We may or may not have a few exclusive, live-streaming Paste Studio sessions on the way today—only time (and subsequent sentences) will tell. But if we did, our Facebook Live slate for the day would probably include performances from SoCal country singer-songwriter Sam Outlaw, Swedish synth-pop artist Frida Sundemo and Americana songstress Shannon McNally. Probably.
Read MoreHer languid phrasing and idiosyncratic mix of girlish naivete and world weariness anchor her own Banshee Moan and Crowell’s You Made Me Feel For You, both mature, emotionally ragged snapshots of life lived close to the bone.
Read MoreNot many artists can straddle the line between being both good songwriters and good song interpreters, but Shannon McNally is that rare breed of musician who’s been able to plant her creative feet in both camps. To that end, the gutbucket Americana songstress has reached a career apex with the seductive collection of songs that comprise Black Irish available now in various formats via Compass Records. Black Irish is the result of a mindmeld-level collaboration with longtime McNally compatriot — and top-shelf Americana artist in his own right — producer Rodney Crowell.
Read MoreHaving originated in the most difficult of circumstances — after nursing her terminally ill mother and experiencing an exceptionally difficult divorce — Black Irish exudes none of the disappointment and despair one might have expected to result from such an unsettling scenario. In fact, it comes across as one of Shannon McNally’s most assured efforts yet, no small accomplishment given her long and accomplished career. With Rodney Crowell at the helm and an all-star cast in support — Emmylou Harris, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Elizabeth Cook on backing vocals, Cody Dickinson, and guitarist Colin Linden lending their instrumental expertise — McNally turns the album into a tour de force, one that expresses both her resolve and her resilience.
Read MoreProduced by Rodney Crowell, “Black Irish” comes four years after McNally’s last album, “Small Town Talk,” a superb collection of 14 songs written by the late New Orleans-based songwriter Bobby Charles that she toured behind with one of the best concerts of 2013 that this area saw, also at Ignition.
Read MoreOften a return from a hiatus brings rejuvenation, reminding listeners why they fell in love with the artist in the first place. That’s the case here. Shannon McNally hasn’t been missing for too long—her last full length album, Small Town Talk – The Songs of Bobby Charles was released in 2013, but this one brings me back to the magic of 2005’s Geronimo, an album that created quite a buzz as this one is likely to do.
Read MoreMcNally has been making albums since 2002. She has worked with guitar slingers Charlie Sexton and Luther Dickinson, was a close friend of New Orleans songwriter Bobby Charles and is a confidant of Dr. John. “Black Irish” was produced by Rodney Crowell.
Read MoreShannon McNally’s blues-Americana return, “Black Irish,” will make you dance, break your heart and save your soul. The album was recorded in Nashville, but its distinctive sense of place lies 210 miles west, where Memphis meets Mississippi.
Read MoreBorn in New York but simultaneously roughed up and refined by New Orleans and Mississippi, McNally has cut a singular path through the musical landscape - one that includes a Grammy nomination and a place on the stage with a who's who of rock, country and soul: Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill, Levon Helm, Dr. John, Bobby Rush, Derek Trucks, and most recently, Americana legend Rodney Crowell who took the producer's chair for her upcoming release on Compass Records, a collection of transcendent folk-blues and country-rock songs that are poised to solidify her place as a peerless Americana songwriter and performer.
Read MoreOn “Black Irish,” McNally harnesses a gentle simplicity to generate a personal triumph. With nuanced guitar picking, joyous harmonies and good old fashioned musical hooks, McNally surpasses the high expectations she places on herself.
Read MoreThe initial release from the album is “Banshee Moan”, a track McNally wrote about her experiences in the music industry, experiences common to working women everywhere. “I wrote that a ways back, previous to the rebirth of the women’s movement we’ve seen of late. I’m thrilled to see women truly engaged and pissed off again.” With its haunting melody and McNally’s rich, deep-blue vocals, “Banshee Moan” is no mere protest song; it’s a howl of the collective female spirit, equal parts softness and strength.
Read MoreBenson and his friends -- an august troupe that included Willie Nelson, the Avett Brothers, Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally, Carolyn Wonderland, Marcia Ball and more -- delivered with a 31-song marathon show behind the GSD&M headquarters in downtown Austin, tearing through the great America country and western songbook with righteous, if occasionally ragged, exuberance.
Read MoreThere were many inspired moments at Saturday’s salute to country music pioneer Loretta Lynn by the Americana Music Assn. One particular highlight came courtesy of Oakland-based African American roots musician Fantastic Negrito, who served up a thoroughly haunting version of Lead Belly’s folk-blues classic, “In the Pines.”
Read MoreIn her two decades-long career, McNally has performed with a short who’s who of blues, rock and country music: Willie Nelson, Gill, John Mellencamp, Levon Helm, Dr. John, Trucks, Anders Osbourne, Luther and Cody Dickinson, Charlie Sexton and Rufus Wainwright among others.
Read MoreThere's proof on the new album Small Town Talk that Mac Rebennack (known to most as Dr. John) almost — almost — succeeded in knocking Shannon McNally off her sly, sensual game. Just short of a minute into "Long Face" — a New Orleans strut by Bobby Charles on an album stocked beginning to end with Charles' swamp-pop songwriting — McNally is singing about what she does and doesn't want in a lover, Rebennack is peppering her with wise-ass jive talk, and then you hear the faintest giggle. She collects herself in time to saunter on into the next verse, sounding remarkably unruffled by one of popular music's great funky tricksters
Read MoreMcNally has an earthy voice, an organic approach to blues-based music that's simply magical. She may even inherit the "cosmic country" moniker that the late Gram Parsons left behind with her mysterious-yet-spirited Americana fare. In Hudson, she'll be bringing her band Smoke Signals: Will Sexton (guitar) Susan Holmes (bass) Wallace Lester (drums) and McNally on guitar and dreamy vocals.
Read MoreBobby Charles helped shape rock & roll’s evolution during the ‘50s and ‘60s, writing a string of hits for artists like Fats Domino, Bill Haley & the Comets, and Clarence “Frogman” Henry. Raised in southern Louisiana, he also pioneered the “swamp pop” genre, which blended the native sounds of his home turf — Cajun music, zydeco, New Orleans rhythm & blues — with the twang of mid-century country.
Read MoreShannon McNally has a birthday present for the late songwriter of early rock 'n' roll hits like Fats Domino's Walking to New Orleans and Bill Haley & The Comets' See You Later, Alligator -- a sweet cover of his I Must Be in a Good Place Now, recorded with Dr. John on piano. "It sums Bobby up pretty perfectly," says McNally. "The guy would sort of rather be fishing than doing anything else."
Read MoreColdwater is the epitome of low-key by comparison; self-produced, self-released and demo-like, just McNally, her three-piece road band Hot Sauce and the late Jim Dickinson on keyboards, at whose Zebra Ranch they recorded it a year ago. She hung onto the rootsiness of her sensibilities but, for all intents and purposes, parted ways with pop, turning out eight willfully loose, swampy country-soul tracks, her sensual, humid singing smack-dab in the middle of them, rather than out front.
Read MoreA few years ago, Capitol Records, the label for which McNally used to record, offered the singer-songwriter this odd deal: She could have $200,000 to record three songs with a producer of the label’s choice. Or she could have half that amount to make an entire album with Charlie Sexton, Bob Dylan’s longtime bandmate and the producer McNally wanted to work with. When I asked McNally if it was an easy pick, she made a noise – “phhhthh” – that indicated the silliness of my question.
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