North River Blues Festival: Tinsley Ellis, Vanessa Collier headliners at Marshfield Fair

The 27th North River Blues Festival, the brainchild of Marshfield promoter John Hall, has been a big draw for the Marshfield Fair for more than two decades. This weekend's lineup features a mix of blues, funk and rock ‘n’ roll. Saturday’s first band, Boston’s Gravel Project, the quartet headed by brothers Andrew and Jordan Gravel starts at noon. At 1:30 p.m. Boston music legend Dennis Brennan, one of the pillars of the Americana scene in New England takes over, followed at 3 p.m. by Rochester, New York, bluesman Chris Beard, who’s played the C-Note in Hull. 77-year old John Primer, taking over at 4:30, began his career in Chicago as a sideman to the likes of Muddy Waters, Magic Slim and Willie Dixon, but has gone on to release dozens of albums as a bandleader himself. Saturday’s headliner is Georgia native Tinsley Ellis, whose rockin’ style has made him a favorite throughout the area, as fans at his Spire Center show might attest. On the side stage all day, Roslindale guitarist Steve Todesco and Friends will keep things moving between sets on the main stage.

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Sunday’s lineup, with the same basic set times, opens with festival favorites The Rampage Trio, whose blues-tinged takes might include ZZ Top numbers or even a bit of Alice Cooper. Amesbury quartet Frankie Boy and the Blues Express takes over at 1:30. The Bennett Matteo Band features the vocals of potent Jade Bennett and the guitar fire of Gino Matteo. The Hipshot Band is well known all over the area for their versatility, and having soul queen Toni Lynn Washington as a guest increases the heat. Sunday’s headliner is Berklee College of Music 2013 grad Vanessa Collier, whose visceral vocals are offset by her dazzling alto sax solos. Quincy’s Sam Gentile takes his spot at the side stage for the 27th year.

Sunday headliner: Vanessa Collier

Saxophonist, singer and songwriter Vanessa Collier just finished a European tour with a show in Belgium last Saturday and hits the Marshfield stage this weekend as Sunday's headliner. A Maryland native, Collier earned two degrees at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she delved in all kinds of different styles. It was her “post-grad” work for a couple years as part of veteran bluesman Joe Louis Walker’s band that she felt she learned the most. Collier said live performance is the essence of a musician’s life, “where magic happens and where you get to grow as an artist.”

"Joe was an incredible mentor to me and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to tour in his band," Collier said by email. "I’m very content to be a sideman, but I also realized during that time that I wanted to be my own artist and use my songwriting to express everything I felt and to hopefully reach people."

She said she picked up a lot watching Collier "work a crowd,"

"He would feel the energy in the room and call tunes accordingly," Collier said. "He walked the crowd with just his harmonica and shook people’s hands, which is part of the blues tradition. And then Joe started inviting me to walk out into the crowd with him and I would follow his lead and play off of what he played. I try to carry that tradition forward in my own sets today while putting my own spin on things."

Collier's experiences playing in public while at Berklee were few, but quite varied. She started touring with Collier in her last year of school. "It gave me a chance to get outside of the 'Berklee bubble' as they call it there," she said.  "I was very shy and I was a double major plus I was a resident assistant, so I didn’t have a ton of extra time. And my introversion led me to stay in my room or in the practice room a lot more often than to go off campus and jam or perform.

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"But, on campus I was picked to play alto for the showcase bands and I was given an opportunity to learn from and perform with Kathy Mattea, to record a song with Patrice Rushen producing and playing piano, and then to play in the commencement concert band that backed up Willie Nelson and Annie Lennox (Kris Kristofferson and Lukas Nelson came too) at my graduation. Compared to most people at Berklee, I didn’t play out a lot, but I was given the opportunities and the challenges I needed to learn and quietly grow and I’m grateful for them."

Collier’s is a fearless explorer of musical styles.  She’s done remarkable covers of everything from U2’s “When Love Comes to Town,” to Randy Newman’s “You Can leave Your Hat On,” to r&b icon Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” Collier has even led her group in a stirring version of jazz great Cannonball Adderley’s signature hit, “Mercy Mercy Mercy,” where the 1970 instrumental hit is not just revitalized, but Collier shares the solo spotlight with her keyboardist and guitarist. We mentioned we'd heard Cannonball back in the day, at the old Paul's Mall/Jazz Workshop around the corner from Berklee.

"I’m so jealous you saw Cannonball" Collier said. "He’s been my favorite saxophonist since I started listening to jazz.  I grew up with a lot of different styles of music played in my house and in the car with my mom. I don’t realize the wide array of influences I have until I really think about it. But, the country and blues storytelling is in my blood from Texas, r&b and soul from growing up with Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, the funk of James Brown and Maceo from my college ensemble, and jazz and blues from my middle school jazz band days. I’ve had a lot of incredible opportunities stemming from arts programs where I grew up and I’m thankful because I don’t know what I’d be doing if I hadn’t been shown that music was a path forward I could take.  As for the covers, I believe most truly great songs are untouchable, but sometimes you stumble upon something great to make a cover song 'yours.' And I try and take chances to see what might happen - if it fails, then it doesn’t have to go on the record, but if I’m proud of it, I’ll put it out."

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In her original music, which has increasingly formed the bulk of her four albums, Collier also shows the knack of being able to craft contemporary tunes, drawing from traditional blues styles. “Bloodhound,” for example, from her debut album, is an acoustic slide-guitar ballad, but with a lyrical story that depicts a man trying to outrun, or at least outlive his past. “Fault Line,” for contrast, is surging bit of boisterous funk. Collier and her band were right in the middle of recording the latest album 'Heart On The Line' when the pandemic hit.

"I had an unfinished record as of March 2020," Collier explained. "I originally planned to record the vocals myself as well as the horn parts, as I did on my 2018 release 'Honey Up,' ... The extra time allowed me to work on the record until I felt it was finished instead of pushing to meet a deadline and feeling perhaps a little incomplete. For this one, I wrote the horn arrangements; recorded soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones; and recorded all the background vocal parts and most of the lead vocals from home, which is a process that I love."

Each succeeding album has included more of Collier's original music, and the last one really showed her vocal power. She will next release a live album in October.

"I have learned after my first two records that I like Prince’s approach to recording vocals: recording without anyone else in the room (including any engineers)," said Collier.  "That is how I feel most comfortable and get the best vocal performances. 'Heart On The Line' is one of the more personal records I’ve made. I had to be able to dive into that emotion and feel safe enough to do so, so why not the comfort of my bedroom?"

Quincy's Sam Gentile, the side stage perennial

Quincy’s Sam Gentile, the guitarist and singer best known as the leader of the blues-rockin’ Basic Black quartet, has performed at all 26 North River Blues Festivals. Every one of those appearances has been at the "side stage," the secondary setup where performers deliver mini-sets of 20-30 minutes to keep fans engaged while the main stage is cleared and prepared for the next band.

“They have offered me the main stage and I turn them down,” said Gentile with a laugh. “My view has always been, ‘Why play one set, when I can play all day and have many more people hear me?’ It’s been a great gig for me for all these years, and that’s the reason I do it. I’m 57 now, so I must’ve been just a kid when we started. I always tell John (promoter), if he wants someone else, that’s alright, but he keeps saying he wants us back."

Gentile was recently recruited to play in the band of former "Saturday Night Live" singer Christine Ohlman at a blues festival in Mystic, Conn. blues festival. And he also just played at the concert series at the John Alden Sportsman's Club in Plymouth.

Given the length of those mini-sets, Gentile knows he and his band have perhaps six tunes at a time to grab the audience. Choosing his various setlists is one of his most treasured preparations.

“We have hundreds of songs at this point,” said Gentile. “And the guys I have playing with me all know my material and can really play. This Sunday I’ll have Ed Scheer of the Love Dogs on drums, Marty Ballou on bass, and Tom Ferraro from Dave Howard and the High Rollers on guitar. I'm excited to have people hear this band."

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The pandemic and quarantines slowed down Gentile’s work like every other musicians, but in his case there was an added factor. Four years ago Gentile had a kidney transplant (his best friend was the donor), and so he had to be a bit cautious about playing out last year. Gentile wanted to note that the Aldous Collins Band is spearheading a GoFundMe fundraising effort for their bassist Kyle Ahola, who is awaiting his own kidney transplant.

“I feel for the kid and I know it was a tough time for me, before the operation,” said Gentile. “I had never had a drink, stayed away from coffee, and didn’t even take aspirin, but it was hereditary high blood pressure that got me. The Aldous Collins Band is terrific, and I hope people do whatever they can to help this kid out.”

Weekend music: Godsmack to Korn

Thursday night has some superb options, starting with The War and Treaty at the Narrows Center, as the husband-wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter meld gospel, soul, rock and country into a galvanizing musical experience; meanwhile Pembroke's Matt York plays at Bridgewater's Music Alley; and Brookline's Grace Kelly celebrates her new jazz album at City Winery. But if you miss Grace Kelly there, catch her Friday at the Spire Center; or look for Joe Russo's Almost Dead all weekend at Leader Bank Pavilion; or the hard-hitting rock of Korn and Evanescence at The Xfinity Center.   Saturday is packed with good music: Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters at the Spire Center; The Local Natives rock the House of Blues; The Shins rock out at Roadrunner; Godsmack opens the new MGM Music Hall with a benefit show; Get the Led Out is a tribute to the Zeppelin at the Music Circus; and the Elton John tribute Bennie and the Jets heats up City Winery.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Tinsley Ellis Vanessa Collier headline North River Blues Festival