AUSTIN, Texas — Austin-based blues, rock, and soul musician Jackie Venson is making her national debut this fall on the Austin City Limits television series.
The show tapes at the ACL Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, on October 1. A few people will be allowed to watch the performance in person in a socially distant theater setup. ACL is also live streaming the performance Thursday at 7 p.m. CST.
Venson had to stop her tour when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Texas, but that didn’t stop her from sharing her music with the world. The guitarist streamed her performances all summer, earning her a number nine spot on Pollstar’s first-ever live streamers chart. 1.5 million people tuned in to her performances.
Venson, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, has also used her voice to raise awareness about racial inequality. She used her influence to draw attention to the lack of opportunities for Black performers to play at Austin music venues. That led to a revamped version of Blues on the Green — dubbed Blues on the Screen — with an all-Black lineup.
“Black Lives Matter. It’s not just a slogan or a hashtag, it’s me, it's my family, it’s my friends, it’s real people, with real lives,” Venson said on Twitter.
For her ACL TV debut, Venson will don a black dress emblazoned with names of Black people who have been killed in police violence.
Venson will be releasing her next studio album, Vintage Machine, this fall. Her performance on ACL will air on PBS November 14.