Colleen Rennison is a singer,
songwriter, and actress. She’s worked in films with Bruce Willis, Michelle
Pfeiffer, Minnie Driver, Tom Arnold, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kathleen Turner, Mila
Kunis, and many more. None of this I knew when I first heard her voice. A voice
that is simply stunning.
I stumbled across Colleen on YouTube.
Her band “No Sinner” was under recommendations. My first thought was, what a
cool name. I found out later it’s her last name “Rennison” spelled backwards. I
clicked the video and the music began. Within the first few notes I could hear
those Delta Blues, muddy and smeared with life dripping from the guitarist’s
amplifier. Then came Colleen’s voice soulful, strong, and raw with emotion.
I sat watching song after song, blown
away at the sound of an old soul singing in this almost forgotten style. I say
almost, because in our overstimulated world flooded with perfectly polished
music, real talent is hard to find. So when you run across someone of Colleen’s
caliber you instantly take notice.
The next morning waiting to clock in
for work I looked her up on the web. I followed her and within a few hours she
followed me back. A few weeks passed and I decided to reach out and see if she
would do an interview. The next day she wrote back and agreed.
So this is Colleen Rennison.
Have you always been drawn to the
blues as a musician?
I think so, I’ve always been drawn to
anything with soul and pain... I’d say the blues has a lot of that.
When writing lyrics do you pull
from journal entries or is writing songs a more spontaneous action for you?
I definitely go back into old journals
if I manage to keep my hands on them. Sometimes it’s painful but it’s worth it.
When you’re in the throes of a feeling you might not be in the position to sit
down and write a song about it, but to jot down something is key, even if it
doesn’t seem significant at the time it can be very valuable in the future when
you have time to reflect and write.
Which artists inspired you when
you were starting out, and still inspires you today?
I listened to a lot of Etta James,
Aretha, Martha Reeves, Nina Simone... still do. My musical tastes have expanded
slightly but never really changed.
I noticed you ride a motorcycle.
What kind do you have, and how long have you been riding?
I’ve been riding for about 3 years
now, taught myself after a bad breakup and I moved to Saskatoon. Haven’t looked
back since.
While riding your bike and
enjoying the open road do lyrics or lines for songs come to you?
I started riding to clear my head, but
turns out it just spins in circles like your wheels. When I’ve got nothing but
my thoughts sometimes they’ll start to sound like a song and end up writing
themselves into one.
What
have you been working on lately in music or film that you would like the reader
to check out?
I just came back to Vancouver from
Austin for The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) where a film I was
in called “Kingsway” showed. It’s a dark comedy about a dysfunctional family
where I play Lori, a pregnant singer who rides a motorcycle (the only real
stretch was on my T-shirt for that one). I wrote a few songs that made it into
the film, and I’m hoping to flesh them out into an EP soon. Also, Colin James
just released his new album and I’ve got some backup vocals on it. You should
check it out! It’s a great album!
