Vanessa Van Spall profile picture

Vanessa Van Spall

Hello Oakland!

About Me


Not Sorry - Live!

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Thanks to the following radio stations for playing our music!
WJDF - Orange, MA
Firebird - Pottsdam, NY
WSNN - Pottsdam, NY
LITE 98 - Hurrican, WVA
WILD - Hurrican, WVA
WQXQ - Owensboro, KY
WKYA - Central City, KY
Mix 96.7 - Lakewood Park, FL
Lazer 107 - Lakewood Park, FL
FM 100.3 - Lakewood Park, FL
WJER-FM - Dover, OH
Normal 98.7 - New Philadelphia, OH
EASY - New Philadelphia, OH
WNPQ - Canton, OH
WBTC - Urichsville, OH
WOCO - Oconto, WI
WRJC - Mauston, WI
WWIS - Black River Falls, WI
KAYL - Storm Lake, IA
KLMJ - Hampton, IA
KQCR - Hampton, IA
KLBQ - Eldorado, AR
K-TRAIN - Pine Bluff, AR
KXAZ - Page, AZ
KIXR - Ponca City, OK
KIQX - Durango, CO
KKDC - Dolores, CO
KEAO - Maui, HI
KGY - Olympia, WA
KHZ Radio - Los Angeles, CA; Ocean City, MD; Baltimore, MD, www.KHZTV.com
KZUM - Lincoln, NE
WCVF - FREDONIA NY
KSFT - Sioux City, IA
KVIC - Victoria, TX
FM 100.3, Lakewood Park, FL
WLQK - Cooksville, TN
WKXD - Cooksville, TN
The daughter of a Music Minister, Vanessa grew up surrounded by music. She started performing for live audiences at the age of 5, started piano lessons at 6 years old, won her first statewide songwriting competition in 2nd grade, starred in a high school musical, sang in multiple choirs, recorded a demo at 16 - and even had it "picked up" by an industry person. She knew she wanted to be a singer and songwriter long before she was old enough to drive.
Somewhere between getting her drivers license and finishing college, her detour began. Afraid of failure or success or who-knows-what, she started on an alternate path of seemingly sensible choices, like getting married, finishing a degree in History, working office and corporate jobs, substitute teaching (not easy), etc. All the while, slowly coming to the realization that she wouldn..t find the fulfillment she was looking for in anything other than music.
So the musical silence ended. Numerous steps in the right direction, as well as the partnership of Ian Hisert, have led her to completion of her new full-length album, "Cotton-Poly Blend"! Songs are written together by Ian and Vanessa. The album is recorded with star drummer and producer, Atma Anur, and she is pleased to have her long-standing viola player, Eric Golub, and bass player, Derek Yergler, featured on the album.
Lyrics provide heartfelt, bittersweet and piercingly incisive reflections on the ups and downs in life. She promises that people will hear a piece of her soul through the music. "Maybe I never should have run from my dreams, but my songs reflect a broader life experience than I had starting out at 16. I hope people can relate to that and appreciate it." This music is for anyone who's ever made mistakes, been afraid or just taken the long way to get there.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/1/2005
Band Website: vanessavanspall.com
Band Members:

GoGirlsMusic.com is proud to present the 8th annual
Invasion of the GoGirls during Austin's annual "South by"
weekend : March 13-15, 2008
Not Sorry - Live!
IAN HISERT - COWRITER, KEYBOARDS AND PIANO

Believing the piano to be woefully under-represented in today’s pop music (or perhaps resenting that he didn’t learn to play guitar), Ian’s mission is to help re-establish the piano as a driving instrument in the genre.

DEREK YERGLER - BASS

Derek lays down tasty grooves and helps guide the emotional feel of the music.

ERIC GOLUB - VIOLA, CELLO

Usurps the role of lead guitarist, on viola. He "plays adventurous music...where he displays an appealing sound, impressive technique and an open-minded style." - L.A. Jazz Scene

NOEL CANIFAX - VOCALS AND PERCUSSION

Noel has a college degree in voice, sings with the San Francisco Symphony as well as many other places, and she sings with us! Yeah, Noel!

ATMA ANUR - STUDIO PRODUCTION, DRUMS AND PERCUSSION

Brilliant producer and studio drummer for our upcoming full-length CD. He has played with Journey, Tony MacAlpine, David Bowie, Third Eye Blind, Richie Kotzen, to name a few. We hope he'll be working with us for a long time.

CHARLIE BEUTTER AKA " CHUCK BUTTER " - ENGINEERED & MIXED AT HYDE STREET STUDIOS, San Francisco. If you need an amazing engineer who's great to work with, this is your guy! www.hydestreet.com

JOHN CUNIBERTI - MASTERING ENGINEER AT THE PLANT STUDIOS, Sausalito. Thanks for taking care of us, John! www.plantstudios.com

MILTON WILLIAMS - VOCAL INSTRUCTOR AND COACH. What would I do without you? miltonwilliams.com

Influences:
Major influences include Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox, Fiona Apple, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, Mahalia Jackson, Suzanne Vega, Shakira and Aimee Mann.
Sounds Like:
Vocals soar over danceable grooves, driving keyboards and catchy viola riffs, fusing elements of Motown and late-era Beatles with the vocal styles of Annie Lennox, Sarah Mclachlan and Sheryl Crow.
Type of Label: None

My Blog

SXSW Recap & Introducing "Blog Songs"

Ian and I just came back from a fabulous time in Austin, TX.  We were there for the SXSW Music Conference.  Our "Invasion of the Go Girls" showcase was a success, we met a lot of new fo...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:26:00 PST

Help Promote House Concerts - Concerts at Home

House concerts are one of the most important trends in live music. They allow fans to see and hear great artists up close, and these artists get to perform for attentive and appreciative fans, away fr...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:49:00 PST

50,000 signatures for polar bears - can you help?

..> ..> The thought of drowning polar bears really bothers me so I'm passing this along...> ..> ..> ..> Hi Vanessa, It's not too late to save polar bears, but we have to act quickly. New gov...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:31:00 PST

Eric, Our Viola Player, is interviewed on TheOpenMic.net!

Slim has been documenting the Bay Area open mic scene through video and interviews.  It's a fascinating project.  He very recently interviewed Eric Golub, our viola player.  Check it ou...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:50:00 PST

vote for us! - pretty please

Here's the link: http://www.myrecordlabel.net/vote.php ...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Sat, 25 Aug 2007 11:18:00 PST

Cool Tool for Indie Artists  Promoting with Last.FM playlist widget

Musings from the Backing Band  Volume 2   Hi, this is Ian again.  On my last blog post, I talked about how www.Pandora.com was providing an amazing opportunity for both indie artists and fo...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:15:00 PST

NEWS, REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS at VanessaVanSpall.com/news

This is just a note to let you know that our latest news, reviews and interviews can always be found at VanessaVanSpall.com/news. Check out my recent interview with Brian Lush of Rockwired.com. Thanks...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:26:00 PST

the beauty of open mics

We're still pretty fresh from recording our full-length album, "Cotton-Poly Blend." Lately we've been traveling the Bay Area open mic ciruit in between booking larger paid shows. The open mics have be...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:57:00 PST

Made it into Music Connection Magazine!

We're all excited about our feature in Music Connection's A & R Column!  You can check it out at http://musicconnection.com/currentissue/arreport/arreport.lc gi...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:32:00 PST

The coolest thing for music fans, indie artists and radio since, well, ever&

Musings from the Backing Band  Volume 1   Hi, this is Ian, Vanessa's keyboardist / pianist.  Vanessa has granted the rest of her band use of her blog space to talk about the behind the...
Posted by Vanessa Van Spall on Wed, 23 May 2007 03:37:00 PST