The Best Album of 2007

This post is long overdue and I meant to write it a lot sooner, but finally have gotten around to it.

This album lives up to the tagline of Voices to hear better than anything yet. The Best Music You've Never Heard. Windswept Moon was slated to come out in early 2007 and at this date, July of 2008, it still has not been released. Why I can't understand. 2006 was a good year for Shannon. Gernomio had come out, followed by her live album North American Ghost Music and than the ep South Side Session with Charlie Sexton. Following it up with Windswept Moon would have continued her run of excellent music.

I consider Windswept Moon to be the best album of 2007, so I have no idea why it wasn't released. It was produced by legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickinson. Members of the North Missisippi All Stars played on the album. She duets with rising amerciana star Ray Lamontge on "Hangs Sweetly On The Vine."

So once again I am left with the question: why wasn't this album released and even more importantly, why hasn't it be released still?

For anyone that has seen Shannon in concert within the last year much of this album will be familar as she's been performing much of it live.

The album opens with "Lovely" a regular at her shows now. What starts out as a song about life on the road turns into a song of love and life at home with her questioning her place in life. "Wants to count as one of the good guys when I'm laid to rest."

The next song is "Sinful Daughter" by Dave Alvin. Shannon makes this song her own.

Another song that has become a staple of her live shows is "Jack B. Nimble" from this album. This is a great rock n roll song and really is great in concert.

"Hombre" is a song inspired by the Paul Newman western.

The track list is:

Lovely
Sinful Daughter
Sweet Honey
Jack B. Nimble
Hangs Sweetly On The Vine
Indian Giver Bible
Hombre
The Watcher
Roll Away The Stone
Bohemian Wedding Song
This Ain't Home
Rock and Roll Gypsies

Shannon McNally

Classic Rock. Rap. Alternative Rock. Hip Hop. Emo. Punk. Gothic. Heavy Metal. Rock and Roll. Americana. There are as many different names for the music as there are listeners. For an artist today trying to figure out where they fit into the musical scene has to be a daunting task. Should they try to be more punk. Or perhaps throw some emo into their sound, that seems to be the hot new thing.

Or perhaps they could not worry about where they fit into the scheme of things and just try to put out some great music. Which is what Shannon McNally has decided to do. Put out some great music and let the fans decide what they want to call her music. She calls it North American Ghost Music. Which is as good a description as anything I can think of.

Shannon is from my home town of New Orleans by way of New York. Her influences are such groups like the Band, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and the writer John Steinbeck. She graduated college with a degree in Social Anthropology. Supporting herself as a model she decided to turn what was a hobby of making music into her passion. Her debut album Jukebox Sparrows came out in 2002.

Her music is a wonderful gumbo of soul, Americana, New Orleans Funk and whatever else she can throw into the mix with a voice that gives goose bumps to listeners. Her songs tells stories of rebels and visionaries, such as Geronimo on the song from the album with the same title.

Her live shows are as good if not better than the source material. She puts on an amazing show, telling stories of her life intermixed with the songs that she brings to life on the stage.

Since her first album she’s released Geronimo, South Side Sessions and a live album called North American Ghost Music. Each album just gets better than the previous. Her newest should be out anytime, on it she teamed with legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickinson.

"Now That I Know"