Ally Marie Venable (born April 7, 1999 in Kilgore, Texas) is an American blues rock guitar player, singer, and songwriter.
She is the 2014, 2015 ETX Music awards female guitar player of the year, and she and her band were the ETX Music Awards 2015, 2016 blues band of the year.
Ally Venable was just 14 when she released her debut EP, Wise Man (2013), which earned her a reputation as a rising star in the Lone Star State’s blues community.
Venable’s third album, No Glass Shoes, with Connor Ray Music finished at number 16 in the RMR Electric Blues Charts for 2016. Venable is touted a must-see act for under-30-year-olds by America’s Blues Scene. Her second album, Puppet Show, debuted at No. 7 in the Billboard Blues Albums Chart. The album Texas Honey was released in 2019; video directed by John Chambers.
In 2019, Venable was a third of Ruf Records Blues Caravan 2019, who played over 60 shows across Europe. She toured with Finland’s Ina Forsman and the Serbian Katarina Pejak.
She resides in Kilgore, Texas, United States. (wikipedia)
And here´s her third album;
Ally Venabale is one of those artists that you hear and instantly wonder how you didn’t know about them already. We first discovered her when she opened for Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and bought all of the CDs she had in stock at her mercy table after the show. Texas Honey was the only one not available at the concert, and might just be my favorite of all of them.
It grabs you by the front of your shirt right out of the gate with “Nowhere To Hide” and doesn’t turn loose for the next 38 minutes. Along the way, my favorite stops were the title track, “One Sided Misunderstanding”, badass anthem “Come and Take It”, and a faithful cover of SRV’s “Love Struck Baby”.
Like Kenny Wayne, she started young and seems like she’s just getting warmed up. Make a note of the name. You’ll be hearing it again. (J. Bengel)
And listen to “Running After You” with a brilliant slide-guitar !
Personnel:
Elijah Owings (drums, percussion)
Ally Venable (guitar, vocals)
Bobby Wallace (bass)
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Eric Gales (guitar on 05.)
Lewis Stephens (keyboards)
Mike Zito (guitar on 07.)
Tracklist:
01. Nowhere To Hide (Venable) 2.56
02. Broken (Venable) 3.34
03. Texas Honey (Venable) 2.28
04. Blind To Bad Love (Venable) 3.41
05. Come And Take It (Venable/Zito) 4.50
06. Love Struck Baby (Vaughan) 2.32
07. One Sided Misunderstanding (Venable) 3.59
08. White Flag (Venable) 2.49
09. Long Way Home (Venable) 3.17
10. Running After You (Venable) 3.55
11. Careless Love (Traditional/Williams/Koenig) 3.56
Ally Venable is a guitarist and singer who puts a fresh spin on blues-rock traditions. Blessed with a powerful voice and a down-and-dirty guitar attack that blends Texas blues with no-frills rock & roll, Venable was just 14 when she cut her debut EP, Wise Man, which earned her a reputation as a rising star in the Lone Star State’s blues community. While stronger rock influences would be heard on later albums, such as 2018’s Puppet Show and 2019’s Texas Honey, the blues remained Venable’s bread and butter as her talent won her awards and a growing audience. She showed off a greater lyrical maturity and musical sophistication on 2021’s Heart of Fire, and worked with blues giants Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa on 2023’s Real Gone.
Born on April 6, 1999, in Kilgore, Texas, Ally Venable first discovered her love for music at the age of four, singing at church in a youth choir. By the time Venable was 12, she had picked up the guitar to accompany herself as she sang. While she originally focused on pop and country music (Miranda Lambert was a personal favorite), Venable’s view of the guitar changed when she heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood and began digging deep into Vaughan and other Texas blues artists. While Vaughan was her biggest influence, Venable was also a fan of classic rock players such as Jimi Hendrix, contemporary blues artists like Joe Bonamassa, and Chicago blues legends including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Buddy Guy. Venable’s natural talent was so great that she soon formed her own band and began playing gigs, and in June 2013, she released a seven-song EP titled Wise Man that showed off her tough, blues-based style.
A second and more raucous effort, Train Wreck Blues, followed in May 2015, and Venable was voted Female Blues Guitarist of the Year for both 2014 and 2015 at the EXT (East Texas) Music Awards, while Venable and her band took home ETX trophies for Best Blues Band in 2015 and 2016. Not resting on her laurels, she was back in July 2016 with the album No Glass Shoes, which won Venable another ETX Award for Best Blues Album. With Puppet Show, which arrived in May 2018, Venable began folding more hard rock influences into her songs, though she and her band were still steeped in heavy blues. Gary Hoey and Lance Lopez both made guest appearances on the sessions, and the album rose to number seven on the nationwide blues charts. More recognition of her gifts followed, as she and her band were nominated for Best New Artist and Best Blues Rock Band at the 2018 Independent Blues Awards. Venable and her band were back in action in March 2019 with the album Texas Honey. Later that year, she collaborated with Ina Forsman and Katarina Pejak as part of Ruf Records’ Blues Caravan 2019.
Venable displayed a more mature lyrical outlook on 2021’s Heart of Fire, named one of the year’s 20 top releases by Blues Rock Review. It featured a guest appearance from guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Shepherd also took Venable out on the road as his opening act. In 2022, the Independent Blues Music Awards gave Venable their Road Warrior trophy, reflecting her busy touring schedule, both as a headliner and opening act for major blues stars. 2023 saw the release of Real Gone; produced by Tom Hambridge, it featured a vocal cameo from the legendary Buddy Guy as well as guitar work from Joe Bonamassa. (b< Mark Deming)
The official website:
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