Nancy McCallion: Press

for "Live at The Auld Dubliner"

The disc includes some cover songs, including Ewan MacColl's classic "Dirty Old Town" (made famous by The Pogues), which opens the album, a slew of traditional tunes and some McCallion originals. The band is absolutely stellar throughout, particularly the guitar work provided by Krieger and Hardy's gorgeous violin playing; still, their contributions are always in service to the song, aiding and abetting but never getting in the way. This is one of the rare times in recent memory that I've been thankful for extended instrumental passages.

Which is not to say that I'm not equally thankful when McCallion's voice re-enters the mix. The veteran has been around long enough to play to her strengths, which she does here. Unlike a lot of Americans who perform traditional Irish music, McCallion has the smarts to not adopt a phony brogue, a tactic that never seems to convince. Still, her cadence is spot-on and her voice is supple enough to adopt to uptempo songs and ballads alike.

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.

PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 23, 2006:
Pick of the Week
Never Too Late
By IRENE MESSINA


The Last Call Girls
If you are unfamiliar with the local country dance band The Last Call Girls, you might wonder what the name refers to. Are we talking about last call at a bar--or something else?
Nancy McCallion--who fronts the band with her sister Lisa--doesn't provide an exact answer and says she likes the ambiguity of it. "It's a catchy name. It lets people know it's a woman's band."

Don't let that statement create any preconceived notions. This "woman's band" rocks with its high energy, honky-tonk, rockabilly music. Approaching their four-year anniversary in December, the band takes its roots from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. Band members are songwriter McCallion on guitar, penny whistle, mouth organ and vocals; sister Lisa McCallion on bass and vocals; Kevin Schramm on guitar, dobro and accordions; Tom Rhodes on fiddle, guitar and mandolin; and Michael Joyal on drums.

McCallion says she has been in bands since she was 19. Before The Last Call Girls, she was the songwriter and vocalist for The Mollys--the "Celtic-Norteño-you-name-it folk-rock cult band" in existence from 1989 to 2003. After the Mollys, she released a self-titled CD in 2004.

The CD contains 14 tracks, mostly written by McCallion. A description of the bands' music is offered in their press release: "If you must categorize them, think love gone wrong and revenge gleefully taken ..."

McCallion's lyrics are stories in themselves--about love, yearning and heartbreak. "I listen to people's conversations a lot. They say things that I find catchy. I think in terms of characters and tell a story about them. ... I write about romance, relationships, things gone wrong. The emotion is universal. I find the situation that fits the emotion."

Emotion plays a strong part in McCallion's work, as she says she is drawn to gut-wrenching music. "I love to hear a story so sad that I cry. Maybe that's an Irish thing. I try to express that somehow."

And indeed she does. In "You're No Good for Me," McCallion says the song is about a woman who realizes that her man is not in love with her. And she doesn't want to admit that to herself:

You wake up, drink your coffee, read your paper and you start your

day

I'm like a fly buzzing all around, getting in the way

I try too hard, my jokes ain't funny, but they used to be

You give your best to everybody else

But you're no good for me.

There's an inherent sadness in McCallion's lyrics, as you feel the loneliness of this imaginary woman pining after a man whose attention is elsewhere.

Another lonely soul is the focus of "You're a Stranger Now":

My belongings are scattered all over the room

It's check in at midnight and check out at noon

I've had all the luck that my luck would allow

And you're a stranger now.

McCallion says the song is a recollection of her days on the road, checking into hotel rooms with loved ones becoming strangers miles away. She toured for seven years with The Mollys, going out six weeks at a time and then two weeks at home.

"I was on the road a long time. It's lonely on the road and a struggle to keep relationships going. It was a great life, but it had drawbacks."

Perhaps life on the road led her to write this lyric from "Lonesome Is." But even those who are homebound and blue can say amen to this:

Well lonesome ain't just a state of

mind

It's as real as sin and it ain't half as

kind.

McCallion says she tries to write in a style reminiscent of Hank Williams. With his songs, "you get that sense of universal frustrations and desires. I try to capture that. ... His songs are so simple and have a universal quality about them. He doesn't get fancy; he gets right to the point. 'Your Cheatin' Heart' is a great, simple expression of something universal."

With collective themes of love, heartbreak and loneliness flowing through her songs, McCallion also appreciates the universal value of music as art. "To me, good art is what makes us join together in a cosmic way. ... Art lifts us out of ourselves somehow."

With this thought, it seems appropriate that the Last Calls Girls' first CD is titled It's Never Too Late to Get Lucky. The woman depicted in the title track sits by herself holding the picture of a man lamenting that "the best odds I have are for dying." But in the next breath, she realizes "it's never too late to get lucky."

So even though McCallion's songs have a categorization of "love gone wrong," we'd be remiss if we didn't add the universal quality of hope to the mix. It's never too late for that.

"Nancy McCallion" listed as #2 debut album for 2005 Freeform American Roots Charts.

for "Moon Over the Interstate"
(McCallion) rivals Lucinda Williams and Iris DeMent as one of the finest Americana songwriters of the '90s and she deserves a comparable reputation...

for "Moon Over the Interstate"
(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.

for "Only a Story"
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.

for "Only a Story"
(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.

for "Trouble"
McCallion's songwriting is at its apex. Simple yet potent, fit for dancing or crying in your beer, her songs convey the message that sad luck knows no borders and is a little too comfortable in every cultural environment. They ring of truth and worldliness, yet also harbor that "Oh, what the hell" attitude that keeps the unlucky in love hopeful that the next will be the real thing.

"...her lyrics have a direct immediacy set with a true traditional flair. They are world-weary, bitter, start, drunken and funny."