Ivy Venin

About

Ivy Venin is an indigenous singer-songwriter from Lake St. Martin. Though she was born and is currently living in Winnipeg, she hasn't always.

Growing up in a military family, she lived in 4 different cities, in 3 different provinces throughout her school years. She left Winnipeg after grade 2, and moved back at the start of high school. That's when she met a guy who played guitar. He taught her how to play some chords, and she instantly fell in love. With the guitar, of course.

She went out and got one of her own, and within a year or two, she was writing original music and evolving her own unique style of alternative folk pop rock.

"If you were to make your opinion of me based solely on my music, you would probably think I was a really angry or mean person. Which I'm not. I love to laugh, and joke around. I just tend to write when I'm angry or upset, which is why you might hear a swear or two in some of my songs," she laughs.

Ivy performed publicly for the first time at an open mic event in 2014 during Winnipeg's Aboriginal Music Week. That's when she learned all about stage fright. She recalls that night, "There were a lot more people there than I expected. I was so scared, but I managed to get up on stage when they called my name. I started the song, and both my hands and voice were shaky. I made it a few lines in, then suddenly I went blank. I couldn't remember the next line or the one after that, and then I started messing up the chords. I tried to re-start the song, but I just couldn't get it back. I had to leave the stage without finishing the song. I was so upset with myself."

Ivy kept going to open mics, but her nervousness and inexperience resulted in her playing only one or two of them a year. Fortunately, that changed in 2018 when she finally found the courage to start performing more and more. Ivy credits Winnipeg artist and producer Aaron Peters with helping her discover her musical talent and encouraging her passionate stage presence.

Aaron remembers the first time he saw Ivy perform, "She is one of a kind. She is very brave. I recognized that songwriting in her right away. The first time I saw her play, I said I gotta talk to this girl, and I started talking about my studio and we started working together."

Ivy and Aaron are currently in the studio working on her first EP. It will have 7 songs, and should be ready for release early next year.