MISSISSPPI TODAY: Shannon McNally, into the blues and drawn to the Hill country, brings ‘a real explosion of creativity’ to Jackson

Roots music’s rhythmic hold winds like a vine through singer/songwriter Shannon McNally’s music.

The Grammy-nominated blues-Americana performer was born in New York, but logged years in Mississippi, known as the birthplace of America’s music, and she absorbed the rich vibe that comes with such submersion.

She’s back to share that and more in a July 25 concert at Duling Hall in Jackson. Now primarily in Nashville where she’s at work on upcoming albums, McNally will pull a cross-section from her ample musical catalogue, including her most recent “Black Irish,” and “Small Town Talk,” her tribute to songwriter Bobby Charles with Dr. John.

McNally’s path seemed destined to pull her South early on. She’d been been living and making records in Los Angeles for several years when she hit burnout in that city. “I fell in love with New Orleans because of the live music scene, essentially. First time I was down there, I ended up in the Maple Leaf, seeing a brass band in the middle of the night, and thought, ‘I could live here. This is an option.’ And then, boom, that’s where I was.”

New Orleans became her home until Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath devastated the area; evacuation from the storm landed her in Mississippi, where (now former) husband, Wallace Lester, has family. They ended up in Taylor — “People really took good care of us,” she says — and then settled in Holly Springs. “We are both very drawn to the Hill country,” the region bordering Tennessee and known for its North Mississippi hill country blues.

“We’re into the blues,” says McNally, who did a number of albums with legendary producer Jim Dickinson and an album with Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars). The environment, too, had an effect. “There’s an intense casualness that comes with the territory of Mississippi, particularly north Mississippi. It’s a very obviously deep, deep history. And, there’s no way to understand it, or to absorb it, without being completely submerged in it — to the point that it becomes normal for you.

“It’s a very distinct place. It’s a very unique place. … It just gives you a really deep understanding, and changes the way you hold your instrument — for the better,” she says, describing the deep centering a musician can gain.

“That’s the thing people listen for, and that’s what you can get in Mississippi. That’s what you can learn,” says McNally, who also counts Oxford in her state residency count.