Nellie McKay
Gale Contemporary Black Biography:
Top
Nellie Yvonne McKay
educator; writer
Personal Information
Born Nellie Yvonne McKay, c. 1940s, in the Harlem district of New York City; daughter of West Jamaican parents Harry McKay (a postal worker and taxi driver) and Nellie Robertson (a homemaker).
Education: B.A. (cum laude with honors), Queens College, CUNY, 1969; Harvard University, M.A., 1971, Ph.D., 1977.
Memberships: American Studies Association, College Language Association, Modern Language Association, Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S.
Career
Faculty, Simmons College, 1971-78; faculty, UW-Madison, 1984-; dept. chair, African American studies, UW-Madison, 1994-97. Selected literary contributions: advisory board of Black American Literature Forum, 1986-92; editorial board of Genders: A Journal on Sexuality and Gender in Literature, Art, Film, and History, 1987-90; editorial board of American Literary History, 1987-; associate editor, African American Review, 1992-; author, Jean Toomer--the Artist, 1984; editor, Critical Essays on Toni Morrison, 1988; coeditor, Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 1996; coeditor, Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Toni Morrison, 1997; plus numerous scholarly essays, entries, articles, and papers on the literature of Black women in America, 1977--; major work in progress, Narrative and Identity in Contemporary Black Women's Autobiographies, 1920-1970.
Life's Work
Born to Jamaican parents and raised in the Harlem district of New York City, Nellie McKay and her two sisters grew up knowing poverty and racial discrimination. But for the McKays, "education was their religion"--their way out of difficulty, their way to dignity. While her two sisters chose to go into banking and teaching in a public school, Nellie has chosen to become a part of the academic life of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
"Mom taught us all to read before ever going to school. Our only job as kids was to go to school," Nellie recalled in a personal interview. "Mom and Dad provided enough so that that was all we had to do. We never got caught up in other distractions, not even TV. We stayed home and read books aloud to each other, and on our own. To this day we all collect books." While all the McKays are avid readers and collectors of books, it was Nellie who went on to major in English literature and make a career of it. She earned her master's degree (Harvard, 1971) and doctorate (Harvard, 1977) in English and American Literature, and has been teaching at the college and university level ever since. Nellie McKay earned several top honors from her academic peers for her authoritative collection and comprehensive scope of the Norton Anthology of Afro- American Literature (1996). She was general co-editor of this 2665- page "Bible" with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
From the time she was a little girl, Nellie McKay had always wanted to teach. But she had imagined herself teaching at the kindergarten level, not in college. Her ability to teach higher education was confirmed by two college professors, Michael Cooper (in English, a Shakespeare scholar) and John McDermott (in Philosophy, a William James scholar). Both men took her under their wing and encouraged her to give wings to others. "I could have come out a Philosophy major," she said in a personal interview, "but then I couldn't teach English. I declared my major when I figured an English major could always teach philosophy."
Nellie McKay, the English major, might not have ended up specializing in African American literature and women's studies if it were not for two traumatic events in her formative years in college. A race riot during her junior year at Queens College opened her eyes to the problem of racial injustice. She came to better understand the struggle for equality when 100 Blacks from the Bronx came on campus in the fall of 1967 to stir things up and mobilize student support for the Civil Rights movement. McKay started out as a Shakespearean English major, but the Civil Rights movement jolted her out of her apathy about race. "Before then I never quite understood how terrible and serious the race problem was, how it penetrated all of society, not just individual hearts," McKay recalled in a personal interview.
The other consciousness-raising, career-shifting experience happened to McKay while studying at Harvard University in the early 1970s. As she told the story in a personal interview, "Back then, Harvard was not a very hospitable place for the handful of women or minorities who were allowed in. Admitting a few Blacks was a self- protective and self-congratulatory gesture. Others, especially white males, didn't think we really belonged there. Harvard took the cream of the crop but did not want too many Blacks, which would upset the institution."
But McKay outlasted her white peers. As she shared in a personal interview, "The attrition rate, once you got in, was much higher for whites than for Blacks. The rich white folk could just go home and find someplace else to go or something else to do, their family would still support them, no matter what. But we had no choice. How do you go home and tell your grandma, who knew the value of hard work and had just spent her life savings to get you into college, that you found college life 'hard'? You can't! You just stuck it out." Thanks to her parents' abiding belief in her unlimited potential, Nellie McKay was able to persevere beyond these racial underpinnings at Harvard, earning her Ph.D. in English and American literature. Her doctoral thesis, on the black male and modernist writer Eugene Toomer, was published in 1984 as her first book, Jean Toomer--the Artist: a Study of His Literary Life and Work, 1894-1936.
Simmons, a small, all-women's college in the Boston area, gave Nellie Yvonne McKay her first full-time, long-term teaching position in 1973. Simmons was, and still is, noted for educating working class women committed to earning a living in traditionally female professions (nursing, grade school teaching, etc.). The school stood in contrast with rest of the "Seven Sister Schools" in New England, (Barnard, Mount Holyoke, Pembroke, Radcliffe, Smith, Wellesley), which were largely dedicated to teaching the "daughters of the rich and the intelligentsia," according to McKay. Always committed to helping others, McKay chose to dedicate herself to giving wings to working class women who shared her roots and aspirations during her five years at Simmons.
McKay found herself in a very different world when she joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a joint appointment to teach in both the African American studies and English departments in 1978; later this position was expanded into a partial third appointment to the women's studies department. The African American studies and women's studies departments were ten- years-old at the time and were struggling to hold their own. However, with McKay championing both departments, the UW-Madison quickly started growing national reputations in both areas. McKay belonged to a galvanizing feminist movement and a burgeoning generation of women scholars who were struggling against male domination; this domination extended to the field of African American literature, where women authors had only recently been considered as worthy of sharing the literary spotlight with their male peers.
McKay's most significant academic contribution so far is her Norton Anthology of African American Literature, which she co-edited with Henry Louis Gates Jr. with the intent of redressing "the fragmented history of African American writing." One reviewer in Booklist magazine called the Norton Anthology "a magisterial volume," not only for its formidable size, but also for the wide scope of its included works. This authoritative canon provides illuminating historical commentary, spanning 250 years of 118 poets and writers--including the oral roots of African American letters, a grand selection of spirituals, gospel, sermons, folktales, and blues, jazz, and rap lyrics. Most of these Black writers, male and female, write about the Black experience, which used to be mostly about being good and rebutting negative stereotypes. But by the end of the 20th-century, Black writers convey much more complicated images. In their aggregate, these works are considered to be "often pioneering, always exceptional" and "richly diverse," according to the Booklist reviewer. As such, McKay and Gates' work lives up to "the golden reputation of all of Norton's literary anthologies."
In addition to her many literary contributions, Nellie McKay's career as a professor and "cultural custodian" has been distinguished by her teaching methods and her passion in the classroom. Her faculty peers elected her to Phi Kappa Phi in 1989; the UW-Madison Chancellor gave her the "Distinguished Teaching" award, in 1992; and she received the "Outstanding Contributions to the System" award in 1996. For her work on the Norton Anthology, her colleagues around the country gave her the MELUS award, acknowledging in 1996 her tremendous contributions to multi-ethnic literature in the U.S.
Nellie McKay has had many opportunities to move on from UW-Madison, including the offer of a full professorship at her alma mater Harvard. She declines them all, preferring instead to continue writing, teaching, and "growing old" with her wonderful colleagues and students in Madison. Indeed, Nellie McKay is making converts along the way, teaching her students to study and respect the Black tradition as never before.
McKay's hope is that her students will "succeed in whatever field of endeavor they choose" and lead "useful lives"--that is the most satisfying part of Nellie McKay's distinguished teaching career. "They use it as a way of learning about people and cultures different than themselves, which helps them live useful lives in social work, political science, and the like."
Awards
Phi Kappa Phi, 1989; UW-Madison Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching award, 1992, Outstanding Contributions to the System award, 1996; MELUS award for Contributions to Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S., 1996.
Further Reading
Periodicals
- Booklist, January 1, 1997, p. 809.
- The Nation, May 12, 1997, pp. 42-46.
- National Review, March 10, 1997, pp. 50-53.
- Additional information for this profile was obtained from a personal interview with Nellie McKay in January of 1998.
— Dietrich Gruen
Gale Musician Profiles:
Top
Nellie McKay
| For The Record... |
| Born Eleanor McKay on April 13, 1982, in London, England; daughter of Malcolm McKay and Robin Pappas. Signed with Columbia Records, 2003; released Get Away From Me, 2004; released Pretty Little Head, Hungry Mouse, 2006. Addresses: Record company—Columbia Records, 550 Madison Ave., 24th Fl., New York, New York, 10022, phone: 212-833-5607, website: http://www.columbiarecords.com |
Singer, songwriter
As a singer, songwriter, and political activist, Nellie McKay has garnered a reputation as a talented and contentious performer. From the artistic merit of Get Away From Me to her battles with Columbia Records, to her role in Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, she has pursued her muse. While McKay's political asides have occasionally irritated concertgoers and her demands as an artist have occasionally left reviewers incredulous, no one has doubted the power of her music. Combing styles as far-flung as jazz, rap, and pop, she has presented an eclectic set list that defies easy categorization. "Nellie McKay is the epitome of the misfit child at school who was too brainy for the teachers, too kooky for her peers, [but ended] up with a far more exciting life than all of them," wrote Lynsey Hanley in the London Daily Telegraph.
Nellie McKay was born Eleanor McKay on April 13, 1982, in London, England. Her father was British filmmaker Malcolm McKay; her mother was the American actor Robin Pappas. McKay's parents divorced when she was two, and she moved to New York City with her mother, where they remained until 1994. After a brief move to Olympia, Washington, mother and daughter settled in a suburban neighborhood in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. In high school music classes, McKay learned to play the saxophone, though she often found herself in conflict with her teachers. She later attended the Manhattan School of Music, but found the atmosphere oppressive and left after two years. Remembering the Manhattan School in 2004, McKay told Julia Bloch in Curve, "I'm very happy that all those people that laughed … at me are getting a little diploma in two weeks, and I'm opening for Sting."
In New York, McKay first appeared in Manhattan clubs as a standup comic, but soon shifted to performing music at night spots in Greenwich Village. In 2002-03 she became part of the anti-folk movement in New York City and worked with Jason Trachtenburg and others at the Sidewalk Café. At the beginning of 2003 McKay's profile rose after Jay Ruttenberg from Time Out saw her perform at the Tonic on the Lower East Side and wrote a feature piece. Soon a number of record labels offered her contracts. In the summer of 2003 McKay signed with Columbia.
McKay's tenure at Columbia would be a rocky one. "I've only been in the business … six months," she told Cyndi Lauper in Interview, "but already I'm considered ‘difficult.’ It's hard living a life where you have to fight for what you want and what you believe." Before her first album was released, she lobbied for a double CD release, even though the new album was only 60 minutes long. Finally the label relented, after McKay agreed to contribute $25,000 to the project. The title of McKay's new album, Get Away From Me, was likewise contentious, an intentional slap at Norah Jones's immensely popular Come Away With Me and the smoother version of jazz it represented.
McKay's creative streak ran a gauntlet of styles, from rap ("Sari") to jazz ("Manhattan Avenue") to pop ("David"). She also revealed a knack for undercutting rich melodies with satirical lyrics, on "I Wanna Get Married" and "Clonie." Critics responded warmly to the album. "A striking mix of radical and traditional, raw emotion and literate expression, hip-hop and vocal pop, Nellie McKay's Get Away from Me is the kind of feverishly inventive, sprawling album that only comes from young artists," wrote Heather Phares in All Music Guide. Ben Wener, writing for the Orange County Register, concurred: "Get Away From Me, an audacious pastiche of pop, cabaret, Broadway and hip-hop, is [McKay's] Citizen Kane, innovatively pointing the way out of formulaic doldrums."
Near the end of 2005, McKay experienced another battle with Columbia, this time over her new album Pretty Little Head. As with Get Away From Me, she asked the label to issue a double album with 23 tracks and a 65-minute running time. Columbia, however, wanted to release a shorter version of the album on one disc. McKay openly discussed her dilemma with concert audiences, going so far as to provide a Columbia executive's email so that fans could petition the label to release the album in her preferred format. "If they put out the album that way," McKay was quoted in the Buffalo News, "then I'm going to quit music and I'll never sing again."
Pretty Little Head was released on McKay's own Hungry Mouse Records on October 31, 2006. As with Get Away From Me, the 23 songs were divided between two CDs. Unlike its predecessor, McKay produced the album herself, opting for a looser, less polished approach to recording. The lyrics were more directly political, too, from "Columbia's Bleeding," a protest against Columbia University's animal research labs, to "Cupcake," a song about gay marriage. "Pretty Little Head sounds like a record from a woman coming out of girlhood-more confident, more wise about love, and more focused about her concerns, if no less passionate," wrote John Bush in All Music Guide.
McKay's artistry has continued to evolve and seek new outlets. In the spring of 2006 McKay joined the cast of The Threepenny Opera as Polly Peachum. "The music is wonderful," she told Alan Light in Mother Jones. "It's [Threepenny Opera] still so pithy, about all the politicians, the greed and lies and corruption." McKay also continues to support a number of political causes, including PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Both Get Away From Me and Pretty Little Head introduced a singer-songwriter with a complex melodic vision. McKay's brass and politically-oriented lyrics have gleefully courted controversy, while her confident delivery and command of craft have convinced many critics that in spite of her young age she was the real deal. Her eclecticism, inversion of old styles, and powerful presentation have had a significant impact on her peers, while her willingness to battle a powerful record label has offered encouragement to young artists disinclined to compromise. Although the road to McKay's future as a musical artist is unlikely to be a smooth one, fans can be assured that it will be a fascinating one of her own choosing.
Selected discography
Get Away From Me, Columbia, 2004.
Pretty Little Head, Hungry Mouse, 2006.
Sources
Periodicals
Buffalo News, December 18, 2005.
Curve, August 2004.
Daily Telegraph (London, England), December 9, 2004.
Interview, August 2004.
Mother Jones, January-February 2006.
Observer (London, England), August 15, 2004.
Orange County Register, January 9, 2006.
Online
"Nellie McKay," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com/ (February 9, 2007).
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
Top
Nellie McKay
- Genres: Rock
Biography
Get Away from Me, the title of singer/songwriter Nellie McKay's debut album, was a play on two titles by romantic female vocalists who became popular in the early 2000s: Norah Jones' Come Away with Me and Jane Monheit's Come Dream with Me. But while McKay shares some of Jones' and Monheit's influences -- vocal jazz, cabaret, pre-rock Brill Building pop, torch singing -- and has some things in common with them melodically, it would be a huge mistake to lump her in with Jones, Monheit, and Diana Krall. Those jazz or jazz-influenced pop artists tend to be romantically comforting, whereas McKay's lyrics can be every bit as cutting, edgy, and biting as Alanis Morissette or Pink -- and to lump McKay in with Jones, Monheit, and Krall ignores the fact that her work is distinctive and impressively unorthodox.McKay, who is also a talented pianist, brings an unlikely combination of influences to her work, which isn't easy to categorize. The New York City resident is relevant to pop/rock, but she is also relevant to cabaret, traditional pop, and vocal jazz. Tin Pan Alley, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, Annie Ross, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday have affected her writing (either directly or indirectly), but so have Dory Previn and Randy Newman (the latter a frequent comparison), the Beatles, and hip-hop. McKay, in fact, shares Newman's penchant for lyrics that are cynical and sarcastic as well as dark-humored; like Newman, McKay knows how to laugh at the world even when she's complaining about how screwed up it is -- and she can be incredibly clever and witty.
McKay was born in London, England, on April 13, 1984, but spent most of her early life in the United States. At the age of two, McKay (an only child) moved with her mother (actress Robin Pappas) to New York City -- and the two of them lived in Harlem until 1994, when they moved west to Olympia, WA. After that, they lived in the Poconos in northeastern Pennsylvania, but in 2000, they returned to N.Y.C. so that McKay could attend the Manhattan School of Music. After dropping out, McKay briefly flirted with standup comedy but gave it up and made music her primary focus. McKay began performing around Manhattan in the early 2000s, and for a while, she was managed by folk-rocker Lach (who often booked her at the Sidewalk Café in the East Village).
McKay's gigs at Manhattan clubs like the Sidewalk Café and the Fez earned her a small East Coast following, and in 2003, she signed with Columbia. Other labels had expressed interest, including Virgin and Blue Note, but she felt that Columbia had the greatest understanding of her musical vision. Nonetheless, McKay had some creative differences with the label; she wanted to call her debut album either Black America or Penis Envy, and Columbia disliked both. But eventually, McKay and Columbia agreed on the title Get Away from Me. Produced and engineered by Geoff Emerick -- best known for his work with the Beatles -- Get Away from Me was released in February 2004. Although it made the year-end lists of many critics, creative conflict between McKay and Columbia only continued.
Sparring over producers and direction for her sophomore album eventually resulted in McKay financing the recordings herself; the result, titled Pretty Little Head, was due to be released in early 2006, but McKay was let go and the album was dropped from Columbia's release schedule. At the same time, McKay was busy rehearsing for a co-starring role in a Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera with Alan Cummings, Ana Gasteyer, and Cyndi Lauper. Pretty Little Head finally surfaced in October of 2006, released on McKay's own Hungry Mouse label and overseen by the indie spinART. Less than one year later, McKay returned with a 30-minute miniature entitled Obligatory Villagers. She also honored Doris Day with the 2009 project Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day. McKay's fifth-studio effort, Home Sweet Mobile Home, featuring production from her mother Robin Pappas and creative input from David Byrne, was released in September of 2010. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Nellie McKay
For the African American literature scholar, see Nellie Y. McKay.
| Nellie McKay | |
|---|---|
 Nellie McKay at the Farm Sanctuary 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City on May 14, 2011 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nell Marie McKay |
| Born | April 13, 1982 London, England |
| Origin | Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA |
| Genres | Rock, pop, jazz, reggae |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, Actor |
| Instruments | vocals, piano, ukulele, cello, xylophone, glockenspiel |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Columbia Records 2002-2006 Vanguard Records2006-2009 Verve Records2009-present |
| Website | nelliemckay.com |
Nellie McKay (born Nell Marie McKay), is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and former stand-up comedienne, noted for her critically acclaimed albums, and for her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera (2006), for which she won a Theatre World Award. Her music has showcased different genres, from jazz to rap and disco to funk.
|
Contents
|
Early life
Nellie McKay was born in London[1] to writer-director Malcolm McKay and actress Robin Pappas. While growing up, she lived with her mother in Harlem, Olympia, WA, and rural Pennsylvania.[2]
McKay studied jazz voice at the Manhattan School of Music, but did not graduate.
Her performances at various New York City music venues, including the Sidewalk Cafe and Joe's Pub, drew attention from record labels.[1] She signed with Columbia Records.
Career
2004–2006
Get Away from Me
The recording sessions for McKay's debut album Get Away from Me took place in August 2003 with Geoff Emerick as producer. Emerick was known for working as The Beatles' engineer on such albums as Revolver and Abbey Road.[3] The title is a play on Norah Jones' Come Away with Me.[2] McKay is said to be the first woman to release a double album as her first release. Originally, her contract with Columbia called for 13 songs, but McKay aggressively lobbied her label for a double album, including bottles of wine, a PowerPoint slideshow, and a mock photo of her threatening Emerick with a gun. (Allmusic).
Get Away from Me was released in February 2004. Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the album "a tour de force from a sly, articulate musician who sounds comfortable in any era."[4] The album was included on several "Best of 2004" lists.[5]
McKay was one of the major breakout artists from the 2004 SXSW Festival and was a finalist in the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. She toured amphitheaters across the northern United States in July 2004 as an opening act on the first half of the Au Naturale tour co-headlined by Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies.
Rumor Has It...
McKay wrote and recorded several songs for the motion picture Rumor Has It.... The songs were released on the iTunes Store on 27 December 2005.
Pretty Little Head
Pretty Little Head was released in the United States on 31 October 2006 on McKay's own label, Hungry Mouse, and was marketed by SpinART Records.[6] The album was divided into two discs and included a 44-page color booklet. The album included the intended 23 tracks as originally planned. Release of the album in other countries, including Canada, was delayed until 21 November 2006.
After SpinART declared bankruptcy in 2007, Pretty Little Head was released by Sony.
The Threepenny Opera
McKay made her Broadway debut as Polly Peachum in the Roundabout Theatre Company's limited-run production of The Threepenny Opera, co-starring with Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Cyndi Lauper, and Brian Charles Rooney. The role earned her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.[7]
2007–present
Obligatory Villagers
McKay's third full-length studio release debuted on 25 September 2007. With both of her previous albums lasting over 60 minutes and spanning two discs each, Obligatory Villagers, with only nine tracks (ten if purchased from iTunes), totalling just about 30 minutes was her shortest release to date.[8] The album was produced on Nellie's own label, Hungry Mouse, and released by Vanguard Records.
The album was recorded at Red Rock Recording Studio, in the Pocono Mountains, where Nellie went to high school. She chose the studio because many of her heroes and teachers record there, and used many of them on the recording.
Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day
On October 13, 2009, she released her fourth studio album, Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day on Verve Records. The album contains twelve covers of songs made famous by Day, as well as one original tune. Barnes and Noble booksellers featured an exclusive edition, packaged with the bonus track "I Want To Be Happy." iTunes also featured an exclusive edition with a different bonus track, "I'll Never Smile Again."
Home Sweet Mobile Home
On September 28, 2010, Nellie and Verve Records released her fifth album. Home Sweet Mobile Home includes original tracks. It was produced by Nellie and her mother, Robin Pappas, with artistic input from David Byrne.
Other work
On February 1, 2007, McKay joined Laurie Anderson, Joan Osborne, Suzanne Vega and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra for Four Scored, a single performance of reworked songs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[9]
McKay played the role of Ciara in P.S. I Love You, a 2007 film directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler.
She has written two Christmas-themed songs, "A Christmas Dirge" and "Take Me Away," both of which are available on her web site.
McKay is featured in the song "How Are You?" on David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's concept album Here Lies Love, released in 2010. The album, which also features such vocalists as Cyndi Lauper, Santigold, Roisin Murphy, Natalie Merchant, and Tori Amos, chronicles the life of Imelda Marcos, the widow of former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos.
Nellie, along with violinist Philippe Quint, starred in and contributed music to an independent film called Downtown Express, directed by David Grubin.[10]
Her musical show "I Want to Live!" is based on the life of murderess Barbara Graham, who also inspired a 1958 film with the same name.[11][12]
Political views
McKay is a vocal feminist, and wrote a satirical song relating to feminist issues called "Mother of Pearl".[13] McKay also "is a proud member of PETA" (album notes); her song "Columbia Is Bleeding" dealt with the issue of Columbia University's cruelty to animals. She also wrote a 2004 song ("John John") about her feelings in favor of political candidate Ralph Nader.[14]
She has performed at events for the progressive radio station WBAI, Planned Parenthood, Farm Sanctuary,[15] and the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, among many groups.
McKay was one of several musicians to write a song in support of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis.[16]
Discography
Albums
- 2004: Get Away from Me
- 2006: Pretty Little Head
- 2007: Obligatory Villagers
- 2009: Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day
- 2010: Home Sweet Mobile Home
Soundtracks and covers
- 2005: Rumor Has It... : "Pasadena Girl", "Face of a Faith"
- 2005: Monster-in-Law : "Won't U Please B Nice"
- 2005: Weeds : "David"
- 2007: P.S. I Love You : ""P.S. I Love You"
- 2010: Terrible Thrills, Vol. 1
- 2010: Downtown Express
- 2010: Boardwalk Empire : "Wild Romantic Blues"
Collaborations and other appearances
- 2005: "If I Needed Someone" off the album This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul
- 2010: "How Are You?" off the album Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
Other songs
- "The In Crowd"
- "John-John"
- "Teresa"
- "Late Again"
- "A Christmas Dirge"
- "Take Me Away"
- "The Cavendish"[17]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | P.S. I Love You | Ciara Reilly |
| 2010 | Downtown Express | Ramona |
References
- ^ a b Gay, Jason (May 18, 2003). "Whoa, Nellie". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/node/47544.
- ^ a b Tannenbaum, Rob (April 4, 2004). "Her Life Is a Cabaret". New York magazine. http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/n_10015/.
- ^ Hurwitz, Matt (September 1, 2004). "Recording Nellie McKay's Get Away From Me with Geoff Emerick". Mix Magazine. http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_singersongwriter_nellie_mckay/.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (February 8, 2004). "Flying Hitlers and Pepsi's Super Bowl Fumble". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/arts/music-playlist-flying-hitlers-and-pepsi-s-super-bowl-fumble.html?pagewanted=all.
- ^ "Metacritic: Best Albums of 2004". http://apps.metacritic.com/music/bests/2004.shtml.
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (6 October 2006). "Arts, Briefly". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/arts/06arts.html?ref=arts. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ "Theatre World Awards Recipients". http://www.theatreworldawards.org/award.html.
- ^ Obligatory Villagers : Nellie McKay : Review : Rolling Stone
- ^ The Brooklyn Paper: ‘Four-Scored’: Laurie Anderson joins the Philharmonic at BAM
- ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia and Tom Huizenga (June 8, 2011). "Classic And Indie Rock Collide On The Big Screen in 'Downtown Express'". NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2011/06/08/137059196/classical-and-indie-rock-collide-on-the-big-screen-in-downtown-express.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (March 24, 2011). "Bringing Out the Bad Girl for Some Tough Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/arts/music/nellie-mckays-take-on-a-bad-girl-at-feinsteins-review.html.
- ^ Di Nunzio, Miriam (February 9, 2012). "Speaking With .... Nellie McKay". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weekend/10519259-421/speaking-with-nellie-mckay.html.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (December 17, 2007). "A Multi-Voiced Warbler With an Electric Ukulele". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/arts/music/17nell.html.
- ^ "NPR: All Songs Considered: Political Songs & Satire". NPR. http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/archives/political_satire04/.
- ^ Heyman, Marshall (May 16, 2011). "Saving Pigs, Not Eating Them". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576325691869964676.html.
- ^ Powers, Ann (September 21, 2011). "Songs For Troy Davis: Why Musicians Take On Death Row". NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/09/20/140645651/songs-for-troy-davis-why-musicians-take-on-death-row.
- ^ Boilen, Bob (2008-04-02). "Nellie McKay Reveals 'Cavendish'". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89287187. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nellie McKay |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Gale Contemporary Black Biography
Contemporary Black Biography. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Gale Musician Profiles
Contemporary Musicians © 1989-2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Read more
Mentioned in
Lounging in the City
(2004 Album by Various Artists)
Monster-in-Law
(2005 Album by Original Soundtrack)
Obligatory Villagers
(2007 Album by Nellie McKay)
Obligatory Villagers [Clean]
(2007 Album by Nellie McKay)
» More