Nancy McCallion
Tucson, Arizona, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
Nancy McCallion, former member of The Mollys, has now gone solo with her superb self-titled debut CD. (4 stars) A blend of traditional country with Tex-Mex and Celtic flavourings, McCallion has surrounded herself with some great session players, including Austin fiddler, Darcie Deaville, guitarist Danny Krieger, drummer Ralph Gilmore (who co-produced the album with Nancy), bassist Steve Grams and sister Lisa McCallion, who adds back-up vocals. The band really swings on the uptempo "The Leaving Kind", then showcases great sensitivity on bluegrass-Celtic ballad "Reckless Child". The vocal duet between Nancy and Lisa on "Elvis Again" is an infectious gem. For those into Texas music, this is a fine example of how country music, in all its varied styles, is still very much fresh and alive in the Lone Star state.
- Alan Cackett
(McCallion) rivals Lucinda Williams and Iris DeMent as one of the finest Americana songwriters of the '90s and she deserves a comparable reputation....
-Geoffrey Himes
- The Washington Post
(McCallion's) stories of working-class lives, souls slowly unraveling as a result of economic or spiritual strain, are as instantly believable, witty, at times a bit angry, hinting at a punkish energy that never feels like hipsterism. - The Riverfront Times, St. Louis, MO
Fronted by the salty, sensuous vocals of Nancy McCallion who resembles a collision between Guy Clarke's descriptive powers and Mary Coughlan's barrelhouse delivery.
...McCallion's songs are the centerpiece, richly dipped in localised imagery and language. She writes eloquently on situations other scribes would run from. - Singout Magazine
Songs as timeless, touching and humanly important as any Woody Guthrie penned in America's darkest days. - Daniel Buckley - The Tucson Citizen
(Nancy McCallion's) tough-hearted tales of women struggling to strike a balance between intimacy and independence are as good as any being written today. - Bill Friskics-Warren - The Nashville Scene
"...her lyrics have a direct immediacy set with a true traditional flair. They are world-weary, stark, drunken and funny." - Sing Out Magazine
An exquisite talent who should never be underestimated.
Now based in Tucson, Arizona, the marvelous Nancy McCallion has released here a cracker of an album. You sometimes find in many newly released albums that the vast majority of the tracks can sometimes sound the same. This is not the case here, as every track is a delight to hear.
Perhaps the finest song of the twelve has to be It's Never too Late to Get Lucky. Changing beat on several occasions, the backing harmonies along with the delightful harmonies is emotional to say the least. Waver On is just as fine too. With an early rock and roll beat about it, it is a track which can wholeheartedly be described as one which has direct influences from Hank Snr. Danny Krieger's slide guitar too is just peachy, and is that good you have to listen to the track several times just to appreciate it fully. The charitable spirit is certainly present here, as one US dollar form the purchase of each copy of this album is donated to the Primavera Foundation; a Tucson charity which helps people to escape the poverty line. I admite to having heard many a fine album in my life, but this album certainly ranks amongst the best of them.
- Maverick, UK, The Voice of country, folk, bluegrass and roots music
Discography
Take a Picture of Me - Nancy McCallion, 2009
It's Never too Late to Get Lucky - The Last Call Girls, 2006
Nancy McCallion - Nancy McCallion 2004
Trouble- Nancy McCallion and The Mollys 2002
Only a Story - The Mollys 2000
Moon Over the Interstate - The Mollys 1998
Hat Trick - The Mollys 1997
Wankin' Out West - The Mollys 1996
This is My Round - The Mollys 1995
Tidings of Comfort and Joy 1992
Old Woman's Lament (cassette) 1991
Original song "On We Go" featured on
Putamayo: Women of the World Celtic CD
Lullabies for New Beginnings, 2005
Photos
Bio
Nancy McCallion is best known as the songwriter and vocalist for original Celtic-Norteno-you-name-it folk-rock cult band
The Mollys.
Now touring as a duo or trio with guitar, mandolin and fiddle in support of a solo album, "Take a Picture of Me" is showcasing the latest stage in her world-class songwriting.
McCallion teamed up with high school music partner Catherine Zavala to form The Mollys in 1989, racking up seven indie releases and countless rave-review shows in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand before the group disbanded in 2003.
The daughter of an Irish-Scots immigrant and a Texas farm girl, McCallion grew up in Tucson, a cross-cultural border town. She heard, and was obviously influenced by, the Norteno sounds of her Southwest Side neighborhood, her older sister’s Beatles’ records, and 1970s and '80s radio rock, mixed with her dad's Irish trad and her mother's Texas old-time country. Throw in adolescent Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Pogues fixations and you've got the cultural stew that emerged as The Mollys' drop-jaw repertoire.
McCallion, Zavala and The Mollys developed a solid following and a trail
of rave reviews (including a listing in the Washington Post’s top 10 CDs of 1997) for powerful, hard-to-classify recordings and pool-of-sweat performances over 14 years. The band took a break in 2001, when McCallion stopped to have a child, and disbanded in 2003, after a last tour of Italy.
She never quit writing, and resumed live performance and recording as a solo over the last six years. Her latest project, "Take a Picture of Me" released in November, 2009,
brings together Ralph Gilmore, Steve Grams, Earl Edmonson, Catherine Zavala, Kevin Schramm and Danny Krieger.
Her new songs are an eclectic mix of roots, folk, celtic and country influences reminiscent of The Mollys. Although often compared favorably to Lucinda Williams and other leading female writers, McCallion's sharp takes on life lived small also bring to mind Tom Wait's dark, quirky tales.
Catch Nancy's track "On We Go" on Putamayo's Women of the World: Celtic along with Mary Black, Clannad, Maura O'Connell, Capercaillie and others.
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