Shannon McNally - The Mucky Duck, Aug. 2

So I actually left the house this week to check out Shannon McNally at The Mucky Duck. I've been digging her new record Geronimo, and the show was in no way disappointing. A pretty good crowd was in attendance (for a Tuesday night), and they were unusually enthusiastic (the gals at the next table were clearly big fans of her first record Jukebox Sparrows). I think a lot of performers show up to The Duck and think, "Is this it?" The stage is tiny, the atmosphere is intimate and there's a good chance that some aging hippie will be scarfing down his seafood pasta during the show. Nevertheless, McNally seemed happy to be there and particularly happy to be on her way back to her adopted hometown of New Orleans.

Her band on this leg of the tour consists of a bunch of geezers from New Orleans, including the great Dave Easley on pedal steel and guitar. The rhythm section was tight and nicely captured the vibe of the new record, which I'd desribe as a sort of bluesier version of The Band. McNally herself alternated between her Martin acoustic and her strat (fucking cool-ass strat, by the way), even taking a few leads herself. But McNally's primary asset is her voice, a beautifully rich cross between Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks, but with more range than both of those singers. The setlist was split between songs from her two label records, plus a couple of new songs and a cover of "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" (preceded by a ringing endorsement of Kinky Friedman for Texas governor -- too bad she can't vote here). It's pretty safe to say that McNally won over the entire room, judging by the post-show merchandise line (hey, trucker caps!).

Geronimo is one of my favorite records this year, but I have high hopes that McNally's best is yet to come. In the meantime, if you have a chance to catch her live show, I'd highly recommend it:
http://www.shannonmcnally.com/index.php?page=gigs

(Also wanted to give a shout-out to my good friend Jody for bein' my date for the show. She recently celebrated a certain milestone birthday, but she still is not even close to fitting in with the aging hippies at The Mucky Duck.)