Shannon McNally

What a treat to have Shannon McNally come by the station yesterday. She showed up with her full band, all their equipment, and the icing on the cake, her baby daughter Maeve. We'd been playing her previous CD, "Geronimo" for awhile, and her latest, "Coldwater" just came in the mail last month. From the CDs, I liked the songwriting, singing, and production, so I knew she'd be in the groove live. She and her band did not disappoint. After the briefest of introductions, they launched into "Bohemian Wedding Prayer Song":



Little Maeve was having a good time during the music. She was doing her best to be a part of the show. I really enjoyed it when she came over and hung on Mama while she was singing, vocalizing, and matching feet. How precious!

The band was great, and they were as follows: playing lead on one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen was Eric Deaton, keeping time on the drums was Wallace Lester, and securing the bottom end was Nathan Robbins on bass guitar. The next song was "Lovely":



I've got to hand it to Shannon for her songwriting, and most especially for her singing. She has a strong voice to begin with, and controls and modulates it beautifully.

The next song they performed was a cover of "Lonesome, Ornery, and Mean", and I'd like to present it for you here, but, this is about the time my video camera battery died, my old nemesis. I recharged the battery while they played this number, and was ready to go when they started the final song of the set, "Jack B. Nimble":



So, there you have it, another excellent in-studio performance from a great band. They were all very friendly. Shannon and her daughter Maeve were especially charming. They were in town to do a show the following night at the internationally famous Sons Of Hermann Hall. Between that show and this live radio set, Shannon was going to drive down to Austin for a showcase at the SXSW Music Conference, then drive back to Dallas that afternoon. What a hectic schedule, but that's a musician's life. Presenting the music is the easy part. It's all that driving between shows that wears you down.

Official website of KNON Radio in Dallas, Texas: www.knon.org

Shannon McNally's websites: www.myspace.com/shannonmcnally, and www.facebook.com/shannonmcnallymusic