Jackie Venson

{{Infobox musical artist

|name = Jackie Venson

| image = 121619-JackieVenson-Studio-WebRes-006.jpg

|landscape = yes

|birth_date = 1990

|birth_place = Austin, Texas, United States

|genre = Blues, soul, pop

|occupation = Singer, songwriter, guitarist

|instrument = {{flatlist|

Vocals
Guitar
Piano

}}

|years_active = 2013-present

|website = {{URL|jackievenson.com}}

}}

Jackie Venson (born 1990) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Austin, Texas. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2011. Venson has released five studio albums, Joy (2019), Love Transcends (2021), Evolution of Joy (2023), Ghost in the Machine (2023) and The Love Anthology (2025). In addition to her studio albums, Venson has released six live albums, Live at Strange Brew (2016) Live in Texas (2020), Jackie Venson Live at Austin City Limits, Joy Alive (2021), Love Transcends: Live in Austin (2022) and Ghost Live (2024). Venson also has an electronic musical DJ alter ego that goes by the name jackie the robot and which releases projects regularly.

Early life

Venson was born in Austin, Texas. She grew up the youngest of nine siblings. Her father, Andrew Venson, worked for 40 years as a prominent professional musician before retiring. Venson's mother, Dr. Diane Brinkman, encouraged her to begin playing piano at age eight. Venson was not very disciplined in practice, noting: "It took me three years to put the focus in enough to where I could put my hands together on the piano, and it took me an additional two and a half to three years after that to even want to practice for more than 45 minutes at a time, which you have to if you want to learn how to do anything." It took Venson about three more years to be able to focus on playing for "three or four hours straight like a working musician". Venson considers her musician father a major influence: {{blockquote|Well my dad is a professional musician and he was my example. A lot of people like music and they think they have an affinity for it but if nobody else in the family does, then they sometimes don't see it as a possibility. Having my dad as a professional musician, it's like ... you can do this, it's hard but you can do this.|author=|title=|source=}}

Venson attended Westwood High School (Austin, Texas) and the Berklee College of Music, where she majored in composition and studio production. Venson said she had a bad experience at Berklee with the ultra-competitive environment the staff fostered, describing it as "American Idol the school". "Berklee was really hard for me", Venson recalled. "I was expecting it to be one thing and it ended up being another thing and I was really depressed probably for the entire time I went there. I didn't really play at all." At a social gathering, Venson was inspired by the ease with which a schoolmate performed the guitar, noting that the student "looked like he was having so much fun, and I was like, 'Dude, I don't have that much fun doing anything related to music{{'"}}. She decided to pursue guitar, and began learning the instrument in 2011, during her last year at Berklee. Her piano studies and the music theory she learned in school helped Venson adapt to the new instrument.

Career

In April 2014, Venson entered the Modern Southern Music Competition and won a headlining spot on the Belk Summer Tour.{{cite web|last1=Thomas|first1=Jennifer|title=Belk chooses six winners for Southern Music showcase|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2014/03/17/belk-chooses-six-winners-for-southern-musician.html|publisher=Charlotte Business Journal|accessdate=11 June 2015}} She opened for country artists Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and James Taylor. She has also performed at the Austin Urban Music Festival. Austin City Hall declared May 21, 2014 Jackie Venson Day, and held a concert in her honor to raise money for an Austin music school.{{cite web|title=Jackie Venson Day Celebration|url=http://www.austinmonthly.com/AM/Calendar/index.php/name/Jackie-Venson-Day-Celebration/event/16504/|website=Austin Monthly|accessdate=12 June 2015}}

Venson released her debut studio album, The Light In Me, in 2014. In 2016, she released the EP Jackie Venson Live, and the live album Live at Strange Brew.{{cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2016-10-21/jackie-venson-live-at-strange-brew/|title=Jackie Venson:Live at Strange Brew|work=The Austin Chronicle|date=October 21, 2016|accessdate=October 31, 2018|first=Kahron|last=Spearman}} On September 30, 2017, Venson released her EP Transcends. On October 30, 2018, she released the song "Cover My Eyes" with a live in studio video. In April 2019, Venson released her critically acclaimed album Joy and celebrated that release with a sold-out show at Austin's famed Paramount Theatre. Though 2020 was filled with turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Venson doubled down on her creative efforts after her touring year was cancelled by dedicating herself to going live on a consistent basis on several platforms and releasing five albums of music: two live albums (Live in Texas, Jackie Venson Live at Austin City Limits), two volumes of her DJ remix project jackie the robot, and one studio album (Vintage Machine). This monumental output of music and livestreaming saw Venson's star rise significantly and caught the attention of the historic television series Austin City Limits. On November 14, 2020, Venson made her national television debut as a part of Austin City Limits{{'}} 46th season. Venson's prolific livestreaming also landed her at number 10 on Pollstar's Top Music Live Streamers of 2020, putting her among established outlets like the Grand Ole Opry and accomplished artists like Norah Jones and Questlove. In Summer 2021, Venson joined Melissa Etheridge for her musical cruise in the Caribbean, performing alongside musicians like Celisse Henderson and Britney Spencer.

In April 2023 Jackie Venson performed on the CMTA Awards in Austin, Texas, joining, on guitar, Alanis Morissette for her performance and later Lainey Wilson for hers.

In January 2023 Jackie Venson debuted her annual residency at the world-famous Antone's Night Club in Austin, selling out every Saturday that month.

Musical style and influences

Venson performs and records with a three-piece band of professional musicians, although often switches up her live instrumentation to be anywhere from solo, to a six-piece band. In her live performances, she uses a Pioneer DJ sampler to create a layered sound.{{Cite news |url = http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_27198219/her-classical-path-blues|title = Her Classical Path to the Blues|date = December 23, 2014 |work =The Mercury News|last = Freeman|first = Paul}}{{cite web|url=https://parade.com/712499/laurawhitmore/exclusive-premiere-watch-jackie-vensons-skillful-performance-of-cover-my-eyes/|title=Exclusive Premiere: Watch Jackie Venson's Skillful Performance of "Cover My Eyes"|work=Parade|date=October 30, 2018|accessdate=October 31, 2018}}

The Austin American-Statesman described Venson as "a Gary Clark Jr.-level talent who speaks boldly through her guitar while entrancing with her gorgeous, smoky voice."{{cite web|last1 = Stith|first1 = Deborah|title = Stith: Singer and guitar slinger Jackie Venson, 24, poised to take off|url = https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2014/07/07/stith-singer-and-guitar-slinger-jackie-venson-24-poised-to-take-off/9940951007/|work=Austin American-Statesman|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507033456/https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2014/07/07/stith-singer-and-guitar-slinger-jackie-venson-24-poised-to-take-off/9940951007/|archivedate=May 7, 2022|date=July 7, 2014|accessdate =June 7, 2022}} Guitar World noted the influence of blues and soul music on her vocals.{{Cite web|url = http://www.guitarworld.com/jackie-venson-premieres-see-what-you-want-music-video-exclusive|title=Jackie Venson Premieres "See What You Want" Music Video —Exclusive|date =December 2, 2014|accessdate = October 31, 2018|work= Guitar World|last = Fanelli|first = Daniel}} Parade called Venson a soul/pop guitarist and vocalist. The Austin Chronicle wrote that Venson's "willingness to stand naked lyrically and vocally" is an "admirable" trait, while her "smoldering and honest" voice "won't blow doors off buildings, but if she could, it would be overkill." The Chicago Sun-Times said Venson brings "formidable instrumental chops and a musical message of positivity", with a "singing voice that radiates warmth and spirit".{{cite web|title=In the music spotlight: Jackie Venson|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/in-the-music-spotlight-jackie-venson/|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=January 10, 2018|accessdate=October 31, 2018|first=Jeff|last=Elbel}}

Venson's influences include Buddy Guy, Sade, and Alicia Keys. Her voice has been compared to Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse.{{cite web|title=Jackie Venson|url=http://www.australianmusician.com.au/jackie-venson/|website=Australian Musician|date=February 4, 2015|accessdate=October 31, 2018}}