Under the lonesome cry of the midnight train, stars twinkling over hillbilly lights in the mountain fog, Nellie McKay returns with her first album of original material in 13 years. Recorded in Charleston, West Virginia with The Carpenter Ants & a roving retinue of musical compadres, Hey Guys, Watch This (Hungry Mouse, August 25, 2023), traces the haunted sounds of Appalachia to a renaissance of revelry. So unpack your washtub bass, fill up your red cup & pull on your shitkickers ‘cause the night is young & the moon is bright, even if we’re not.
The Shedd Institute welcomes an old friend back to Jaqua Concert Hall Friday, January 19th.
“I admire any artist with the strength of vision to chart her own creative path, and it’s hard to imagine a better example than singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Nellie McKay…her performances are thought-provoking, emotionally affecting, and fun.. her sweet voice and innocent demeanor mask a singular ability to wield the catchiest popular music idioms of the last century in the service of a fiercely independent intellect.” – Renee Fleming
“McKay must have been genetically engineered under an oyster shell in New Orleans’ Frenchman St.. a bizarre sense of busker authenticity… witty, bright, and gloriously inappropriate.” – Theatre Mania
“A renegade songwriter with an ultraflexible Great American Songbook sensibility. McKay finds modern resonances everywhere..” – Rolling Stone
Among Ms. McKay’s charms, Mr. Byrne said, are the way she playfully mixes what he called a “tragic noir vibe” with her “wicked sense of humor.” – David Byrne, Wall Street Journal
“The one thing certain about Ms. McKay is the size and range of her talent..” – The New York Times