POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL: With new album, Shannon McNally is 'here to stay'
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Shannon McNally in 2013 was caring for her terminally-ill mother, raising her daughter and going through a divorce.
That was also when McNally began envisioning the concept for her latest album.
Struggling with depression at the time, McNally sent an email to famed Americana musician Rodney Crowell. The two had met several years earlier.
“He called me some years ago about singing something for him on a record,” McNally, known for the song, “Now That I Know,” told the Journal during a recent interview. “I was so excited. I did a little bit of singing for him. We just became friends.”
Soon, you can see for yourself how McNally’s vision for her new record “Black Irish” emerged, how her collaboration with Crowell crystallized and how she translates it all into a live performance.
McNally is set to perform at Club Helsinki in Hudson on Saturday and at The Falcon in Marlboro on May 18.
Crowell’s career, according to the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association, “is the stuff of legend, and his songs have become standards in the country music canon.” Songs written by Crowell have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Tanya Tucker, Waylon Jennings, the Oak Ridge Boys and Bob Seger, according to www.texasheritagesongwriters.com.
Crowell produced “Black Irish,” co-writing one song with McNally on the album and writing two more of his own.
“Rodney, in his thoughtful way, really wanted to make the right record,” McNally said. “We didn’t just go in there and record songs.”
Overall, the album showcases McNally’s aching vulnerabilities, her hopes and her ability to dust away despair.
On “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.
“The music business is so happenstance,” said Jimmy Buff, morning DJ and program director at Radio Woodstock (100.1 FM/WDST). “Who makes it and who doesn’t, in terms of being really well known and a star, is anyone’s guess, sometimes. But it often does come to sheer talent — and Shannon McNally has talent.”
Added Buff, “She has always turned out quality music.”
Of her latest musical endeavor, Buff said, “It’s great. It’s authentic. It’s well produced. Rodney Crowell producing is as good as you get.”
Along with sensibility, attitude and a deep understanding of how to draw a listener in, geographical coordinates played a role in the evolution of “Black Irish.”
McNally was born on St. Patrick’s Day and raised on Long Island. She grew up with MTV, but leaned toward roots music and got a guitar at age 12.
She wrote songs and performed in public during college and later signed with Capitol Records. She spent time in Los Angeles, moved to New Orleans and ended up in Mississippi following the devastation left in the wake of Hurricance Katrina.
McNally remains a Mississippi resident. But her Irish roots continue to shape her life. Both sides of her family immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland in the 1800s.
‘I grew up knowing a lot of Irish people and hearing about the IRA and all that kind of stuff, and really understanding the Irish struggle — and always kind of identifying with that part,” she said.
So with “Black Irish,” you might say, McNally is looking back and she is looking ahead.
Asked if we learn anything about her through this record, she replied, “I’m here to stay. I’m a lifer — and this is what I do. I intend to do it for the rest of my life.”