Texas-born and bred guitar shredding powerhouse and singer/songwriter, Ally Venable has a new single out featuring Shemekia Copeland that goes by the handle ‘Unbreakable’ and is the latest released from her forthcoming album, Money & Power, due out on 18th April via Ruf Records.
“This is a powerful duet, and defiant anthem that celebrates the indomitable spirit of women who have weathered life’s storms,” said Venable. “The song paints a vivid portrait of two souls who have both gone through adversity, yet their voices blend in a harmonious tribute to resilience and triumph. I am here to let women know that they can stand tall and face the world with unbreakable courage and strength.”
Sturdy with purpose, a strident blues riff is the framework whereupon rests Ally Venable’s new single ‘Unable’ wherein she and Shemekia Copeland unload a series of setback stories and the resolutions made to rectify them.
Rules are there to be broken. Expectations are there to be defied. Glass ceilings are there to be shattered. Having spent the past decade carving out her own unique space in the male-dominated world of blues rock, Ally Venable’s combative sixth album, Money & Power, demands more of both – For herself, for women around the world, and for anyone else who thought they weren’t worthy of a seat at the table.
“Money & Power is such a strong statement, especially for women,” said the award-winning Texas gunslinger of her Nashville-recorded new album on which her crack-squad band is joined by A-list guests Shemekia Copeland and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram.
“All the songs on this album showcase the theme of what it truly means to be a force to be reckoned with. I want this record to wake people up,” she continued.
Money and power make the world go round. But in the right hands, music can be every bit as potent. Right now, on the heels of 2023’s acclaimed Real Gone – an album that hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts and was still in contention a year later – Venables is rated amongst the best young singer-songwriters in American roots, saluted by Total Guitar magazine in its poll of Top 100 Blues Guitarists.
“With her heels, sequins and Les Paul growling on a leash, she’s one of Ruf’s most head-turning young artists,” wrote Classic Rock, “and while the instrumental prowess can be taken as read, Real Gone marks a growing maturity in the Texan’s songcraft.”
“‘Money & Power’ is a bold, uncompromising anthem that celebrates the rise of women in traditionally male-dominated realms,” said Venable about the title track when it was released as a single last month.
“It is a timely and necessary statement, empowering listeners to challenge the status quo and forge their own paths to success, regardless of gender. This song will undoubtedly resonate with audiences seeking a message of empowerment and equality in a world that has often denied women their rightful place.”
If The Colour Of Money was the blockbuster sequel to Paul Newman’s 1961 hit The Hustler, ‘Money & Power’ should at least be whispered the very much-love(d) child of the Steve Miller Band’s ‘Take The Money & Run’ with a bad-assed attitude – This here’s genuine classic rock strutting with a Texan shuffle slipped in the back packet; Venable tells it like it is with a finger-quashing wah-wah solo thrown in for good measure, proving she’s not afraid to play in the big boys’ dirt patch.
In February 2024, with the dust still settling from Real Gone, the Money & Power sessions saw Venable and producer/drummer Tom Hambridge push through the doors of Nashville’s famous Soundstage Studios. And while the studio band was strictly A-list, apparently her new songs are the real stars.
On opener ‘Brown Liquor’, her battle cry decorated by a stinging guest guitar solo from the Mississippi hotshot Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram. ‘Maybe Someday’ is a blissful moment of redemptive soul, carried along by horns and barbed lyrics aimed at an old flame. Next up is the white-hot title track, with her guitar set to scorch and a seething message – “’Money & Power’ shouts to the masses,” she declared, “that women are not to be doubted in their ability to thrive in the world.” Vital right to the end, Money & Power plays out with ‘Stepping Stone’s’ earthy roar of empowerment, the shuddering, spooky, tremolo-soaked groove of ‘Feel That Sting’, and the dust-blown rocker ‘Unbreakable’, where she goes toe-to-toe with New York powerhouse Shemekia Copeland – “That song spreads a message of women that have been oppressed,” she said, “to rise to the occasion and break above it all.”
Money & Power is a modern roots record that plays by its own rules and marches to the beat of its own drum. The same could be said for the lady herself. “I’m thrilled to release this album,” she said. “For me, it’s a sonic embodiment of a woman’s unstoppable ambition, and showcases my musicality on all fronts. I’m looking forward to seeing where this one will take me.”
A while back, Venable issued ‘Keep Me In Mind‘, her second single from the long player, available on all streaming platforms here with the official music video featured below.
Guitar notes picked out delivering emotional context before a word is spoken, when she does Venable offers a honey-throated honest delivery in a tale of longing on the country-stirring ‘Keep Me In Mind‘; that the short-but-sweet guitar solo has notes that count expressing what words can’t being pretty cool.
“This beautiful love song captures the vulnerability and deep longing to be cherished and held in the mind of the one you care for,” said Venable. “The tender melody and emotive lyrics speak to the universal human experience of wanting to maintain that intimate connection, even when distance threatens to intervene. It’s a poignant and relatable track that will resonate with listeners.”
You can order Money & Power here, then later in the year, catch Ally Venable live in the UK.
