Shannon McNally – Jukebox Sparrows

Shannon McNally obviously welcomes a challenge. Her recent tour, opening for jam-band sensation Robert Randolph, guaranteed crowds oblivious to even a good act in the opening slot. At the show I attended, it took just two songs for her soulful vocals and dynamite band to win the full support of a surprised audience.

On her debut CD, Jukebox Sparrows, she sets a similarly tough test for herself, by surrounding her vocals with first-team pros Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz and Benmont Tench, and employing layers of production one might associate with their work for some Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer. The cutout bins are full of failed first albums unable to stay afloat under the weight of that much superstructure. That McNally succeeds, with seeming ease, in introducing a fresh, confident new voice right at home in this company, is a credit to an artist whose music — a canny mix of roots-pop and R&B — commands attention from the start.

Lyrically, the songs lay out a travelogue spanning the aching heart of America. From the insinuating groove of “Down And Dirty”, through the keyboard-rich strut of “Bitter Blue”, to the all-stops-out pop centerpiece “Now That I Know”, McNally consistently displays that seemingly lost commodity in this diva-dominated age: a musical sense of good taste.

Her stylistic range is further evident in the country-flavored sway of “Start All Over”, the Stevie-Nicks-on-a-good-day charm of “It Could’ve Been Me”, and the Staples-bred R&B of “It Ain’t Easy Being Green” (thankfully free of Muppet content).