At the ripe old age of 23, Ally Venable is an old pro who excels at breaking all the rules. In 1999, Ally was born in Kilgore, the home of oil derricks and the high-kicking Rangerettes. Ally started singing in church when she was just four-years old.
With four albums under her belt and multiple awards already, she’s proven that you need not be a man with decades of experience and heartbreak to lay down a bluesy lick; and it IS possible to be pretty with an awesome voice AND play the guitar at the same time. From her black eyeliner to her pink high-heeled boots, Ally packs a punch with her rich vocals and guitar licks that will make you forget her age.
In 2013 she released her debut EP, Wise Man, which earned her the 2014 ETX Music Awards Female Guitar Player of the Year. She won the award again in 2015. She and her band were the ETX Music Awards Blues Band of the Year in both 2015 and 2016.
Ally’s first album, No Glass Shoes, finished at No.16 in the RMR Electric Blues Charts in 2016.
Her second album, Puppet Show, debuted at No. 7 in the Billboard Blues Albums chart. With guest appearances by Gary Hoey and 2015 Tornado Lance Lopez, that album earned her nominations for Best New Artist and Best Blues Rock Band at the 2018 Independent Blues Awards.
By the time her Texas Honey album dropped in 2019, she had proven herself to be a formidable contender in the blues world. The 2019 Blues Caravan Tour with Ina Forsman and Katarina Pejak was giving Ally some national exposure just before the pandemic hit.
While live gigs were shut down, Ally made good use of her time by going into the studio.
“My vision was to really spread a positive message of love,” says Ally. “The world needs that right now.”
Heart of Fire (Ruf Records, 2021) offers up a guest appearance by Kenny Wayne Shepherd as Ally steps over the line to a heavier rock sound.
