THE ALLY VENABLE BAND (including partial GARRET T WILLIE support set)
The Exchange,
Bristol, UK

16th September 2026

Lineage:
Sound Professionals SP-CMC-9 cardioids > SP-SPSB-20 > Edirol R-07 (@24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2 > CDWave > TLH
* Lumix SD5 .mov file with lossless audio (@16/48) > Cool Edit Pro 2 > CDWave > TLH
Recorded 2 rows back from front rail, just off centre

Recording, transfer and artwork by boombox


THE ALLY VENABLE BAND (77m30s):
1. Unbreakable
2. Brown Liquor
3. Steamroller Blues (James Taylor cover)
4. Texas Louisiana
5. Broken & Blue
6. Stopper Back Papa >
7. Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) (Parliament cover)
8. Feel That Sting
9. Plectrumelectrum (Prince cover)
10. Fire (Jimi Hendrix cover)
11. Banter
12. Tribute To SRV+

+ - with elements of 'Lenny' (Steve Ray Vaughan cover)

GARRET T WILLIE (27m05s):
1. It Won't Get Done*
2. //Small Town People (fades in - 2-3 minutes missed)
2. Keep On Dancing
4. Sin City (AC-DC cover) (includes long jam due to string break)
5. Hypnotist


boombox's notes october 2026:
Canadian Garrett T. Willie is a big guy and he and his band produce a BIG sound, which was probably too big for this tiny Bristol venue. Our ears were fried immediately, but this couldn't stop us noticing that this young man will go places. If you like your blues with a hint of ZZ Top and AC/DC, GTW, as he seems to be known, will be for you. His half hour set went by too quickly, despite a lengthy mid-song jam during 'Sin City' when he broke a string. (And he broke one during the last song too!) Having had the packed room warmed up nicely, Ally Venable then gave us a masterclass of SRV and Hendrix-style blues with the vocals of a slightly more refined Janis Joplin. And as for the blues-funk, well... Only 27, it won't be long before she gets talked about in the same breath as other female guitar slingers like Samantha Fish, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Ana Popovic. She's recently toured with Buddy Guy and they did their co-write from her previous album, with Buddy's vocals being more than ably undertaken by the excellent EJ Bedford on bass and keys (often at the same time). Special mention too to drummer Isaac Pulido rounding out an excellent rhythm section.

This gig was loud, and I mean ear-splittingly loud. I thought I had set the input low enough, but checking at the start of 'Small Town People', I had to notch it right down. As a result, the first song was unusable and I missed the start of the second while changing levels. Oddly, my camera audio was just about passable, though very saturated, so I have managed to provide most of GTW's set, missing only 2-3 minutes. With the levels sorted for Ally, the recording came out really well. Yes, it sounds like a club recording, but by setting myself up just off centre, not only did it turn out that I was right in front of Ally for videoing purposes, but the drums were perfectly in balance and EJ's bass is all over it too. If I am being really picky, the vocals were perhaps just a fraction low in the mix, but overall, this stands up to repeated listenings.

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