Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed
Austin native and musician Jackie Venson broke 1.5 million live streams during her summer concert series, ranking ninth on Pollstar's Top 50 Livestreamers list for Q3.
With COVID-19 sending the live music industry to a screeching halt, many musicians have elected to postpone or cancel performances in favor of live streaming their tunes. Venson, like others, spent the summer live streaming from Facebook with a total of 22 shows between May 5 to Aug. 19, Pollstar reports.
So y’all know how I went live all summer well... I made the @Pollstar top 50 Livestreamers AT NUMBER 9! 1.5 million… https://t.co/6iog1taYUZ— Jackie Venson (@Jackie Venson)1601351213.0
Venson is an Austin native, singer, songwriter, guitarist, classical pianist and the youngest of nine siblings. Her father, Andrew Venson, is also a professional musician and she credits him as her inspiration throughout her childhood.
Venson told Australian Musician having a musician in the family can make the goal of becoming a musician yourself feel more attainable.
"A lot of people like music and they think they have an affinity for it but if nobody else in the family does, then they sometimes don't see it as a possibility," Venson said. "Having my dad as a professional musician, it's like ... you can do this, it's hard but you can do this."
Venson attended Berklee College of Music without ever having picked up a guitar until her last year at school. From there, she devoted her time to the guitar and in 2019, Venson became the first Black woman to win "Best Guitarist" at the Austin Music Awards, as well as the first Black woman to co-host the awards in 2020.
An Austin enthusiast, she said Austin is the best place in the world to become a musician.
Though she made her mark live streaming, Venson will return to the stage for an intimate in-person show at ACL Live on Oct. 3 for The Lounge Series.More on live streaming:
- Some Austin live music venues reopen to smaller crowds - austonia ›
- SXSW goes virtual for 2021, possible in-person event - austonia ›
- ACL makes plans to go virtual this year - austonia ›
- Austinite Parker McCollum claims top spot on Billboard charts - austonia ›
Popular
Austin FC couldn't find the stamina to fight off a 2-0 loss against LAFC for their inaugural match on Saturday.
The match, which saw No. 21 Austin FC go head-to-head with No. 2 LAFC in Los Angeles, was broadcast nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes.
Salute the support. 👏
It's only the beginning for @AustinFC. pic.twitter.com/TduorqYr2y
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 18, 2021
Eleven players took the stage as Austin FC players for the first time, with five starters making their MLS debut. "Ringleader" Alex Ring took the captain's armband and wore it well. The defensive midfielder could be seen leading his teammates through their first ever match, but it wasn't enough to stage an Austin takeover in LA.
In the signature style of Head Coach Josh Wolff, the team played with quickness and intensity, nearly connecting on several fast breaks. It was harder for them to stay in front, however, something that Wolff credits with quick decision making and a tough LAFC defense.
"We have a quick attacking team, but I think when you make quick attacks and it fizzles it's just about some decision making," Wolff said. "Are we in position to finish attacks? If not, can we reestablish our attack and get stuff better?"
The club was given some generous breaks from No. 2 LAFC, who had one or both of their star DPs out for the half. While forward Diego Rossi is out for the entire match due to a hamstring injury, Carlos Vela was accidentally pulled too soon on what turned out to be a miscommunication.
"He gave us the sign that he needed to come off," LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley said on broadcast. "I can't say more than maybe it's my fault."
LA pulled some dramatics and slowly gained more possession throughout the half, but ATXFC's defense wasn't initially as shaky as it seemed in preseason. Jhohan Romana has pulled his weight in getting the ball out of goal, and a 34-year old Matt Besler held his own in center back.
As the second half commenced, however, it became clear that LAFC had the advantage over Austin's first major league team.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver had his work cut out for him, fending off 24 shot attempts, 11 of which were on goal. He didn't have much time to prepare, either: in the first 30 seconds of play, Stuver had already made a save to keep the match 0-0.
LAFC finally connected in the 61st minute of play as Corey Baird shot one into the bottom right corner. The team capitalized off their momentum and put one past Stuver a second time, drawing roars of approval from the LAFC crowd.
While some last-minute attempts from Jon Gallagher and others were made, Austin FC didn't have the endurance to bring a tie. After seven additional minutes of stoppage time, the club lost their first match 2-0.
While the scoreboard tells one story, Wolff said that the team did well considering the skill of LAFC and the pressure of their club debut.
"We've got to be realistic," Wolff said. "This is the first time this organization has been in front of TV with an opportunity to show itself and I think there were some promising moments. And we're going to maximize those and continue to try to develop those, but there's lots to build on."
The team may have lost, but it still won the support of thousands of Verde fans, dozens of which made it to watch their team's first match. When Stuver and the team made it to bthe stadium, Los Verdes fans were already there to show support, and Stuver said his wife saw the same back in Austin.
"The moment that we pulled into the stadium, we saw Black and Verde fans cheering us on as we got to the stadium," Stuver said. "During warm up, you can just look around and see different groups sitting in different sections of the stadium and it's just truly amazing to see the support in our first game. We know that we want to give the fans everything, because this we play for the city and we play for them."