Nellie News

Nellie McKay Street Team

Vanguard Records has a street team site which includes Nellie:

Help spread the word!

Street Team Site
Nellie's Page

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New Tour Dates plus Other Goodies!

Nellie McKay Releases Christmas Song To Benefit
(check it out on nelliemckay.com)
The Nellie McKay Disaster Fund

Hour-long Segment On Fresh Air with Terry Gross
To Air Wed, November 21st

New Headline Dates And Aimee Mann
Holiday Tour Confirmed, Including
December 15th @ The Concert Hall, NYC In Support Of
‘Obligatory Villagers’ (Hungry Mouse)

“McKay makes witty, issue-oriented music that bridges the vintage sounds of Tin Pan Alley and the subversive sensibilities of the East Village. Thanks to her, the Great American Songbook has a living, breathing present as well as a glorious past.” – Joan Anderman, Boston Globe

Performer, activist and “era-defying songstress” (Pitchfork) Nellie McKay has released a new single“ A Christmas Dirge” free of charge on her website (nelliemckay.com), with the option to make a donation to the Nellie McKay Disaster Fund (all proceeds go directly to Nellie McKay’s bank account).

On Wednesday, November 21st, Nellie will take over the entire episode of Fresh Air with Terry Gross in support of her new album Obligatory Villagers.’ This self-produced, composed and arranged odyssey has been hailed as a “breathless first act of a stage musical decrying American fascism” (Spin), finding “Nellie and her collaborators at their most lively and rambunctious” (Pitchfork)

December 21st will mark her feature film debut in "P.S. I Love You," - not since OJ Simpson in "The Naked Gun" series has the screen erupted with such prodigious passion and raw muscularity.

Catch Nellie this fall / winter as a guest on the Aimee Mann Holiday tour as wells her own headline dates in Milwaukee (11/26), Indianapolis (11/27), Annapolis (12/20) and December 15th at the Concert Hall in New York City.

Nov 26 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom (Headline)
Nov 27 Indianapolis, IN The Music Mill (Headline)
Dec 5 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
Dec 7 Aspen, CO Wheeler Opera House
Dec 8 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
Dec 10 Minneapolis, MN Guthrie Theater
Dec 11 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Dec 12 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan Theater
Dec 15 New York, NY The Concert Hall (Headline)
Dec 20 Annapolis, MD Ram’s Head

For more information contact Carla Parisi at Kid Logic, kidlogic@nj.rr.com, 973-563-8204

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Obligatory Villagers Released

Today, Obligatory Villagers has officially been released into the retail chain after floating around the internet for a few weeks.

OV can be purchased from just about any music retailer including Amazon.com and iTunes. Amazon is offering the album as both a CD, and MP3 (unprotected) download. iTunes offers Doko Demo Doa as an extra, tenth, track.

•An on-going discussion of fan reviews can be found here.

•Rolling Stones' review can be found here.

•Billboard's brief take can be read here.

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McKay on On Point today 11-12am Est.

She is on WBUR (NPR) right now. You can listen to it live or download the podcast afterwards.

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/09/20070913_b_main.asp

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NELLIE MCKAY ANNOUNCES OBLIGATORY RELEASE

Songstress and closet comedian Nellie McKay is set to release Obligatory Villagers on September 25. Like its one-year-old, Broadway-tinted sibling Pretty Little Head, the songs were written, produced and arranged by McKay, and will come out via the activist’s own label Hungry Mouse imprint.

The British-born, States-raised pop jazz songwriter recruited jazz greats like Phil Woods and David Liebman to a recording studio nestled in the Pocono Mountains. McKay has also been known to contribute to The Onion and has appeared on Broadway.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/4547/news/music/nellie_mckay_announces_obligatory_release

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Video recording of Nellie show at Blender's SXSW party

Thanks so much for finding and posting this Mark!

http://www.wherebuzzisborn.com/buzzcam_detail.asp?videoID=23

You can comment on it and continue the SXSW discussion thread HERE.

(I just wanted this to be on the front page so people don't miss it).

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March 27th Birchmere show to be webcast live on NPR

Tuesday: Nellie McKay Live in Concert

Quote:

Nellie McKay is a singer-songwriter known for her distinctive mix of jazz vocals and torch singing with cabaret pop, rock and a rap-inspired rants. Clever and darkly comedic, McKay layers caustic lyrics over jaunty piano lines, creating a surprising juxtaposition of conflicting moods that keep the listener guessing. Hear McKay live on NPR.org in a full concert webcast from the Birchmere music hall in Alexandria, VA Tuesday, Mar. 27. The performance will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET. ... Continued at source.

I'm not sure exactly about where to go when the show starts. This is the main page for the program it's on, All Songs Considered. If somebody knows of the NPR station that has that show live that'd be handy, I bet that station site has an online stream for it.

Maybe we can all get together in a chat room and listen live together... I'll bring the beer and soy-nuggets.

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LA Times reviews 3/9 show

Cool firebrand Nellie McKay earns a warm welcome
By Margaret Wappler, Times Staff Writer

Nellie McKay, the cabaret-pop princess who dazzled with her 2004 debut, "Get Away From Me," is in a good mood. Her fine-boned face is illuminated with a bright smile as she settles herself at the Hotel Cafe's piano Friday evening. "How is everyone?" she asks, looking like Doris Day back from the ashram in her fluffy blond hair and chartreuse tunic.

The crowd is sending her beams of adoration and sighing with relief. It's as if the estranged daughter has come to the family reunion and no one wants to be the jerk who sets her off.

More than a year ago, McKay broke down in tears at the Troubadour, distraught over Columbia Records' plans for her second album. She had her heart set on 65 minutes and 23 tracks; the label wanted 48 minutes and 16 tracks. So she walked, releasing "Pretty Little Head" on her own Hungry Mouse label.

All that seems forgotten by the time McKay, 24, switches from "Ol' Man River" to a song from the new album she's recording. It's trademark McKay: sensual and emotionally resonant.

Thumping out a peppery beat for "Happy Flower," she says, "This is the part where David Letterman goes to commercial…. He only cares about Ryan Adams." When an audience member praises her candor, she says with a laugh, "Well, you should've seen me before."

McKay's encore takes off from audience suggestions and weaves together three songs. The mash-up perfectly encapsulates her bold talent and complex identities: feminist firebrand, martini-cool chanteuse and resilient blithe spirit.

View original source

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Nellie at SXSW 2007

Quote:

"The night ended at the Blender party, where Nellie McKay closed out the evening with a set starting at 2:15. Playing solo at the piano, McKay mixed a lot of standards (”That Old Devil Moon”) with a few originals, including my favorite, “Pounce.” Between numbers she kept her smile on while muttering passive-aggressive comments about the chattering industry types who far outnumbered the active listeners."

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2007/03/south_by_southwest_day_1.html

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Nellie writes about Frank Sinatra

This time Nellie is the one writing!

Here's an excerpt from the full story:

Quote:

"Are you ready, Mr. Basie?" So goes one of many immortal lines on the new box-set Vegas (Warner/Reprise), which finds Frank Sinatra away from home yet on home turf. The collection—four discs of live recordings from different eras, plus a DVD—has the voice, in fine fettle and full of easy charm. It also boasts one hell of a personality. Sinatra, like most comedians, saw the world in black-and-white, which gave his showmanship crispness and cut. We hear generous Sinatra. Before or after, and sometimes both, he credits the composers and arranger of the songs he sings: They're "swell," "lovely," "marvelous," "tops." He thanks, mocks, and effuses over his musicians. He toasts his audience: "To you and your families." One-liners overfloweth. "Good morning, you buncha drunks." "I gotta stop sleepin' in the pool." "As Joe E. Lewis said, 'A friend in need is a pest.'" His persona often blends with Phil Hartman's Saturday Night Live impression, full of menacing humor and jokey threats. "What are you staring at?" he asks. Or, in reverse, "I'll stand and stare at you as long as I want to." "When I'm on this stage, I'm the boss."

Read the full story »

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