Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liz Collins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liz, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents Bill and Nancy Collins adopted me when I was 3 months old in March of 1963. They were/are Christians so I was adopted into a Christian family, along with my other two brothers Billy and Jamie, all adopted from different biological parents. The only thing they knew from my biological mother was for me to be influenced musically. They noticed from a very young age how fasciated I was with pianos and guitars and how I would play a note and listen, not just bang on things. I even started singing at age 3. When I was 6, they had my grandmother’s guitar re-strung and again saw how fascinated I was with it. When I was 9 they signed me up for classical guitar lessons with an older woman named Mrs. Godla. She told them she didn’t know whether I was “age ready”, but after the first lesson, told them she was blown away by how ready I was. I took lessons from her til I was close to 13, then quit and just started writing my own songs and playing the songs that I loved growing up in the Carolinas. Some 15 years ago, I found out some non-identity information about my biological parents. She was 15 when she gave birth to me and was considered an exceptional pianist at her age. Pretty awesome God stuff. Thank you Lord.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So, I’ve just shared with you in the previous question how I was influenced as a musician. That my Christian parents Bill and Nancy Collins who adopted me as a baby in 1963, gave me a guitar when I was 9 years old and set me up with classical guitar lessons which I pursued until I was close to 13, then quit in 1975 and started writing my own songs and playing and singing songs by other artists that I loved. I remember as a young girl how much my father loved to sing so loud off key in Church, lol, and it always impressed and fascinated me, as I had been singing since I was 3. These very musically influential years from 9 until 16 years old resided in Charlotte, NC, anchored in a lot of southern/blues rock and roll. Back then I loved Niel Young, Lynard Skynard, Marshall Tucker, Allman Brothers, Mother’s Finest, Joni Mitchell, Carol King, Janis Joplin, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Boston, Chicago, Fire Fall, Heart, Eagles, America, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Simon and Garfunkel, the list goes on and on. I played guitar and sang out in public a lot those years, between 13 and 16 yrs. old. Whenever I went anywhere almost, people/friends would say “hey did you bring your guitar?” They would make me go back home and get it if I didn’t. I moved up to the Philly area, when I was 16, on the eve of 1978/79, and met a girl named Megan McLaughlin at Germantown Academy, who I loved playing and singing with. Went on to Penn State and played and sang a lot up there in coffee houses, etc., writing songs all thru those years. When I was 22, I met Chris Buchanan and we started what was my first band called Midnight Special. Blues/Rock ‘n roll at its finest. Performed in so many avenues with him for 4 years. Then I married Fran Ross when I was 26 and had our first daughter Katie at 28, in 1990. I put the guitar under the bed and pursued motherhood full-time with our second daughter Michele born in 1993, for about 4-1/2 years until 1995, when I was asked to play some songs in some weddings. The music inside me just grabbed a hold of my heart, and I’ve never put the guitar down since. In 1995, I decided to record the songs I had written since 13, went to a local studio called Mad Ferret and met Kevin Mackie, bass player and part owner, who I started a band with called Foxfire, along with John Sherer, guitar and vocals, Peter Boglino, drums, and Steve Quellet, guitar and vocals. We performed in many avenues for 5 years and recorded a CD called “Forever Free”, a compilation of co-writes between Kevin and I, some of my own and some of John’s and Steve’s songs. There was another neat CD project we did those years called “Enviro-Aid”, a compilation of many other local artists that we met, the money raised was to support a cleaner earth. One of those musicians was Sister Kathy Sledge, who wrote the famous song “We are Family”. And we also met one of her guitarists Tim Gleason, who ended up recording “Guiding Path of Light” and “Heaven Bound” for us. Tim not only recorded these CDs, mastered and produced them for us, but he also blessed us with guitar leads and piano, just so talented. Shortly after starting this band and starting to turn my writing over to God, In 1997, I joined Hatboro Community Methodist Church (HCMC) and started performing solo with my original Christian songs and in 1999, I was asked to come to a meeting there, where I was told they were starting a Praise and Worship Team and they wanted me to be on it. Thus started my Praise and Worship leading years and learning so many Christian songs and hymns. The first CDs I recorded solo at Madd Ferret in 1995/6, were called “Give Me Flowers” and “Back to San Francisco”. My last song on “Back to San Francisco” was called “The Promise”, one of my first Christian spiritual songs written in 1998. After 5 years with Foxfire, and having turned my writing over to my Higher Power, Jesus Christ, in the 1990s, I quit Foxfire, pursing my new Christian ministry, as my heart just couldn’t perform secular songs anymore. Two years later, I invited Kevin and Peter to start a band called Heaven Bound with me. Heaven Bound is a song the Lord wrote in me back in 2002, so I wanted to name my new band from one of my songs. Eventually Kevin dropped out of the band, and Peter and I continued on with a bass player Alan Atchison, until it was just Peter and I again. Alan was on the HCMC Praise Team in the beginning years and then Peter became our drummer as well. However, Peter and I eventually met Christian musicians Kurt and Joyce Berner and David Powers, at the old “blues on the block” festivals up at Salem United Methodist in Orwigsburg, PA who had bands at their own churches, and we all became the new “Heaven Bound” and rocked for Jesus for 5 years together as well. Eventually this version of Heaven Bound broke up and once again Peter and I pursued ministry together until he and his wife Leeann moved to Florida in 2014. So after Peter moved away, I just remained solo singing and playing with other brothers and sisters in Christ, Yvonne Hartman, David Powers and his band Basic Connection with Sueanne Adinolfi, Eddy Mann, and two other unique musicians Mark Lauer and John Austin. HCMC was my biggest influence in my Christian spirituality and writing, and just growth in Jesus Christ, even though I believed in and loved Jesus Christ my whole life, going off and on to different churches thru the years. To this day, 2024, I’m one of the Praise and Worship Leaders at Willow Grove Bible Church in Willow Grove, PA. I had to leave HCMC in 2019, per the repercussions of a second divorce. Sometimes Godly doors close and new ones open. I have pursued an amazing ministry for myself thru the years which I call LizCollins-HeavenBound, playing and singing wherever the Lord leads my ministry for Him. I’m very anchored in Road to Recovery ministry, especially No More Chains in Penndell, PA and Christian Life Prison Recovery Ministry in Ben Salem, PA, leading worship at these meetings., as I have had and conquered my own struggles with alcohol thru the years. For 9 years I often went into a prison in Philly, called CFCF, to lead worship with the CLPRM ministry before Covid hit. We brought so many brothers to the Lord in there. They used to call me “K-love Lizzy”. I never felt like I was in a prison with guys that had done some really bad things, as we all have “sinned”, but felt more like I was just in a church chapel praising the Lord together. Places I venue the most are Karen’s Place in Doylestown, PA, 4th Street Cafe in Columbia, PA, my two recovery ministries, Souled Out Coffeehouse, and again the list goes on and one. I’m called often to play and sing in funerals and weddings, backyard barbecues, my mother’s memory care home, women’s gatherings, etc. The church I was going to before finding WGBC, brought Michele Winter into my life. She plays bass guitar and in all my years in bands, I had never worked with a woman bass guitarist. So we have a lot of fun worshipping the Lord together. The Lord has given me a very unique bluesy style. I’m not a folk guitarist, but more of a “rocker”. And I love to rock the old hymns, and people seem to love this style at funerals, because it makes them feel “happier”, not so dreary. My website is LizCollins-HeavenBound.com, and features all the CDs I’ve recorded thru the years. I just love and cherish the gifts and talents God has give me to serve Jesus Christ our Lord, bringing the good news of the gospel to all thru song wherever He leads me. We have to get as many saved as possible before it’s too late. Spiritual music is truly what I call “The Heart of Worship”. Just like powerful messages, it just lifts up our spirits, our hearts so we can just give it all up, surrender everything all our joys and troubles, and sorrows to Jesus Christ our Lord, our King, our Savior our Everything. And I just thank God for giving us His one and only son Jesus Christ, and I thank Jesus Christ for dying for us and giving us the Holy Spirit, so we can have everlasting life and joy with Christ our Savior when we finally leave this temporary home called earth to live and reign with Jesus for ever and ever in Heaven, no more tears, no more shame, no more pain, no more guilt, no more sin, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosannah in the Highest, forever and ever and all of God’s children, say “Amen”. Love in Christ, sister Lizzy

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, Jesus Christ, is my goal and mission and purpose for doing what I do. God, the father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Blessed Holy Trinity, gave me my gifts and talents to serve Him and bring others to Him thru song and worship.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being the evangelistic Christian musician that I am, is how awesome it makes me feel, knowing that I am serving my Higher Power with the gifts and talents He’s given me. I know my purpose in this life and I’m living it and doing it. And when someone tells me that they want to know Christ like I do, and I can lead someone into the saving grace of Jesus Christ, it’ doesn’t get any better than this.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://LizCollins-HeavenBound.com
• Facebook: Liz Collins
• Other: Silly me probably needs to get myself out there in more channels here. A New Year’s resolution. If you google me, there are many YouTubes out there with me playing and singing.

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