By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay was scheduled to perform her first show at Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester,www.uptownwestchester.org) back in October.
But fate had other plans for the versatile and very talented entertainer.
McKay got a featured role in a hit Off-Broadway musical and was forced to postpone her solo music performance in West Chester — postpone not cancel.
The show has been rescheduled for February 7 at 7:30 p.m.
“Unfortunately, we had to cancel some shows in October,” said McKay, during a phone interview Wednesday night from her home in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“We told the people who had bought tickets that we would have to reschedule. People are very understanding.”
People who have heard McKay perform live know that the show she delivers on Saturday will have been worth the wait.
McKay is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who began her career as an entertainer singing in New York clubs in the late 1900s.
She is no stranger to New York’s stages – Broadway and Off-Broadway.
On Broadway, she won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum in “The Threepenny Opera.”
She also co-created and starred in the award-winning Off-Broadway hit “Old Hats,” and has written and produced musical biographies around a compelling gallery of ladies – from environmental pioneer Rachel Carson to the life, conviction, and execution at San Quentin of underdog Barbara Graham.
In fall of 2025, McKay was on a New York stage with the Atlantic Theater Company for the world premiere of Oscar winner Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country For Old Men)’s “Let’s Love!”
The show, which also featured Delaware’s stage and screen start Aubrey Plaza, was scheduled to run through November 9 and then expended until November 22.
“It was a beautiful thing to do,” said McKay. “There was a lot happening. It flew by every night. Audiences had a good time. And it was great working with Aubrey.”
After “Let’s Love!” ended, McKay immediately hit the road with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo’s Christmas show.
“The Christmas tour was great too,” said McKay. “We went all the way up the Northeast and then out to the snowy Midwest. It flew by.”
Currently, she is playing all the songs from her recently released album, “Gee Whiz: The Get Away From Me Demos,” an 18-track collection of previously unissued and self-produced demos on two LPs presaging McKay’s critically acclaimed debut album, out now on Omnivore Recordings.
“The album is out on vinyl for the first time,” said McKay.
“It’s a double album on vinyl and is also has been released on CD with three bonus tracks.”
“Gee Whiz: The Get Away From Me Demos” collects McKay’s recordings which became that landmark album (“Get Away From Me”), composed, performed, and produced by Nellie, and sequenced identically to the original record.
As a bonus, the CD and digital programs also contain three very early, previously unissued tracks.
Mastered by multiple Grammy-winner Michael Graves, these revelatory demos show how complete the album was in its initial stages and brings new insight on the creative process from one of music’s most creative artists.
“We had the demos of all these songs so why not celebrate the 21st anniversary of the original release,” said McKay. “
“The three bonus tracks are little homemade things that I made,” said McKay. “I recorded them at the time I was playing piano bars.
“It’s nice that we got in touch with Omnivore. They also re-released ‘Hey Guys Watch This,’ (McKay’s most recent previous album).
“The album of demos was remixed in L.A. by Grammy Award winner Michael Graves. He made it sound great.”
McKay’s debut album, “Get Away From Me,” was released on Columbia Records in 2004. She first played shows in this area back in 2004 to accompany the release of that album.
When she was getting started, McKay made music that bridged the gap between jazz and hip-hop — a combination not often heard in today’s pop music.
The versatile performer was born in London and raised in New York, the Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania’s Pocono Manor. When she was still in her teens, she was living in her own apartment in New York — at the edge of Harlem at 123rd and Amsterdam.
“I love New York,” said McKay. “I lived in Harlem. When people hear Harlem, they think it’s a dangerous place but it’s not bad.”
McKay, who attended school at Pocono Mountain Junior and Senior High, learned to play a variety of instruments including piano, cello, timpani, vibes, triangle and saxophone. Her main concentration has always been on keyboards.
“I played with the East Stroudsburg University Jazz Ensemble when I was still in high school,” said McKay. “Patrick Dorian, a music professor at ESU, gave me my first formal jazz training. He taught me a lot about composition.”
Eventually, McKay began playing gigs at New York piano bars such as Don’t Tell Mama’s, Stonewall Bistro, Psychic Cafe, Regents, Rose’s Turn, and Mozart Café (where she was canned because she liked to play Christmas songs in August when people weren’t sick of them). A record deal with Columbia followed and the rest is history.
McKay treats fans to live renditions of classic songs that are commonly referred to as standards. Her set list might also feature a Beatles song or even the Frank Zappa classic tune, “Hungry Freaks Daddy.”
Unlike most of many of her previous albums, “Hey Guys, Watch This,” featured McKay as a composer instead of song stylist.
“This is my first album of all original songs in 15 years,” said McKay. “The oldest song is from 15 years ago – ‘did I catch you dreaming.’ It was inspired by my dog who was sleeping.
The most recent one is ‘badumbump.’
“There are 15 songs on the album. I had a lot of songs, and I chose these 15 because I was running out of time.”
McKay recorded the album in several locations – mainly in the hills of the Mountaineer State.
Recorded in Charleston, West Virginia with The Carpenter Ants and a roving retinue of musical compadres, “Hey Guys, Watch This” traces the haunted sounds of Appalachia to a renaissance of revelry.
McKay released an EP titled, “Bagatelles,” in 2019. The album before that was “Sister Orchid” in 2018.
“Sister Orchid” includes timeless gems such as “Willow Weep for Me,” which was first recorded in 1932 by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and later was a hit for Billie Holiday in the mid-1950s; “Georgia on My Mind,” a Hoagy Carmichael song from 1930 that was a hit for Ray Charles in 1960; and “In a Sentimental Mood,” which was penned and performed by Duke Ellington in 1935.
On McKay’s website, “Sister Orchid,” which was released May 2018 on Palmetto Records, had this description – “Conjuring the image of a lonely all-night truck stop along Highway 1 on the California coast, all but lost in the fog that comes creeping along the shoreline… this album speaks of the night, the outsider, the plaintive wail of those lost at sea.
“‘Sister Orchid’ was conceived in solitude, executed in darkness. It comes from a place of quiet, a world of low lights and cool drinks, up against a hard wall. An oasis of hungry eyes and easy promises, warm as a biscuit, the kind of place your mother warned you against.”
“Sister Orchid” was McKay’s seventh label release. Her previous albums include “Obligatory Villagers,” “Normal as Blueberry Pie,” “Home Sweet Mobile Home” and “My Weekly Reader.”
McKay is like a modern-day “Renaissance Woman.
Other projects included “The Big Molinsky – Considering Joan Rivers,” and “A GIRL NAMED BILL – The Life and Times of Billy Tipton,” which was named one of the “Best Concerts of the Year” by The New York Times.
McKay’s screen work includes roles in “PS I Love You” and “Downtown Express.” She contributed movie music to “Rumor Has It,” “Monster-in-Law,” “Gasland,” “Last Holiday,” and “Private Life.”
In the television world, her music has been heard on “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Weeds,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “SMILF.” Additionally, McKay’s writing has appeared in The Onion, Interview, and The New York Times Book Review.
McKay also has devoted much of her life to projects combating animal abuse.
She is a recipient of PETA’s Humanitarian Award and The Humane Society’s Doris Day Music Award in recognition of her dedication to animal rights.
“I’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight,” said McKay. “I’ve been vegan since 2004. Non-violence begins on your plate.”
With her current shows, McKay is showing that “old” can be “new” again.
“We’re going to be playing the whole ‘Gee Whiz’ album,” said McKay. “We’re playing them in the same order as on the album – and we’ll have visual accompaniment.
“We’re doing it just for this tour. I thought – why not have some fun with this show. We play all of ‘Gee Whiz.’ We’ll also play some songs from other albums depending on the audience and the room.”
McKay will be part of a special event later this month.
She will be one of the performers at the “Blonde on Blonde Concert” at Bob Dylan Center. The one-night-only event will take place on Friday, February 20 at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
“I’m looking forward to the Dylan show in Tulsa,” said McKay. “There are a lot of great musicians on the show. It should be a lot of fun.”
Video link for Nellie McKay – https://youtu.be/MBYxYOjDeaU.
The show on February 7 at the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the show are $48.
On February 6 and 8, the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center will host a pair of dance shows.
West Chester Dance Works presents “Rachel Harris: One Woman Over the Line,” a moving multimedia dance production that brings history to life through movement, music, narration, and projected imagery.Inspired by true accounts from Chester County’s Underground Railroad, this original work follows Rachel Harris, a runaway enslaved woman, as she searches for freedom and dignity.
Blending artistry and truth-telling, the production invites audiences to reflect on courage, resilience, and community during one of America’s darkest eras.
Each performance will be followed by a special Q&A with members of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center and the cast.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. on February 6 and 2:30 p.m. on February 8.
Ticket prices are $41 for General Admission and $34 for Students & Seniors.
Just about a year ago, Jefferson Berry & the Urban Acoustic Coalition dropped its fifth album.
“
Born Into A Blizzard” was released on February 25, 2025, and the band celebrated with an album release show at 118 North in Wayne.
The album was released in CD version last winter.
In the year that followed, Jefferson Berry & the Urban Acoustic Coalition won several music video awards and signed a record deal with a major label.
Now, Berry and his band are releasing “Born Into A Blizzard” on vinyl. The band is celebrating with a vinyl release show at Steel City Coffeehouse (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, www.steelcityphx.com).
Jefferson Berry & the UAC have spent more than a decade establishing themselves as one of the Philly area’s top folk-rock/folk bands.
T
he group released its fourth studio album, “Soon!” on April 16, 2021. The band’s previous albums were “Guitar on the River” (2016), “The Habit” (2018) and “Double Deadbolt Logic” (2020).
Berry and his band got even more prolific after “Soon!” –culminating with “Born Into A Blizzard” in early 2025.
“This is our fourth album in five years – and all of them have charted,” said Berry, during a phone interview from his home in the Fairmount section of North Philadelphia.
“The UAC are really some of the best players in Philadelphia. We recorded the album at Kawari Studio in Wyncote with Matt Muir, who is a great engineer.
“We started early last year – March 2024. I produced the album and it took about six months. We also did some award-winning videos.
“We won Music Video of the Year at the Jersey Shore Film Fest with ‘First Purple Light.’ It was the first ever music video to use AI.”
The band’s string of video awards continued in 2025 with Best Music Video at Black Lion Indie Film Festival for “Guitar on the River” and two top places at the California Music Video & Film Awards 2025 — Best Lyrics and Verse for “Too Old to Matter” and Best Animation in a Music Video for “First Purple Light.”
On August 1, 2025, Jefferson Berry & the Urban Acoustic Coalition signed with Warner Bros’ label Deko Entertainment.
Berry and his band joined a roster that features Ten Years After, Slash, The Guess Who, Rik Emmett, Brain Setzer Orchestra, Sass Jordan, Kasim Sultan and Gil Evans Orchestra along with deceased legends such as John Entwistle, Michael Hutchence and John Lodge.
Berry grew up in Southern California and is a graduate of University of California Santa Cruz, a school whose sports teams are nicknamed, “Banana Slugs.”
“I grew up in what used to be Malibu,” said Berry.
He eventually landed in the Philadelphia area where he became part of Philly’s folk/rock/Americana scene.
Berry’s website presented the history behind UAC:
“In 2006, at around 3 a.m. at the Falcon Ridge Festival, Jefferson and his banjo playing brother Hank were playing a Hillbilly version of “White Room” by Cream. In fest-jam fashion, each vocal verse was separated by an instrumental-lead verse. Out and of the shadows and into the light of the campfire came this guy with a mandolin and long red hair, playing the song’s iconic Clapton lead pretty much verbatim.
“As the sun was coming up, Jefferson asked Bud Burroughs if he wanted to start a band, and Hippies and Hillbillies was born. The album Drumless America was recorded in Bud’s living room: a quirky mix of covers ranging from Robert Earl Keen and Townes Van Zandt to Neil Young and U2, the show and CD was fun for some but considered blasphemous at the bluegrass festivals the band played.
“Bud and Jefferson’s next venture involved Jefferson’s daughter. Briana Berry and her sister were raised at the summer festivals—Kerrville, Falcon Ridge, XFS and Philly.”
The Berry’s 2009 album, “Fairmount Station,” featured songs written by Briana and her dad. It was promoted nationally to radio by Powderfinger Promotions and charted fairly high for an independent release on the folk charts. The band played X-Fest and the Philadelphia Folk Festival that year.
The Urban Acoustic Coalitionmade its debut in 2014 with the release of “Guitar on the River.” Again, Bud Burroughs served as the music director for a collection of Berry’s city-themed songs.
Recorded at MelodyVision by Rodney Whittenberg, the album created sessions that grew the band. Jefferson Berry and the Urban Acoustic Coalition played the Camp Stage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival that year with a Coalition of players from Boris Garcia, Bad Sister and Beaufort.
This was an example of the “coalition” aspect of the band, an ethic that allowed players to keep their other projects alive while clearing dates with the UAC periodically.
Berry said, “We’re mini-Americana folk-rock with a couple jazzy numbers. We’ve been called the Steely Dan of folk music. We’re storytelling with acoustic instruments.”
“The core of UAC is Bud Burroughs on mandolin and keyboards, Uncle Mike Damora on bass, and Dave Brown on everything — banjo, lap steel, guitars and fretless bass.
“We’ve been together for 20 years. Right now, we also have Theresa Ratliff on vocals and Adam Stranburg on drums.”
“Born Into A Blizzard” displays the diversity that is contemporary folk music today. As with previous releases, the songs on “Born
Into a Blizzard” touch on themes of city living and these strange times.
The indulgences of our screen time (“How Could You Think That”), the need to start over (“Leaving Santa Maria”), the homeless condition of the once successful (“Sleeping in Public”), and the lost orientation of street people (“Sand in My Shoes”) offer the songwriter’s observations of how things are these days.
The album does balance out however with fun tunes about summer days on the river (“Guitar on the River”), the way we treat our heroes (“Philly Eats its Own”) and Berry’s father’s version of the day he was born (“Born on Payday”).
Musically, the album is genre defiant with songs ranging from the samba jazz of “Thirty Miles to the Beach” to the pure folk of “This Dawn of Mine.” Berry continues to juxtapose divergent styles and genres with his songwriting and storytelling to offer a refreshing take on folk music.
“It’s Americana,” said Berry. “It’s acoustic rock. Basically, I’m an urban storyteller. It’s folk music for the city.”
Berry’s lyrics are informed by his years in corporate media followed by a dozen years teaching African American History, Economics and Government to inner-city Philadelphia high school students.
Symeer Woods (aka Lil Uzi Vert) and the late Rasheen Jones (aka Runup Rico) were among his students.
“On the song ‘Shattered Glass’ on my last album ‘Double Deadbolt Logic,’ I got a lot of info from my class – like how to boost and strip a car,” said Berry.
This weekend, Berry will focus on live versions of songs from “Born Into A Blizzard.”
Video link for Jefferson Berry & the UAC — https://youtu.be/ccLDKtpF8ys.
The show at Steel City Coffeehouse, which has Matthew Gordon & Ryann Lynch as the opening act, will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 Limited Reserved Seating, $14 Advance General Admission and $19 Day of Show.
Another upcoming show at Steel City is Cliff Hillis & Dennis Schocket with Bret Tobias & Krista Umile on February 7
The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is starting off
2026 with one of Broadway’s most highly acclaimed comedies — “The Producers.” The show is running now through February 22.
Tickets, which include dinner and show, are $77.50 for adults and $35 for children (ages 4-12). “Show Only” tickets, which have limited availability, cost $35.
Another popular and familiar show is running now through February 15 at People’s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, peopleslight.org) – “Steel Magnolias.”
“Steel Magnolias” is a hilarious and heart-wrenching American classic.
The reigning ladies of a small Louisiana parish spend Saturday mornings at Truvy Jones’ beauty parlor.
Video link for People’s Light — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zICXuBNoPuY.
“Steel Magnolias” will run now through February 15 on the Steinbright Stage at People’s Light.
Ticket prices start at $59.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is presenting Hoppin’ John Orchestra Mardi Gras Show on February 6 and Legion of Prog on February 7.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) is hosting The Empty Belly Blues Band with Alabama Sam on February 5, Better Ducks on February 6, School of Rock Blues Band on February 7 and the Girke-Davis Blues Project on February 8.
Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will host Cris Jacobs Band w/special guest
Jon Zorn on February 5, House of Monsters on February 6 and Jagged Little Pill and Hashpipe on February 7.
