About
Eclectic jazz performer coming to Cold Spring
Modest but accomplished actor and musician Nellie McKay is reticent when asked to discuss her work and style. She's more animated on political passions, like feminism and animal rights, and more talkative onstage.
McKay (pronounced "McKye"), who will perform a sold-out show on June 6 at the Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring for its Jazz at the Chapel series, is comfortable enough there to reveal many personal details, like the story about why she mispronounced her guitarist's name after a 2011 appearance at NPR's Tiny Desk: "I was stoned when I met him."
Three years ago, while a guest on a radio show in North Carolina, her face brightened when she heard that Sierra Nevada sponsored the segment. "Brought to you by a beer? I love that; it's about time." The host replied, "It's that time sometime" — i.e., 5 o'clock somewhere. Responding with a coy smile, she said, "All the time."
The show is broadcast from the campus of Isothermal Community College in the state's Appalachian west: "I feel like I'm going to school again; I want to get some supplies," she said, not in reference to textbooks or pens.
Then she launched into "The Drinking Song," a melancholy number about drowning sorrows after the death of a loved one, vowing to "drink, drink, drink" and "dream, dream, dream" when sleeping off the binge.
McKay's musical knowledge is vast. She's hip to the Hawaiian music craze that brought the ukulele to the mainland in the 1920s and 1930s. As a pianist, she recorded a tribute album to music, movie and television icon Doris Day, who broke out in the mid-1940s and promoted animal rights.
When the topic of World War I came up in conversation, McKay immediately referenced Death of the Liberal Class, by Chris Hedges, which focuses on the Committee on Public Information, a federal agency that created and spread propaganda. "That's where the war economy and the misinformation in the mass media started," she says. "I have to be political — we're such pawns."
To escape, she tries to avoid the noise. "It's so good to unplug," she says. "Silence is my favorite music, but it can be hard to find."
McKay is a seasoned actor and writer of themed musicals that cover obscure historical figures, like Barbara Graham, the third woman in California to die in a gas chamber (at San Quentin).
She also encapsulates the life of Billy Tipton (born Dorothy) in a "Girl Named Bill," a play on Johnny Cash's biggest hit, "A Boy Named Sue." Tipton, who kicked off a career as a jazz pianist and bandleader in the 1930s, passed as a man for her entire life. Paramedics who responded to her death in 1989 discovered the truth.
McKay lives on the road, with no fixed address. "Sometimes venues put me up, but I just travel," she says. "I'm a trucker."
The Chapel Restoration is located at 45 Market St. in Cold Spring. McKay's performance, which begins at 7 p.m., is sold out, but tickets may be available at the door. To download music, see nelliemckay.com.
Modest but accomplished actor and musician Nellie McKay is reticent when asked to discuss her work and style. She's more animated on political passions, like feminism and animal rights, and more talkative onstage.
McKay (pronounced "McKye"), who will perform a sold-out show on June 6 at the Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring for its Jazz at the Chapel series, is comfortable enough there to reveal many personal details, like the story about why she mispronounced her guitarist's name after a 2011 appearance at NPR's Tiny Desk: "I was stoned when I met him."
Three years ago, while a guest on a radio show in North Carolina, her face brightened when she heard that Sierra Nevada sponsored the segment. "Brought to you by a beer? I love that; it's about time." The host replied, "It's that time sometime" — i.e., 5 o'clock somewhere. Responding with a coy smile, she said, "All the time."
The show is broadcast from the campus of Isothermal Community College in the state's Appalachian west: "I feel like I'm going to school again; I want to get some supplies," she said, not in reference to textbooks or pens.
Then she launched into "The Drinking Song," a melancholy number about drowning sorrows after the death of a loved one, vowing to "drink, drink, drink" and "dream, dream, dream" when sleeping off the binge.
McKay's musical knowledge is vast. She's hip to the Hawaiian music craze that brought the ukulele to the mainland in the 1920s and 1930s. As a pianist, she recorded a tribute album to music, movie and television icon Doris Day, who broke out in the mid-1940s and promoted animal rights.
When the topic of World War I came up in conversation, McKay immediately referenced Death of the Liberal Class, by Chris Hedges, which focuses on the Committee on Public Information, a federal agency that created and spread propaganda. "That's where the war economy and the misinformation in the mass media started," she says. "I have to be political — we're such pawns."
To escape, she tries to avoid the noise. "It's so good to unplug," she says. "Silence is my favorite music, but it can be hard to find."
McKay is a seasoned actor and writer of themed musicals that cover obscure historical figures, like Barbara Graham, the third woman in California to die in a gas chamber (at San Quentin).
She also encapsulates the life of Billy Tipton (born Dorothy) in a "Girl Named Bill," a play on Johnny Cash's biggest hit, "A Boy Named Sue." Tipton, who kicked off a career as a jazz pianist and bandleader in the 1930s, passed as a man for her entire life. Paramedics who responded to her death in 1989 discovered the truth.
McKay lives on the road, with no fixed address. "Sometimes venues put me up, but I just travel," she says. "I'm a trucker."
The Chapel Restoration is located at 45 Market St. in Cold Spring. McKay's performance, which begins at 7 p.m., is sold out, but tickets may be available at the door. To download music, see nelliemckay.com.