Venson was born in Austin, Texas. She grew up the youngest of nine siblings. Her father, Andrew Venson, worked for 40 years as a prominent professional musician before retiring. Venson's mother incited her to begin playing piano at age eight. Venson was not very disciplined in practice, noting: "It took me three years to put the focus in enough to where I could put my hands together on the piano, and it took me an additional two and a half to three years after that to even want to practice for more than 45 minutes at a time, which you have to if you want to learn how to do anything." It took Venson about three more years to be able to focus on playing for "three or four hours straight like a working musician". Venson considers her musician father a major influence: Venson attended the Berklee College of Music, where she majored in composition and studio production. Venson said she had a bad experience at Berklee with the ultra-competitive environment the staff fostered, describing it as "American Idol the school". "Berklee was really hard for me", Venson recalled. "I was expecting it to be one thing and it ended up being another thing and I was really depressed probably for the entire time I went there. I didn’t really play at all." At a social gathering, Venson was inspired by the ease with which a schoolmate performed the guitar, noting that the student "looked like he was having so much fun, and I was like, 'Dude, I don’t have that much fun doing anything related to music'". She decided to pursue guitar, and began learning the instrument in 2011, during her last year at Berklee. Her piano studies and the music theory she learned in school helped Venson adapt to the new instrument.
Career
In April 2014, Venson entered the Modern Southern Music Competition and won a headlining spot on the Belk Summer Tour. She opened for country artists Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and James Taylor. She has also performed at the Austin Urban Music Festival. Austin City Hall declared May 21, 2014 Jackie Venson Day, and held a concert in her honor to raise money for an Austin music school. Venson released her debut studio album, The Light In Me, in 2014. In 2016, she released the EP Jackie Venson Live, and the live albumLive at Strange Brew. On September 30, 2017, Venson released her EP Transcends. On October 30, 2018, she released the song "Cover My Eyes" with a live in studio video.
Venson usually performs and records with a three-piece band of professional musicians. In solo live performances, she uses a loop pedal to create a layered sound. The Austin American-Statesman described Venson as "a Gary Clark Jr.-level talent who speaks boldly through her guitar while entrancing with her gorgeous, smoky voice." Guitar World noted the influence of blues and soul music on her vocals. Parade called Venson a soul/pop guitarist and vocalist. The Austin Chronicle wrote that Venson's "willingness to stand naked lyrically and vocally" is an "admirable" trait, while her "smoldering and honest" voice "won't blow doors off buildings, but if she could, it would be overkill." The Chicago Sun-Times said Venson brings "formidable instrumental chops and a musical message of positivity", with a "singing voice that radiates warmth and spirit". Venson's influences include Buddy Guy, Sade, and Alicia Keys. Her voice has been compared to Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse.
