Erin Costelo and Shannon McNally
3/25/18
Southgate House Revival, 111 E 6th St, Newport, KY
6pm doors, 7pm show, Buy Tickets
Powerhouse vocalist Erin Costelo (think Mavis Staples, Brittany Howard) is an artist who is mines the truth through her vivid songwriting and electrifying live performances. With her commanding voice and keyboard prowess, she has the ability to successfully float between genres and stages, her unwavering vision continuously offering the most authentic voice to a feeling, idea or story. Her US debut, DOWN BELOW, THE STATUS QUO, will be released on March 9th, 2018 on Compass Records (US ONLY) followed by a co-headlining tour with Shannon McNally. Erin conjures a magical, moonlight-soaked reverie, filled with drama and intensity, in one moment a defiant cry and in the next a desperate whisper. Her voice has been described as “embodying the spirit of Nina Simone” and “conjuring the ghost of Donny Hathaway.” DOWN BELOW, THE STATUS QUO was nominated for a total of 12 awards in her home country of Canada, winning Producer of the Yearand Solo Recording of the Year in her native Halifax, NS.
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Shannon McNally’s blues-Americana return, BLACK IRISH, is her most personal project yet, which is saying a lot, given the Americana singer-songwriter’s deep catalog. But it speaks to the power of connection, and the power of music to create it and to reflect it. The kick off track “You Made Me Feel For You”, was written by her producer, Americana icon, Rodney Crowell, and serves as a metaphor for their collaboration—how his particular understanding of her unique gifts pulled out the career-defining album many have been waiting for since she came on the scene. will make you dance, break your heart, and save your soul. The album was recorded in Nashville, but its distinctive sense of place lies 210 miles west, where Memphis meets Mississippi. The primary colors of American music are black and white, and BLACK IRISH displays that hybrid in many shades, mixing country, blues, soul, rock, folk balladry and classic pop.
She co-wrote three of the album’s 12 songs—one with producer Crowell, who also penned two more for her; the rest include personal favorites by Stevie Wonder (“I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It”), Robbie Robertson (“It Makes No Difference”), and J.J. Cale (“Low Rider”). The result is an album that stands with the best of classic vocal interpreters like Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Maria Muldaur.
