Blues sax player Collier, guitarist Gillis to share bill

FAIRFIELD — Just in case you’ve been wondering whether the blues is alive and kicking, check out Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne on Thursday when it presents a full night of blues-based music by two hot bands fronted by 20-something women.

Vanessa Collier and Heather Gillis are likely to dispell any questions you might have had about the genre’s future.

Showtime is 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $28, available in advance at fairfieldtheatre.org.

At 27, Collier is a honkin’ blues sax woman (and multi-instrumentalist — she also plays clavinet, flute, electric organ and percussion). So far, she has toured 11 countries with her five-piece band.

A Berklee College of Music graduate, Collier is a native of Clarksville, Md. She has three Blues Music Award nominations and a Blues Blast Award nomination — along with two critically acclaimed albums — and has shared the stage with the great Buddy Guy, among many others.

Collier toured the U.S. and internationally with Joe Louis Walker in 201213 and later worked alongside Annie Lennox, Kathy Mattea and Willie Nelson.

Gillis, meanwhile, previously attracted attention in Connecticut when she fronted the late Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks’ band Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band, on StageOne.

She’ll return this time with her own band, which plays original rock ’n’ roll, soul and other roots music, in addition to the blues.

Gillis plays guitar and lap steel guitar. She also is a singer, songwriter and arranger.

Courtesy of Devious Planet Media Blues saxophone player Vanessa Collier will perform at Fairfield Theatre Company's StageOne.