Review Fix Exclusive: Jackie Venson Talks ‘Next Life’ And More

March 23, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Austin-based singer and guitarist Jackie Venson, who just  released her new  single, “Next Life,” via Texas Monthly, from her forthcoming live album, Jackie Venson Live, set for a fall 2016 release. Discussing her goals for 2016, inspirations and creative process, Review Fix gets an inside look at the up and coming musician.

Review Fix: What do you think makes you a special musician?

Jackie Venson: I am me and no one else sounds like me. That’s what makes me special. I strive to keep my originality and creativity a constant in my career because I do not ever want to lose this special individuality I’ve taken my life to develop.

Review Fix: What artists have influenced you the most?

Venson: Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Norah Jones,  Buddy Guy and the list could go on but throughout my infancy in music and overall life these people were consistently influential to me.

Review Fix: What have you learned about yourself through this upcoming album?

Venson: I’ve learned that if you just keep on keeping on and work hard every day that you will be blessed with progress and productivity. These things keep me waking up every morning with a fresh attitude. Every day is a new possibility for something else but only if you’re willing to put in the time and the hard work.

Review Fix: What do you think is the difference between your live and studio work?

Venson: Time. I have simply had more time to pick up more things on the guitar, write and arrange different types of songs. I also have had some big life experiences that have changed my perspective. This change can and will be captured on the Live Recording on February 28.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for Next Life? How was it written?

Venson: The inspiration was a broken heart over a crush I had been trapped in for several months. My heart ended up getting so soar that I had to sing about it. What’s different about the writing process is that I wrote it on the piano instead of the guitar thus creating a more theatrical song than what I would write on the guitar.


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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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