. Her prior studio album, Heart On The Line, spent nine weeks in the Billboard Blues Album Chart top 15.

“The singer and sax player might as well go ahead and add another shelf to her trophy case because clearly, she’s going to need it. With a voice that often recalls that of blues-rock stalwart Bonnie Raitt, Collier turns up the heat… ” – AXS.com

“Up-and-comer.” – Rolling Stone

“There’s a young lady [Vanessa Collier] came onstage with me, I forget where I was, but she’s playing an alto saxophone, and man, she was amazing.” – Buddy Guy

– Winner of four Blues Music Awards including a win for 2022 Award for Contemporary Blues Female Artist

Vanessa Collier
– Live and Onstage
@ World Records – Saturday March 21, 2026!

Seating Chart