Vanessa Rogers
At just 3 years of age, Vanessa wrote her first song. Though short, it foreshadowed her lifelong passion. Vanessa always lit up when there was a microphone, guitar or video camera anywhere around. She also loved to sing at church as a young girl. Her favorite was “Jesus Loves Me.” When she was 10, her parents got her a karaoke machine, igniting Vanessa’s passion for music and entertaining. From that moment on, you would rarely catch her without a song on her tongue. That Christmas, she was the star of her church’s play “Two Nights Before Christmas”. At 12, she was singing with her church’s teen praise band, sometimes even leading. She also took home quite a few first place ribbons from her county fair talent show. She was also regularly recording with her dad in his home studio.
At 14, Vanessa started playing the acoustic guitar, accelerating her songwriting into overdrive. Soon she was also the praise and worship leader of her church youth band. Her junior year of high school, she was the star of her drama class’s production “Rock Around the Block” in which she performed two solos. The next year, she opened the school’s Diamond Anniversary Celebration production with a solo performance of the school’s alma mater. She took home first place in the school’s talent shows and did worship for the Christian Club. She also performed at the school’s A-Team banquets. Throughout this time, she was actively involved in her church’s drama team, of which she was an enthusiastic member from the age of 12 until she left her home town for college.
When she was 18, Vanessa and her dad, Terry Rogers formed a rock band with Andre Stevens and Mark Lemmons. Vanessa and Terry collaborated to write many of the songs the band would record. With the help of Marshall Rogers, they also completed a music video to one of their most inspiring love songs, “Crazy for Your Love”. The recording project was finished in the summer of 2003. During this time, Vanessa has been attending college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she is currently taking acting, piano and voice classes. She has performed every year at the Showcase of Souls Concert and has also performed at a club in Knoxville’s Old City called New City Cafe. In summer of 2004, she opened in concert for the band Exile, and also performed solo at an annual Pig Roast. She is currently very active at her church in Knoxville, where she has helped lead worship for her college bible study and has led worship with her church’s praise band since 2003.