Gina Venier and Lexie Hayden
Date:
Venue:Gina Venier and Lexie Hayden
Tickets:Suggested Donation $20
We are excited to welcome Gina Venier back to The Crib! This time we will hear much more of Gina’s fantastic music as she takes center stage.
Gina stylishly combines her soulful blues roots and pop influences to create an original sound that defies fitting into a genre.
At the age of 6, Venier started singing and playing the drums. At 13, picked up the guitar and has been playing live ever since. She credits her dad for infusing a passion for music in her at an early age, and he frequently shares the stage with her today.
In 2013, Venier moved to Nashville where she began to focus entirely on compiling her original catalog. She played the Nashville scene as both an artist, and as a writer and drummer for other artists in town.
In 2014, while living in Nashville, Venier auditioned for Season 14 of Fox’s American Idol. “I had heard the show was holding auditions in town, and since I was living down the street from where they were, I felt like I had to show up and try it.”
With her soulful voice, and “one woman-band” set up of cajon, kick pedal, guitar, and “lucky egg,” Venier wow-ed producers and judges with her first audition of ZZ Ward’s “Put The Gun Down.” After all three judges gave her a “yes” she was through to Hollywood. Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Conick Jr. were continually surprised and impressed by the unique performances she brought to the show. Lopez called her a, “funky, funky girl” and Urban would frequently comment on Venier’s “true artistry.” Gina made it to the season’s overall Top 48 contestants, and was Top 24 for female contenders.
Post-American Idol buzz and success, Venier got back to spreading her ‘hybrid genre’ of blue-eyed soul pop as a singer/songwriter in and out of Chicago-land venues and throughout the Nashville music scene. Both Chicago and Nashville have been exploiting her distinctive vibe, whether through an intimate acoustic show, or fronting a band, each performance is guaranteed to be dynamic.
Currently, Gina continues performing, writing, and accumulating original works leading up to her first record release. “Artist’s are rarely satisfied, or feel “ready” to be fully exposed. It’s a vulnerable position to be in. I want to be smart about it. I definitely want to be heard, and I’m working hard at it.”
Her style challenges fitting into a definitive genre, and blends the art of singer/songwriter meets radio-worthy blue-eyed soul pop. “I want to make music that is universal and relatable… that people, including myself, enjoy listening to. I also want my live show to be something to write home about.”
Joining Gina is Herndon’s own Lexie Hayden – gone off to Nashville but returning to her hometown for this special night to share her original music with us.
“I always hesitate to take the interstate, but I always do.” For Lexie Hayden, an inspired, young, Virginia-bred singer/songwriter, that interstate has always pointed to Nashville, Tennessee. Celebrating the release of her 2017 EP The Drive, fittingly written and recorded in the heart of Music City, Hayden is thankful for the journey that led her there. “This record was a long time coming, and I was so excited to share it with the world.” Having co-written all 5 songs, The Drive not only marks a statement in Hayden’s growth as a singer and a writer, but a realization of her identity as an artist in the ever changing landscape of country music. The record was certainly successful in gaining Nashville’s attention, and got her up on the Whiskey Jam and Song Suffragettes stage, as well as opening for Phil Vassar during CMA Fest 2017. The album was reviewed by the Bobby Bones Show and Whiskey Riff within a week of the release. The single off the record, “Kiss and Tell,” produced 10,000 streams on Spotify in just two weeks and the music video hit 20,000 views in just 48 short hours. An impressive feat for a newly established artist in Nashville.
Drawing inspiration from all corners of country music, ranging from royalty like Dolly Parton and The Dixie Chicks, to younger trailblazers such as Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Brothers Osborne, Hayden has always sought to tap one particular attribute that these influences embody to her: honesty. And more than anything, honesty is what had her so excited for The Drive. “These songs are really ME – who I am as an artist, and who I am as a person.” While she is thrilled about releasing this new record, she is also mindful of the road ahead. “In a lot of ways, this is just beginning,” she says, “I can’t wait for what’s to come.
