Ally Venable Heart Of Fire (CD)

(Ruf Records) 11 tracks, digisleeve

This is no time for the faint-hearted. The pandemic may have silenced the music scene, paralysed the live circuit and separated artists from their fans. But with Heart Of Fire, Texas' new gunslinger Ally Venable comes off the ropes swinging. The acclaimed singer-songwriter's fourth release defies the dark times and rolls up the amps - an album that vibrates the speakers and heralds better times ahead. "My vision was to really spread a positive message of love," Venable says. "The world needs that right now." If Venable is giving the globe some much-needed love with Heart Of Fire, the feeling is mutual.

The guitarist, who is only in her early twenties, has moved as fast as her fingers over the past two decades, winding her way from the church choirs of her childhood to the influences of local heroes like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Miranda Lambert in her youth. F

rue releases like No Glass Shoes (2016) and Puppet Show (2018) earned her international fans, top 10 chart positions and ETX awards, but it was 2019's #2 Billboard-charting Texas Honey and house-rocking sets on the Blues Caravan Tour this year that sent her into the stratosphere. Now, as Venable's fanbase continues to snake around the block every time she comes to town, Texas Roots icon and Texas Honey producer Mike Zito has no doubt: "Ally is the future of blues and American roots rock crossover music."