The Red Jacket Jamboree with guest singer-songwriter Nellie McKay

Singer-Songwriter Nellie McKay will be the featured guest for the recording/performance of the 59th and 60th episodes of The Red Jacket Jamboree!  The RJJ is an old style radio show recorded in front of a studio audience at the RPM studio inside the Keweenaw Storytelling Center in downtown Calumet, Michigan. (The village formerly known as Red Jacket). The show share's songs, stories, history and music from Michigan's Copper Country and beyond.  The RJJ cast consists of professional performers and musicians who share these stories with the help of guest singer-songwriters, poets, authors, and other storytellers.   Two themed hourlong episodes are recorded per show.  Artists are selected to help share these specific narratives. Expect a family friendly show featuring comedy, music and a whole lot of stories!

​Nellie McKay exploded on the music scene in 2004 with her debut double album, "Get Away from Me."  Since then, she's released 6 more albums which range from classical jazz standards to her original tunes which showcase her quick wit and comedic style.

Nellie’s music has been heard on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Weeds, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, Nurse Jackie, and SMILF, and she has appeared on TV shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, Ferguson, and The View.  Nellie has made numerous radio appearances on NPR’s Mountain Stage, A Prairie Home Companion, eTown, and Marion McPartland’s Piano Jazz.  The Chase Brock Experience produced a ballet of her third album, Obligatory Villagers, and she contributed the forward to the 20th anniversary edition of The Sexual Politics of Meat.  Her writing has also appeared in The Onion, Interview and The New York Times Book Review. ​

She has won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera, performed onscreen in the films PS I Love You and Downtown Express, and her music was used in Rumor Has It, Monster-in-Law, PS I Love You, Gasland, Last Holiday and Private Life. 

McKay co-created and starred in the award-winning off-Broadway hit Old Hats and has written three acclaimed musical biographies – I Want to Live!, the story of Barbara Graham, third woman executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin, Silent Spring: It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature, an exploration of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson, and A GIRL NAMED BILL – The Life and Times of Billy Tipton, named one of the Best Concerts of 2014 by The New York Times.  Her latest lady bio is The Big Molinsky – Considering Joan Rivers (“unpredictable, thrilling…sardonic wit..” – The New York Times).