Sat 5/29 @ 7:30PM
New York-based singer/musician/humorist Nellie McKay has been building a fan base in Northeast Ohio through her many soldout appearances at Nighttown, as well as other venues such as Lorain County’s Riverdog Retreat, where she performed a sold-out socially distanced outdoors show last summer and returns Sunday May 30, probably to another sold-out crowd.
McKay is one of those oddball performers who blends humor and subtly serious messages into her eclectic pop music. Her 2004 debut album Get Away From Me established her as an artist who didn’t fit into any easily marketed genre; it seemed almost a mistake that it came out on a major label like Columbia.
Since then, she’s gone her own way, releasing a series of intriguing projects on her own label, including Normal as Blueberry Pie, a tribute to Doris Day and 2015’a My Weekly Reader, which featured covers of ’60s songs, a bizarre collection of the familiar (“Itchycoo Park,” “If I Fell,” “Sunny Afternoon”) and the obscure (Moby Grape’s “Murder in my Heart for the Judge”), none of which seems like it would be suited to her style, which of course is what makes these renditions weird and wonderful.
She’s also an activist for progressive social causes, including animal rights, so expect a little sly political commentary between her unique takes on, well, almost anything. If you think the election was stolen from Trump, you might want to take a pass on her shows.
We’re pretty sure the Riverdog show will be sold out in advance — all their shows have been — but you can hear her at a new venue near downtown Akron on Saturday May 29: the Maiden Lane Outdoor Rooftop Stage (kitty corner from the Akron Art Museum, behind BluJazz)
Akron singer/songwriter Rachel Roberts opens; in case of rain, the show will take place next door at Musica. Tickets are $25 and well worth it to see this unique artist. Buy tickets here.