I just saw Nellie McKay on Conan's show.

[mac56]

Okay, I'm in love.

:loveya:

[jeff30997]

1. Don't know her but she looks like a sweet girl.

[mac56]

2. Here's some snips from Newbeats.com

However if you bring up fame with Nellie McKay, she genuinely loves the trappings of celebrity unapologetically, almost shockingly, as a means to promote herself and to impart social change.

"The more fame and money you acquire, it gives you more power," says the engaging singer, "and there are a lot of things, I'd like to change about this world. Celebrity and wealth are some of the biggest weapons for social change because most people who have them don't use them for anything but Versace."

(snip)

McKay's mannered, articulate, and slightly-accented speech might be due to the fact that she was born in London. During her childhood, she has traveled around when she emigrated with her mother to the States, first to California, then living in New York City's Harlem; then moving to Olympia, Washington and later Pennsylvania, and then back to New York again. In New York, she studied jazz voice at the Manhattan School of Music before dropping out (she admits has no regrets). Surrounded by Columbia University students in the area, she is now on her own and in debt like every other artist living in the Big Apple. "I really think the reason I'm 19 is that in some ways I'm 40 and a toddler. I had to boil water the other day-my mother never taught me how to cook or clean or do anything. Emotionally I'm totally a baby."

(snip)

McKay continues on the topic of social issues and is not afraid to speak her mind. "People are complaining about celebrities getting involved in politics," says McKay. "I'm trying to find a benign way you can do that without people criticizing you for that.

"It's unbelievable the political infrastructure in this city. Or like the homeless. Why would you cut education? There's so many things I want to change, and there's no way I'll ever do it."

(snip)

While other emerging artists might have an inner struggle in dealing with fame and the problems that comes with it, McKay has absolutely no problem in handling them-her attitude is 'bring it on!'. Part of her ambition to make it comes from having worked menial odd jobs that included being a secretary and a stint at the supermarket Gristedes, which she disliked. "I have a great respect for teachers but everyone says, 'Get a college diploma so you'll be able to teach and have security.' I think I would rather live on the street. There's nothing worse than working for pennies for the boss man."

However, when this interviewer mentioned wouldn't that be the same scenario working for a corporate record label, she acknowledged that fact with a wry sensibility that makes her all the more endearing. "But you are doing work that you love for the boss man. That's a very good point. Even if you are a product, it's so much less dehumanizing than checking bags. I get a great pleasure out of what I do."

[mac56]

3. The more I read about her, the more impressed I am.

From New York magazine:

There wasn’t a lot of fury in Doris Day, which is why McKay’s retro costumes and golly-gee lingo create a misleading first impression. Here are a few targets from this PETA activist and self-described “angry teenage Albert Schweitzer”: conformists, including anyone who wears Old Navy; Madonna, for exploiting sex (“Why is that the only way you can push buttons?”); Columbia University, for the animal testing in its labs; and jazz musicians who dismiss her signing as luck.

She also struggles with stylists who want typical “sexy” photos. “I definitely want to expose less flesh. I’ve read Linda Lovelace’s autobiography—I know where that road leads. I don’t mind being a sex symbol, but I’ll go the Garbo route, thank you very much. Why don’t men take their clothes off in photos? Because it makes them vulnerable, and men don’t like to be vulnerable.”

[Guaranteed]

4. Cute...who's that? nt

[mac56]

5. piano playing pop singer

A couple of albums out. Wild critical acclaim.