Nellie McKay
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{{Infobox_band | band_name = Nellie McKay | image = Image:GetAwayFromMeCover.jpg | origin = Manhattan, New York | caption = | | years_active = 2004-present | music_genre = Rock, Pop, Jazz | record_label = Sony/Columbia (2004–2005) }} Nellie McKay (born 13 April 1982) is a singer-songwriter and former stand-up comedian, noted for her critically-acclaimed debut album Get Away From Me.
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Biography
McKay (pronounced "Mc-EYE") was born in London, England to a Scottish writer/director, Malcolm McKay, and an American actress, Robin Pappas. At the age of two, after her parents split, she moved with her mother to New York City, where they stayed until 1994. After one year in Olympia, Washington, the two returned back East and lived in the Poconos, where McKay spent her high-school years.
In 2000, McKay started attending the Manhattan School of Music, but, bored and unsatisfied, dropped out after two years. She started performing as a stand-up comic in Manhattan clubs, and eventually Greenwich Village's gay bars.
In February of 2003 Nellie opened for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players at Tonic, on New York's Lower East Side. Jay Ruttenberg, from Time Out New York magazine, attended the show and wrote a prominent feature on McKay. Shortly afterwards, several record labels contacted her and started a bidding war. She eventually signed with Columbia/Sony and started producing her first record in the late summer of 2003.
Her music has showcased different genres from jazz to rap and disco to funk. Her eclectic style and sharp lyrics distinguish her as an original voice. Her songs sometimes have a political tinge; she "is a proud member of PETA" (album notes), wrote a song ("Columbia Is Bleeding") dealing with the issue of Columbia University's cruelty to animals, and ("John John") about her feelings in favor of political candidate Ralph Nader as well as performing concerts as benefits for WBAI.
Get Away From Me
Her critically acclaimed first CD, Get Away from Me, was produced by Beatles sound engineer Geoff Emerick and released by Columbia/Sony Records in February 2004. The title is a play on Norah Jones' Come Away with Me and expresses her dissatisfaction with modern jazz. 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. The studio agreed, but McKay had to underwrite production costs of the five additional tracks with $25,000 of her own money. Although all the music would fit on a single disc, McKay insisted on a double disc debut to "reclaim the feeling of flipping over a record" (All Music Guide). Nellie McKay was one of the major breakout artists from the 2004 SXSW Festival and was a finalist in the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize, and Get Away From Me was on several "Best of 2004" lists.
Pretty Little Head
Template:Future album Pretty Little Head was originally set to be released October 18, 2005. The release date was subsequently delayed until December 27, 2005 and finally January 3, 2006.
However, McKay announced on December 19, 2005, that she had left Columbia/Sony Records after a dispute over the length of the upcoming album.[1] Just over two weeks following this announcement, a New York Times article surfaced stating McKay said she had been dropped by Columbia Records.[2]
A concert DVD, "Live at the Independent," was also scheduled to hit stores on January 3 but that release is also on hold for the time being.
McKay wanted the full 65 minute, 23 track version of Pretty Little Head to be released, but Columbia was only willing to support a 16-track version that ran 48 minutes. (Columbia/Sony was so adamant about the abbreviated version that it sent copies of this version out as promotional copies to critics.)
McKay had supposedly worked out a sort of agreement with the previous CEO of the company, but it underwent a management shift recently, and McKay was dropped after the shift. She claims it was probably 'best for everyone'.
McKay expressed her concern at a concert in West Hollywood, November 29, 2005, at the Troubadour. McKay was also adamant about the longer version being released, going so far as to distribute the personal e-mail address of former Columbia chairman Will Botwin at her recent concerts.
Initial reports stated that McKay would release Pretty Little Head on the Internet sometime in January, with a conventional release as early as February; however, this did not come to pass. Similarly, the music chain HMV Canada promoted Pretty Little Head as having a Canadian issue date of February 7, but no release occurred. At the moment, no official word exists as to when Pretty Little Head might be released to the public.
Pretty Little Head features duets with k.d. lang and McKay's co-star in 'Threepenny Opera', Cyndi Lauper.
Broadway
Nellie has been announced as a female lead in a 2006 Broadway production by Wallace Shawn of The Threepenny Opera, co-starring with Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper.
Notes
Age
McKay's real age was a matter of some debate. At the time of Get Away from Me's release, most publicity and Internet sources indicated that she was 19 years of age. However, her father has stated that she was actually born on April 13, 1982 which would have made her 21 at the time of the album's early 2004 release. Corroborating her father's statement is the fact that McKay graduated from high school and began college in 2000, which would be appropriate for someone born in 1982 before the November 30 New York state birthday cutoff. Additionally her British birth certificate reportedly gives the April 13, 1982 date [3]. As late as 2004 McKay's website reported her age as 19 [4], but all references to her age were later removed.