Ally Venable already has a rep for fast and nasty guitar licks and a soulful voice. Think Susan Tedeschi by way of AC/DC.
On her sixth album, Money and Power (due out April 18), the East Texas musician wants to shine a light on her lyrics, too.
She credits Buddy Guy and Sister Rosetta Tharpe for inspiring her to play "a form of protest music," she recently told The Arts Fuse. "That's an important mission, and it was one of the goals in making this album, especially the title track."
Venable delivers a message of feminism in that song, as well as in "Unbreakable," her dramatic duet with Shemekia Copeland about a woman who's "a force of nature." On "Brown Liquor," she gets an assist from Mississippi guitar hero Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, her jamming partner on the recent Experience Hendrix tour.
Venable, 26, released her first EP at age 14 in Kilgore, the Piney Woods town where she grew up. She returns home to perform April 19 at Kilgore College, her alma mater. Tickets are free and available at kilgore.edu/ally. She also performs April 12 in Dallas.
Details
With opening act Gary Hoey on April 12 at 8 p.m. at the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., Dallas. $20-$25. prekindle.com
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access' journalism.
Copyright 2025 KERA