Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Vanessa Peters (born September 16, 1980) is an unsigned Texas-based singer/songwriter who often performs accompanied by the Italian instrumental trio known as Ice Cream on Mondays.
Biography
Peters grew up in Dallas, Texas, and started playing music professionally in 2003. She studied English and Creative Writing at Texas A&M University and her original intent was to obtain an MFA in Creative Writing and pursue a career as a novelist. Upon graduation, she moved to Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy for a year. There she learned to play guitar and began writing songs. Her songs have a short-story quality about them and her lyrical abilities are often praised among reviewers. The music blog Heartache with Hardwork states, "It's one mark of a great song that it can work on a number of different levels. And almost every song here does that. They work as allegory, as symbols for some of the grand concepts: love, fear, loss, friendship, fear. They work as literal short stories."
In 2002, Peters began playing at open mics and local coffee shops in Houston. By 2003, she had released her first album, Sparkler, and in 2004 did a cross-country solo tour. The same year, she also recorded her first album with Ice Cream on Mondays and they released the album, Thin Thread, in January 2005. The collaboration with Ice Cream on Mondays has produced three albums and numerous tours across Europe and America in which Peters is usually accompanied by the band's lead guitarist, Manuel Schicchi.
Peters has also produced solo records over the years, most notably the acoustic EP "Blackout." One of the tracks, "Afford to Pretend," was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered Open Mic in 2006. Peters has also had the song "Love Story" featured on MTV's The Real World: New Orleans and the song "The Next Big Bang" featured on "Keeping up with the Kardashians."
The band's newest album, "Sweetheart, Keep Your Chin Up," has been well-received by critics on both sides of the Atlantic and debuted at #12 on The Euro Americana Chart. Peters and the band played 100+ dates in 2009 in support of the new album, including shows at prestigious venues such as McGonigel's Mucky Duck in Houston, The Green Note in London and Folk Club in Torino, Italy.
2010 will see the band taking time off to work on new material for their next studio album.
Band Members and Instrumentation
Vanessa Peters: guitar and vocalsManuel Schicchi: lead guitar, harmony vocals, banjo, harmonicaJuri Deluca: bass guitarAlberto "Gumo" Serafini: drums and percussionAdditional members of the touring formation:
Gabriele Galimberti: bass guitarAlex Akela: violin, mandolin, and bass guitar