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
The Texas Department of State Health Services will allocate 332,750 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 212 providers this week, with the bulk assigned to hub providers that are focused on widespread community distribution events. Six of those providers are in Travis County.
With the latest allocation of 16,450 sent to Travis County this week, the county will have received 104,275 doses of the vaccine. Local public health officials estimate that there are 285,000 area residents who fall in the 1A and 1B priority groups, meaning that around 37% of them should have access to doses seven weeks into the rollout process.
Here's where the latest allotment is going:
- UT professor played role in Pfizer and Moderna's COVID vaccines ... ›
- A 'handful' of ineligible people got the COVID vaccine in Austin ... ›
- Austin Public Health prepares for COVID vaccine distribution ... ›
- Texas widens COVID vaccine access, but Austin doses are limited ... ›
- Austin healthcare offering COVID-19 vaccine waitlists - austonia ›
Want to know more about our city? Join Austonia and two special guests for our first 'live event'
Register here...
(Shutterstock)
The California exodus has made headlines for several years now, and even more recently, with thousands of West Coasters seeking tax relief, less-expensive real estate and a simpler lifestyle in Texas' capital city.
However, a California man's scathing review of Austin, which was published in Business Insider on Wednesday, reveals that some are less than satisfied with their move.