Jackie Venson – FitzGerald's, Berwyn, May 8, 2025

Review & Photos by Jim Summaria

Jackie Venson

Jackie Venson at Fitzgerald's, May 8, 2025

Review & Photos by Jim Summaria

Jackie Venson is a gifted singer, guitarist and songwriter who brought her unique talents to Fitzgerald's in Berwyn for a four-date residency in the month of May.

Venson was born and bred in the music hotspot of Austin, Texas. Her father was a professional musician but it was her mother that pushed her to take piano lessons when she was eight-years-old. As with most children that age, it took a while for her to focus and understand the instrument.  But she prevailed.

She attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts as a composition and studio production major. While enjoying herself at a school social gathering, she was transfixed on how much fun a friend was playing the guitar for a small captive audience. Soon Venson was taking guitar lessons and it became her instrument of choice.

During her last year at Berklee, Venson would practice the guitar every day for at least six hours. She was obsessed with learning everything about her new found passion. Her disciplined nature paid off because she developed into an exceptionally strong player.

Jackie said that she didn't choose music but that music chose her. As the saying goes, if you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life. It showed in her entertaining performance and between song banter for her second night of the FitzGerald’s residency.

She has cited several influences from Buddy Guy to Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder to Nile Rodgers and the soundtracks Lion King and Evita.

A couple of early breaks helped kick start her career. In 2014, she was one of six winners to get a spot on the Belk Summer Tour through the Modern Southern Music Competition that had over 2,000 entries. This led to opening gigs for Gary Clark Jr. and Melissa Etheridge.

During the Covid-19 pandemic she would live-stream her music on the internet which led to an appearance on the famed music show Austin City Limits. In 2023, she performed at the CMT Awards and in 2024 was selected to perform as part of Rolling Stone magazine’s Future of Music showcase.

To date, Venson has released five studio albums. Her debut was the 2019 release Joy. She followed that with Love Transcends (2021), Evolution of Joy (2023), Ghost in the Machine (2023) and her latest The Love Anthology (2025). She has also recorded six live albums.

At the May 8 show she performed with two accompanists, bassist Marcus Clark and long-time drummer Rodney Hyder. Clark and Hyder kept the groove going while Venson supplied the zest. All three were enjoying their stage time and it carried over to the audience. Venson, Clark and Hyder flashed smiles throughout the performance.

Venson’s musical bag is unique. She plays a blend of blues, rock, reggae, pop, soul and funk. Each song offered a different style and texture. She sounds like nobody else.

When not entertaining her audience with her guitar and vocals, she connected with fans through informal narratives. Her fun-loving personality came out each time she spoke between songs  She worked hard onstage with theatrics that energized the crowd.

Her vocals ran the gamut from sweet soul music, to beltin' the blues…from raspy rockin' to jazz scattin' to goin' to church. She often sang and played the guitar in unison. Her lead guitar work was expressive and distinctive.

This particular evening, she appeared to be in heaven playing her new Iconic brand black guitar that was made specifically for her. The sounds she wrenched from her custom ax were exquisite!

Tonight, she played the entire Evolution of Joy album. The album is a complete re-working of her debut release Joy. I'd call it a concept album with each song flowing from start to finish with ease.

But prior to the Evolution of Joy set, she opened with three songs: "Awake" from the 2023 Ghost in the Machine album and "Patience" and "Fear" from the 2025 The Love Anthology album.

Songs from the Evolution of Joy album were: "After Glow," "Flying," "Listen," "All Rise," "Joy," "When Its Right," "To Yourself," "Back to Earth," "Don't Lie To Me," "And In That Quietude," "I Will Find A Way," "Witchcraft," "Rollin' and Tumblin'," "Keep On," "You Might Hear," "Only Have You," "The Voice of God," and "Never Say Die."

She had already played for 90 minutes but had more “in the tank” to unleash six additional songs with vigor. They included "Fall of the USA," "Always Free," the very bluesy "Rollin' On" (some impressive guitarwork) and "One Step Forward" all from the 2021 Love Transcends album.

Her final two songs were "Vintage Machine" from the 2023 Ghost in the Machine album and "Destruct" from her latest album The Love Anthology.

With adrenaline flowing, she then stepped into the audience and happily chatted with her fans. Jackie has been quoted as saying, "there’s always something new to learn, something to improve. As long as I’m open to that, I feel like I’ll keep growing."

This young lady has a bright future and I see larger venues in her future. The sky is the limit for her.  I can't wait to hear what's next. 

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Jim Summaria began professionally photographing rock concerts in 1973 at the age of 19 when he became the staff photographer for the Chicago rock concert promoter Flip Side Productions. Jim's photos have been published in numerous books, magazines and CDs. His rock ‘n’ roll photos have been viewed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame on Rt.66 and the Grammy Awards. Jim and writer Mark Plotnick co-authored the books Classic Rock: Photographs From Yesterday & Today and the October 2024 release ‘70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts, available on Amazon. Jim and Mark also co-host the radio podcast That Rock Show on the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum platform.

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