Ally Venable Band + Garret T. Willie – 16th September 2026

Live from The Exchange, Bristol

© Andy Balcam, Balcshootsbands

At the tender age of 26 Garret T. Willie is already the real deal. The Alert Bay, British Columbia native leads his tour-hardened band through a foot-stomping, head-shaking, 5-song set that raises the rafters and leaves the Wednesday night Bristol crowd well warmed up.

Combining the deep gravel voice of BB and the blistering guitar chops of Albert ‘GTW’ is certainly a king of the high-energy, no-punches-pulled, blues-rock that the Exchange crowd has come to see tonight. He’s a big lad and he channels all of that presence into his playing, singing and songwriting.

Killer new album Bill’s Cafe provides the bulk of the set from pounding opener It Won’t Get Done through to metamorphic closer Hypnotist. A rollicking take on AC/DC banger Sin City threatens to be derailed by a broken string however an unphased GTW simply bids the band to keep the beat, replaces the offending wire himself and then picks the song right back up again.

A full headline set from these guys would be well worth attending.

At 27, then, Ally Venable is a veritable veteran. Stunning in her bohemian chic outfit she strides around the minute Exchange stage oozing confidence and authority.

The band hits hard and fast with openers Unbreakable and Brown Liquor before Steamroller, the fist of 2 slow blues numbers, gives Venable the first real opportunity to cut loose both vocally and on her psychedelic six-string.

One of the drawbacks of these small venues is that the bass player is always stuffed away in a dark corner. It’s a shame as EJ Bedford has a lot to offer from those silky smooth lines he plays on his 6-string bass to the vocal counterpoint he provides on euphoric crowd pleaser Texas Louisiana.

It’s from here on in that, for me, the show really takes off. Despite a deep catalogue of fine songs to plunder the band chooses to stretch out. Ultra funky Stopper Back Papa and a galloping Feel That Sting are both extended out beyond 10 minutes. This is no aimless meandering though, these are tightly focused arrangements with each start/stop, loud/quiet, fast/slow crescendo pushing the tension higher and higher until the crowd explodes in rapturous appreciation.    

These expanded workouts give drummer Isaac Pulido a chance to shine with some wonderfully deft and dynamic fills but it’s Venable who really steps up and pours everything into her playing.

Her kaleidoscopic hand-painted Les Paul bucks and twists under her command sending torrents of notes cascading in all directions. However, it’s when she swaps out the LP for the Strat that everything seems to rise up another couple of notches.

The band tear through Hendrix classic Fire before the undoubted highlight of the night – Venable’s Tribute To SRV. Based around Stevie’s love letter to his wife Lenny Venable’s playing builds the gentle melodies into a shattering climax that leaves everyone in the room baying for more but knowing that, frankly, you really couldn’t follow that.

Dazzling.