Jackie Venson: “Texas blues players have a way of commanding the entire room and just melting your face off”

Jackie Venson
(Image credit: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

The blues has been an essential part of Austin-based Jackie Venson’s repertoire since she started playing guitar almost a decade ago. She specifically embraced the sheer intensity of electric Texas-based blues. 

“Every time I hear a Texas blues player, it’s just really strong,” Venson says. “They have a way of just commanding the entire room and just melting your face off. But it’s not a shreddy kind of melt your face off. It’s an intensity that only Texans have – I swear.” 

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Joshua M. Miller

Josh is a freelance journalist who has spent the past dozen or so years interviewing musicians for a variety of publications, including Guitar World, GRAMMY.com, SPIN, Chicago Sun-Times, MTV News, Rolling Stone and American Songwriter. He credits his father for getting him into music. He's been interested in discovering new bands ever since his father gave him a list of artists to look into. A favorite story his father told him is when he skipped a high school track meet to see Jimi Hendrix in concert. For his part, seeing one of his favorite guitarists – Mike Campbell – feet away from him during a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert is a special moment he’ll always cherish.