Indie Soul Crush: Jill McCracken
Singing her truth is not a standstill moment of internal solitude— rather, Jill declares her truth with power, sincerity, and pure delight.
Friends! Here’s your Thursday Band Crush! Before we get to the chat with Jill McCracken how ‘bout you check this other thing out real quick for me: my friends at Zumix could use some help. Obviously things are tough and uncertain everywhere, but nonprofits like them have been hit really hard. One thing some people are doing to help is something they’re calling the “Sing a Song/Send a Song” campaign. People are being challenged to donate $10 to Zumix, then dedicate and play a song to someone they’re missing right now, then challenge a few other people to do the same. It’s small donations like that that will help keep them going through this thing, so if you’re able to help it would mean a lot. There are some vids on Instagram and Facebook if you search #SAS4ZUMIX. Ok, back to regular programming! Here’s Jill!
Let's start at the beginning. Can you give us some background on your come up and journey so far?
Sure! I've been playing music since I was a kid, starting on the drums, working my way to a little piano and then guitar, but only started singing publicly, writing & performing my own music around age 19. Over the past 10+ years, I've been developing my style, evolving from my indie rock start to my sound today, which is more retro soul. I've always loved oldies music, Motown in particular, and it shines through in my songwriting and in my performances. within the past couple years, I let go of music being an "extracurricular" activity for me and set my sights on doing it full time. These days I play with a band of four, we've got an album out, and we tour around New England, the northeastern US, a little Canada, and the midwest.
What are people gonna see when they go to one of your shows?
A high-energy, soulful performance, reminiscent of the 60s and 70s. my band locks into some tight grooves, sings some sweet harmonies, and I'm out there bouncing around the stage and throwing my arms all up in the air with conviction.
What are your favorite venues to play? What could the ones that don't make the list do to improve?
In Boston, I love the Lizard Lounge, Toad, and the Canopy Room (a great new-ish small venue in Bow Market in Union Square). For bigger spots, I've loved playing Brighton Music Hall and Once Ballroom. Hmm, for venues that could be improved, what if I just talked about the stuff I love about certain venues, and then we can make our own assumptions? I love venues that go out of their way to show the artists that they care about them. Feeding the artists is huge (much more valuable than giving us drinks, IMO). Putting in effort to promote the show is huge (that seems like a no-brainer, but unfortunately it isn't). Being pleasant to work with during the booking process is huge. Having a knowledgeable and friendly sound engineer is huge.
What other Boston artists are you crushing on?
Oh boy! Oompa, The Hats, Samantha Farrell, Liz Bills, Red Shaydez, Jeb Bush Orchestra, Dav Blues, Copilot, Najee Janey, STL GLD, Buckets, Tgonz, Josh Knowles. Is that too many? (note: it is not - Boosh)
You can find Jill at her website, look at her on Instagram, listen to her on Spotify, and most importantly buy her music on Bandcamp.