Ally Venable

“Ally is the future of the blues and the crossover music of American roots-rock,” nods Mike Zito. “She is Texas Honey.”

She might only be hitting her twenties, but long-term fans will know this isn’t Ally’s first rodeo. Rewind to her childhood in the post-millennium and this rising star found her voice in church, but it was the influence of fiery Texas guitar-slingers like SRV and the melodic smarts of Miranda Lambert that showed her the path. “What’s cool about Stevie is that he introduced so many people that didn’t know about blues to this music,” she reflects. “And that’s what my goal is to do with my music.”

With her soulful vocal, burn-it-down fretwork and heart-on-sleeve songcraft, Texas was hers for the taking. Detonating venues across the South and holding their own as support for titans like Lance Lopez and Eric Gales, Ally’s lineup of Bobby Wallace (bass) and Elijah Owings (drums) proved a power-trio to rank alongside the best. “I take in that Texas guitar-slinging influence in my shows and songwriting,” she explains. “My band is a three-piece, so it’s a ‘right-in-your-face’ power-trio.”

That live punch was captured on No Glass Shoes (2016) and Puppet Show (2018): the latter dubbed “exceptional” by Blues Rock Review as it scaled the Top 10 on both Billboard and iTunes Blues Charts. Meanwhile, the ETX Awards mounted up in categories including ‘Best Female Guitarist’, ‘Blues Band’ and ‘Album of the Year’.