Ally Venable: “The blues lays musicians bare”

Introduced to the blues world after signing with Ruf Records, Ally Venable was born on April 7, 1999, in Kilgore, Texas. On July 26, on the main stage of the Brezoi festival, she delivered an energetic performance driven by her voice and, above all, her particularly incisive guitar playing, once again confirming her status as one of the rising stars of American blues rock. She can be seen on the Grosses Guitares stage in Vaugneray (69) on September 19. A concert not to be missed!

After British band Burning Rope and before Dawn Tyler Watson, Ally Venable performed as a power trio on the main stage. One of the highlights of her set was Feel That Sting, taken from her latest album Money & Power, which perfectly sums up her ability to combine power, groove and a strong blues character. This performance confirmed that Ally Venable has fully earned her place on Europe’s major stages. A few hours earlier, she spoke enthusiastically and openly about her career and her music. Many thanks to Denis Carpentier for the photographs featured in this article.

🎤 Ally Venable interviewed by Marc Loison

Ally Venable is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter from Texas. Emerging at a very young age on the blues-rock scene, she quickly stood out through her energy, guitar playing, powerful voice and remarkable stage presence. Influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter and Susan Tedeschi, she blends blues, Southern rock and modern rock. Since her teenage years, she has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in blues. Her latest albums, Heart of Fire, Real Gone and Money & Power, reflect her evolution towards a more distinctive and personal sound. Today, Ally Venable is considered one of the rising stars of international blues rock and one of the most promising guitarists of her generation.

Hello Ally, what would you add to that introduction?

Those are very kind words, and they’re true. I simply love playing guitar, and I really connect with blues music, especially the style of guitar playing that comes with it. I feel something powerful when I listen to it or play it. It’s like an extension of myself, of who I am.

I’m very grateful to be able to play this music and, hopefully, connect with people who need it at a particular moment in their lives. That’s what I would add.

It all started very early for you. What piece of advice from a musician seemed ridiculous when you were 16, but turned out to be true a few years later?

My music has definitely evolved since I started. Sometimes I look back at that time to remind myself why I play guitar and why I make music. When you’re constantly rushing around, when everyone is judging you and you receive a lot of compliments, you can end up losing yourself a little.

It’s important to stay grounded and remember why you first picked up a guitar. Ultimately, it’s almost never just about me. It’s about the people around me, my team and, above all, the audience, who really need music.

We all need music to feel good, connect with one another and come together. That’s why it’s very important for me to look back at where I started. I’ve been doing this for quite a while now, even though others have been doing it for much longer than I have. That’s what I’ve learned over the course of my career.

Your guitar sometimes seems like a character in its own right. If it could speak to you after a concert, what would it usually say?

It would say: “That was one hell of a show!”

You represent a new generation of blues musicians. In your opinion, what are three rules of the blues that absolutely must be respected, and which rule urgently needs to be broken?

You have to understand where the blues comes from. It’s an American musical art form. You have to research the origins of this music and the reasons why people play it. I’m constantly learning about it.

It’s important to pay tribute to all the guitarists and musicians who came before us. That’s absolutely essential to me. You also have to avoid cheating or pretending on stage. You have to be authentic. That’s the whole point of the blues: it lays musicians bare. You’re up there on stage, showing yourself exactly as you are.

That’s another rule to follow: be authentic and remain true to the music you play within this genre.

As for the rule that should be broken, perhaps it’s the one that holds back the evolution of the music. You have to find a balance between honouring its roots and expressing your own personality and contribution. It’s about knowing how to bring all of that together.

You have to move the music forward and incorporate elements from outside the blues to transform it. There should also be more jam sessions and more opportunities to try new things with other musicians.

That’s the whole point of the blues: it lays musicians bare.

Do you mean that the blues feeds on the music it has inspired and, through that evolution, becomes a new form of blues?

Yes. I think all music comes from the blues. If you listen to R&B, hip-hop or rock, the blues really is at the root of many of those genres.

You have to try to bring more elements into the genre that have meaning for you. That’s how you can break the rules.

You are often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Susan Tedeschi. Are there other artists, perhaps less obvious ones, who have had a profound influence on your playing?

Jimi Hendrix is obviously a major influence. There’s also Stevie Ray Vaughan and Susan Tedeschi, but I’m also inspired by the musicians I regularly meet at festivals and within our music scene.

I’m thinking of Shemekia Copeland, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Katie Henry, who is also signed to Ruf Records. There are so many others, including Bernard Allison.

There are so many contemporary artists in our genre who inspire me and whom I love watching. I find it fascinating to follow their development as artists, their vision of the blues and what they want to bring to the genre.

You bring incredible energy to the stage. Is there still a song that you find daunting and that forces you out of your comfort zone?

I try not to play songs that I don’t feel comfortable or confident performing on stage. Whenever we add a song to the set, we rehearse it to make sure it’s ready before we perform it. So there isn’t really one.

I never feel nervous about going on stage. I’m never afraid to play a song because the stage is where I belong, where I’m happy. I love playing with my band, with Isaac Pulido and EJ Bedford, and I love making music with them.

So I don’t really feel nervous about performing a song on stage. Rehearsals are important too. It’s good to be able to rehearse whenever we have the time.

Do you sleep with your guitar?

No, I don’t sleep with it, but it goes everywhere with me.

Could you tell us a few words about Thomas Ruf, the founder of Ruf Records, who believed in you and supported you throughout your career?

I’ve known Thomas Ruf since the very beginning of my career. I’m very grateful to have met him and to have worked with him to build my career to where it is today. I still have a lot of music to release with him.

I really enjoy working with Thomas Ruf. It’s good to know that there’s someone like him who believes in me, gives me freedom with my music and has more than thirty years of experience in this genre.

Ruf Records was founded around Luther Allison, a true blues legend. Thomas Ruf also helped many artists before me. He’s a wonderful person. We’ve accomplished so much and come such a long way in a very short time. I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve in the years ahead.

If you could invite any guitarist, living or dead, to record a song with you, whom would you choose and why?

Doing something with Jimi Hendrix would be incredible. He is the very embodiment of guitar playing. He has inspired so many artists and guitarists over the years.

He is no longer with us, but his music lives on. It continues to inspire people, generation after generation. Through my music, my goal is to introduce audiences to the guitar and the blues. I hope my music can have the same effect on people. Recording with Jimi Hendrix would therefore be incredible.

Ally Venable in 2046: what would you like people to say about you? That you were an excellent guitarist, a great singer, a remarkable songwriter, or something else?

I’d like people to say that I was kind to others, and that my music inspired them and helped them overcome the challenges they were facing. That’s what I would like to leave behind.

If you could borrow Marty McFly’s time machine and return to the first day a young Ally Venable picked up a guitar, what would you tell her?

I’d tell her: “Get ready!”

I’m currently working on a new album with Kenny Wayne Shepherd

What are your plans and ambitions for the future? A new album, a world tour or a musical genre you haven’t explored yet?

I’m currently working on a new album with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He’s producing it. We wrote the entire album together in Nashville, and we’re now putting the finishing touches to it.

I’m very excited about it. It was a real pleasure working with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I feel that he completely understands the direction I want to take. That’s an essential quality in a producer.

He also has a guitarist’s ear, that sensitivity to the instrument that I’m trying to capture. In terms of the writing and performances, based on what I’ve heard so far, I think the album reaches another level. It’s unlike anything I’ve done before while still remaining true to who I am.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has done a wonderful job guiding the project. It’s therefore a major project that we’re working on. Of course, I also intend to continue touring, playing festivals like this one and inspiring people through my music.

The Brezoi Open Air has become an unmissable event for European blues fans. What makes this festival different from the others?

This festival has welcomed so many incredible artists who have helped build it over the years. Backstage, I saw a photograph of Eric Gales, who has performed here several times. Kenny Wayne Shepherd is also going to play here. The festival has just announced that Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart will return in 2027. So there are a lot of excellent artists and a lot of great music.

Another thing that makes it special is that it takes place here in Romania. It’s an open-air festival that brings together a wide variety of people from across the country and around the world.

It’s particularly important for artists like me who are trying to reach more people. It gives me great exposure to a new audience. That’s what makes the experience different and unique.

What message would you like to share with French readers who already enjoy your music, as well as those discovering you today?

No matter where we come from, what we look like or what we believe, there is one thing capable of bringing us all together: music.

Discography

• 2013: Wise Man, independently released. A seven-track debut EP recorded at the age of 14.
• 2015: Train Wreck Blues, independently released. A second record still strongly rooted in Texas blues.
• 2016: No Glass Shoes, Connor Ray Music. Her first full-length album, which reached number 16 on the RMR Electric Blues Chart.
• 2018: Puppet Show, Connor Ray Music. A move towards a more blues-rock-oriented sound.
• 2019: Texas Honey, Ruf Records. Her first release with Ruf Records, which reached number two on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.
• 2021: Heart of Fire, Ruf Records. A more mature and personal record featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
• 2023: Real Gone, Ruf Records. Produced by Tom Hambridge, featuring Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa.
• 2025: Money & Power, Ruf Records. Her most recent album, featuring Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Shemekia Copeland.
• 2027: forthcoming album, recorded and produced in Nashville by Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Find out more: allyvenableband.com