X Factor Spotlight: Why Dark Horse Rocker Christa Collins Is Just What Rock N' Roll Needs Right Now

I was starting to feel rather smug about writing a blog on seldom seen - so far - The X Factor rocker Christa Collins before my own daily must read Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo!'s Reality Rocks beat me to the punch but all the same, I am excited about what kind of ride might be in store for the viewing audience of Simon Cowell's Americanized version of his hit reality show singing competition. In fact, she's literally at the top of the list and the thing I love about Parker's blog is that she pulls no punches, as does her often even more brutally honest colleague Matt Whitfield, and they both have wisely forsaken any pretense of one hundred percent objectivity in favor of complete intellectual honesty and I firmly believe that Ms. Collins is Exhibit A of why that's such a relief.

Many of the show's contestants, not unlike other shows like American Idol, feature very heartbreaking pasts and Christa is no exception. While still just 30 years old, her own career, which started rather young was tragically derailed after losing her mother in a hit and run car accident and it has taken a rather understandably long time for her to regain her footing in the field she always saw herself in career wise. While her career trajectory might have been vastly different had her mother not been so senselessly taken from her, the one thing that would have not varied is her undeniable stage presence and the sheer attitude she brings to her L.A. based band The Woolly Bandits.

I know what you're thinking. How can I possibly know this if she has been a more obscure presence on The X Factor up to this point, right? The answer of course is YouTube and other curious bloggers and when you view her with The Woolly Bandits, there are a few things that immediately stand out to you. I started off with the song "Woman of Mass Destruction" and what impressed me, besides the quasi-Eric Burdon "House of The Rising Sun" like organ intro, or even the very The Pretenders invoking sound musicianship from an incredibly strong and vibrant stable of musicians she plays with, was the professionalism involved with the video for that song and pure craftsmanship you only find with true artists comfortable enough in their own skin to pull off the correct and desired effect.

One of the many reasons why the contestants on these shows have such a hard time transitioning off of them is the lack of the right creative mix required for strong original material and the proper musical arranging needed to successfully pull off a relevant product the fans will want to buy and listen to long after votes have been tallied, judges have judged, and products have been shamelessly placed. And The Woolly Bandits has that right mix of talent and writing if just given the right venue and promotion and they deliver a pop friendly enough but still full-on-rock tasty bag of goodies that the current music landscape has been sorely missing and desperately lacking.

This shouldn't come as too big of a shock though. Having already collaborated with Michael Jackson and Billy Corgan, the driving creative force and frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, something like The X Factor will probably not pose quite the challenge to her as most of the other contestants. The wisdom in Simon Cowell's decision to throw out ridiculous and outdated age restrictions has opened all the right doors and therefore it has created the right environment to unleash such undiscovered premium talent the chance to finally shine on the national stage. There are plenty of talented artists like Christa Collins just waiting to be given the light of day to showcase what tight sounding level young veteran rockers are capable of playing at and accomplishing in an otherwise increasingly rock n' roll stiffing industry.

It's hard to truly box Collins into one genre. The Woolly Bandits is part pop, part rock, part punk, and all attitude. The hard charging "Devil On My Back" brings this to the forefront but don't be fooled by Collins' rocker persona. She is no devil but she gladly plays one onstage and that she does to a charmingly playful perfection. She is quite possibly the sweetest bad ass up and coming rocker and her band highlights this in the aforementioned track with an organ induced old school sound reminiscent of The Castaways (best know for their song "Liar, Liar"). The only logical conclusion is that she is the long missing rock n' roll love child of Chrissie Hynde and perhaps her rock n' roll aunt is a young Stevie Nicks on bass-thumping induced adrenaline if Fleetwood Mac decided to go all out electric. Just watch her and the band tear it up in this 2010 Barcelona, Spain performance and just try to tell me that they don't bring something to the table. On her Twitter account she proclaims that she loves the sound boxes make when she breaks out of them. I gleefully concur with her assessment.

And that is the opportunity that Christa Collins and her Woolly Bandits mates present. Female driven rock exploded in the 90's, after pioneers The Runaways were sadly disbanded. Veruca Salt, Letters To Cleo, Hole, No Doubt, and The Donnas have helped pave the way for more woman-empowering rock acts and what could quite possibly be gained by The Woolly Bandits if given the proper venue and market and with women dominating the Top 40 charts is a sound that transcends pop, alternative, hard rock, and even a slice of metal if you're paying close enough attention. The timing could be ripe for another rock n' roll revolution and bands like The Woolly Bandits could help lead it, this time with women at the helm. Other bands like the emerging and crazy underrated woman led The Duke Spirit are starting to take off and The Woolly Bandits surely fit that same mold and for all the right reasons.

And that is the beauty of Christa Collins. If you like The Rolling Stones, you will also love The Woolly Bandits. If you love Katy Perry, you'll still love The Woolly Bandits. If you love The Replacements or The Donnas, then you'll definitely love The Woolly Bandits. Social media, MySpace (or what's left of it I suppose), Facebook, and YouTube have all made the previously thought to be impossible all that much more possible. Shows like The X Factor, The Voice, and American Idol are only increasing the much needed and deserved exposure for these incredibly polished but mostly unseen acts.

I am rooting hard for Christa Collins. Is she my only favorite? Of course not. She is however one of the few true rock n' roll singers on the show and that is nothing to sneeze at. The world desperately needs new rock n' roll blood to come back strong in a Pop/R&B/Rap and country dominated industry voided of what modern music was built on. It's time to get that back. It's time for acts like The Woolly Bandits and their very undeniably sexy and charismatic lead singer to be given the opportunity and corresponding platform to tear it up. It's time for Christa Collins to tell the competition to watch their step.

I have a funny feeling I'm not done writing about Christa. She's certainly an artist I don't want to be done writing about. Hearing her sing and watching her play online has made me look over my shoulder towards my own dust collecting instrument. It's hard not to feel the weight of inspiration when you are an artist yourself feeling everything you want to have channeled through music pumping through your veins because somebody else has gotten it oh so very right. With the right exposure and market viability through opportunities like The X Factor, it is more than possible that those of us already rather impressed with what she brings to the table, that we could all be tripping over each other to write about her career for a very long time to come.

Follow Christa on Twitter.

www.christacollins.net/

www.thewoollybandits.net/

Official Christa Collins Facebook Page

(Jamie Cole is a freelance social media and marketing consultant, writer, blogger, and artist/musician. Follow him on Twitter.)