Live music review: Jackie Venson Lambert’s residency is legit

I’ve been waiting patiently to see Jackie Venson for a while. Even with her demanding tour schedule, the Austin-born guitar goddess is never away from our fair city for too long. So when she announced on Twitter that she was doing a residency at Lambert’s BBQ during February, I was stoked. Coincidentally, one of my dear friends emailed and said and she was already planning to go to the show on February 18 to celebrate her birthday. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to see Ms. Venson live for the first time ever!

Lambert’s upstairs is an intimate setting for a show. We got there an hour early to make sure we had a good spot close to the stage. The crowd was pretty laid back and we found ourselves planted next to a guy from Alaska who had come all the way to Texas with his friends for his bachelor party. They were ready to rock and the energy in the room was high.

Dressed in variations of black and gold, Jackie Venson (guitar, vocals), Rodney Hyder (drums) and Marcus Clark (bass) landed on stage around 9 p.m. and proceeded to blast us with good, old-fashioned Texas blues-infused guitar rock for two solid hours.

Working their way through her latest studio album, Love Transcends, neither the band nor the audience needed time to warm up; we were in it from the first note. These are working musicians, loyal to their roots and dedicated to their craft. From the swing of “One Step Forward” to the pounding march of “Fall of the USA,” we basked in the sounds of love, fear, hope and rebellion brought to life through the powerful connection of these musical storytellers.

Outspoken on social and political issues, Venson’s lyrics mince no words and drag into the light the collective concerns of so many good people. Venson also understands why people go see live music. It’s not just because the songs are good and it’s fun to rock out with your friends. The live music experience is never as musically tidy as recorded music, but in exchange for edits and audio production values that we can enjoy at home with our headphones, we get a connection to something bigger than ourselves.

There’s an energy at live shows that is transcendent and powerful. We come to move our bodies in ways that aren’t acceptable in most places. We come to have the band lead us on a journey of self-discovery without judgement. We come to high-five strangers when Jackie Venson shreds the living hell out of her guitar.

Once the band finished the entire Love Transcends album, they launched into songs from my personal favorite Jackie Venson recording, Vintage Machine. This album switched up the mood, offering more electronic pop sounds, but the band guided us into it seamlessly. We danced to “Home” and “Go My Way,” but when she launched into her torch song “Make Me Feel,” I thought I’d lose my mind.

Editor: Vintage Machine made our Best Austin Albums of 2020 list.

Vintage Machine by Jackie Venson

Venson and company are the real deal. They’re on the road year-round, making a living doing music. Her work reflects the heart and soul of someone who is born to make music in a world that doesn’t always appreciate it.

You see I grab pen and paper

And bare my soul

Expose my tender heart for the world to know

It ain’t about the money or the popularity

It’s the healing and the love and the connectivity

We lose this music when we fall for the dollar signs

One step forward is another step farther behind

What I say?

One step forward is another step farther behind

And I’ll keep playing til the sun goes down on my life

 – One Step Forward

When you’re lucky enough to live in a city that has access to this kind of local talent, you go and you dance whenever you can. But it’s what we take away from these shows and into the rest of our lives that makes us truly appreciate what music is about.

Rock on, Jackie.

Photos by Amanda Quraishi

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Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to correct the name of Jackie’s bass player to Marcus Clark.