Program #249 (June 25 at 8:00pm and June 26 at 3:00pm)
Singer/songwriter Shannon McNally first emerged amid the roots rock and Americana revival of the early 2000s.
A crafty mix of soul, blues, rock, and country, McNally established herself with releases like 2002 s Jukebox Sparrows and 2006 s North American Ghost Music while also seeking out interesting collaborations with the likes of Neal Casal, John Hiatt, Charlie Sexton, and Dave Alvin.
Working prolifically between major and independent labels, McNally notched further career highlights with the 2013 Dr. John collaboration Small Town Talk (Songs of Bobby Charles) and 2017 s acclaimed Black Irish. Known for honoring and augmenting the music of her heroes, she offered up another tribute in 2021 s The Waylon Sessions, covering the music of Waylon Jennings.
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Photo: Alysse Gafkjen
âYou have to have some charm to play classic country â you have to have respect for your instrument,â says Shannon McNally, who is talking to me on the phone about her new full-length
The Waylon Sessions. The album features songs written and recorded by the great outlaw-country singer Waylon Jennings. Iâm catching up with McNally as sheâs making her way up I-55 out of Jackson, Miss., where sheâs played a show, back home to Nashville by way of Memphis.
I think I get what sheâs telling me about charm. Indeed, McNally found her own way to perform the Jennings songs that make up her latest album. McNally and I trade travel notes about the impossibility of splitting the right angle to save time between Jackson and Nashville, and you can tell she knows the territory. She lived in New Orleans and Mississippi before moving to Nashville in 2017. As I tell her,