Interview: Ali McGuirk
Growing up just outside Boston, McGuirk doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a singer. In her teenage years, she found inspiration from vocalists like Lauryn Hill and Aretha Franklin, eventually gravitating towards powerhouses like Sarah Vaughan and Abbey Lincoln in college. After a couple decades of absorbing ’90s r&b,’70s singer-songwriters, and classic soul and jazz of every era, McGuirk found her own aesthetic: earthy, pure, propelled by a voice capable of whispering dark truths or belting out big hooks on her originals. She became embraced by the Boston community, with The Boston Globe naming her an artist to watch, and received nominations and wins at the Boston Music Awards and New England Music Awards. She released her first album, Slow Burn, in 2017, and on September 16th of this year, she will be releasing her sophomore album, Til It’s Gone. The tracking of the album saw her travel from her adopted home of Burlington, VT to the Silver Lake neighborhood of LA, on the recommendation of producer Jonah Tolchin. The vibe she envisioned for the album was inspired by the cool fusion of styles that Little Feat achieved in the ’70s—that funky, twangy, jazzy, and thoroughly-authentic feel. She also had the opportunity to feature legendary Little Feat guitarist/mandolinist Fred Tackett on the album, along with an array of amazing session players.
The album contains nine tracks—songs that run from intimate introspection to wider meditations on oppression and justice-and has themes that touch on the layers of generational trauma that the women in your family have survived and on reconciling your feelings towards feminism, to name a few. She released the first single, “All Back”, from the upcoming album in July, and most recently, she released the track “X Boyfriends”.
With regards to “All Back”, “When this hook first came to mind for me, the theme was really open and I wasn't sure what the song would be about. As it developed, it became clear to me that I was writing a song for the end of the pandemic,” remembers McGuirk. “Surviving the pandemic as an artist required some faith and this song felt like a little prayer of hope and resilience,” says McGuirk. “We are faced with pandemics, climate chaos, ever-deepening inequality, and so much ignorance, but we learned a lot in March 2020 about our ability to adapt and I need to believe that it’s going to be alright, but we've got to do something right now.”
She says about “X Boyfriends”: “This song could be interpreted as a song of longing, but I think of it more as a song that looks back on past loves with fondness,” she says. “...appreciating the good things they brought to be and recognizing my life’s own enoughness without them.”
From a young age, it was instilled in Ali a deep desire to be a positive presence in the world and be part of the good fight when she can. Aside from writing and recording music, she also gives back and helps others through her music. In May of 2020, she partnered with artist Pamela McGuire, releasing the extended cut of your tune "What Have We Done?" alongside some of McGuire's prints for sale, with the proceeds distributed to families in Chelsea, East Boston, and adjacent towns via ZUMIX's mutual aid efforts. And last year she released "That's The Way I Feel About You", written by Bobby Womack and covered by Aretha Franklin, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. With plans for her upcoming tour and to then hibernate for the winter in VT, aside from a yet-to-be-announced gig this winter, make sure to connect with Ali McGuirk via the links below to stay up-to-date on all music and tour news. You can pre-order her new album HERE. Photo credit: Ben Collins.
Catch Ali McGuirk On Tour:
Sept. 16 - Nashville, TN - Five Spot (AMERICANAFEST)
Sept. 17 - Easthampton, MA - Arcadia Music Festival
Oct. 1 - Albany, NY - The Linda
Oct. 2 - Portsmouth, NH - The Press Room
Oct. 5 - Lancaster, PA - Tellus360
Oct. 6 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House
Oct. 7 - Somerville, MA - The Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville
Oct. 8 - New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine
Oct. 14 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Lounge
Oct. 19 - Syracuse, NY - 443 Listening Room
Oct. 22 - Rochester, NY - The Abilene
Oct. 23 - Buffalo, NY - Sportsmen’s Tavern
Oct. 29 - Portland, ME - One Longfellow Square
All tour dates and ticket information can be found at alimcguirk.com
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When the pandemic hit in 2020, it hit the music industry hard. What was that time like for you and what did March of 2020, and the following months, teach you about your ability to adapt? What lessons did you take away from that time?
Ali: Oh man, when the gigs all went away I really suffered. My whole adult life I’ve turned to music to keep me well. Over the years, songwriting has been my therapy and performance has provided my deepest meditative flows and opportunities for catharsis. If anything was proven in the pandemic it’s that music is meant to be shared. Musicians are fed by each other and their audiences and without that, it’s like… “why?” The silver lining is that I turned to practicing my guitar in new ways and worked a lot on my poetry and writing. I took up watercolor painting. I spent a lot of introspective time by my window, at the typewriter that I share with my brother (pictured on the album cover) and I finished and planned for this album.
In May of 2020, you partnered with artist Pamela McGuire, releasing the extended cut of your tune "What Have We Done?" alongside some of McGuire's prints for sale, with the proceeds distributed to families in Chelsea, East Boston, and adjacent towns via ZUMIX's mutual aid efforts. And last year you released "That's The Way I Feel About You", written by Bobby Womack and covered by Aretha Franklin, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Have you always had a passion for using music and your talent as a way to help people who are struggling, whether through mutual aid or different organizations?
Ali: Joni Mitchell said, “When the world becomes a massive mess with nobody at the helm, it’s time for artists to make their mark.” Sometimes I notice my thirst for applause, or likes, or whatever shallow validation a career in the arts can provide and I return to this quote to feel more grounded in my calling. Art is meant to shed light. We use it to lift up ourselves and others, “others” being the key word. I grew up in public housing with teen single parents who instilled in me a deep desire to be a positive presence in the world and be part of the good fight when I can.
You will be releasing your second full-length album, Til It's Gone, on September 16th via Signature Sounds. How did you meet producer Jonah Tolchin and what can you tell me about traveling to the Silver Lake neighborhood in LA, on his recommendation, to track much of the album? Having said that you felt like you were exactly where you were meant to be, what was that process like and what influence did that environment have on the making of the album?
Ali: Jonah and I met through music. We have some similar friends and he reached out to me to put a tour together with his band Dharmasoul. On that tour I met drummer Kevin Clifford and formed a deep friendship with both of them. They are such joyful, sweet guys and super talented and soulful musicians.
Jonah is an incredibly thoughtful and methodical dude and I knew he would be a great ally in creating the album and completing a project of this scope. He has such a special blend of talent and knowledge of the music industry that is not clouded by ego. Sheldon Gomberg has been a mentor to him throughout his career and it was a total gift to be able to go to LA and work in his studio.
Part of taking this step with Jonah was giving myself permission to take me seriously as an artist and to be bold and ambitious in a way I never allowed myself to be before. To admit the scope of my dreams and to play around with reaching higher changed a lot for me. Jonah and Sheldon helped me re-imagine my relationship to my own potential. I went from booking my own local bar gigs in Boston for years to having Sheldon Gomberg send one of my tunes to literally Bonnie Raitt.
When I was in that studio, surrounded by such dedicated and decorated artists and technicians, it was sort of surprising to me that I didn’t feel out of place. I felt confident in my voice and secure in the process. I was able to give feedback and ask for what I wanted and it was just so beautifully fulfilling. It’s like I had been on a long path to get me there and then there I was.
Can you talk a bit about the vibe of the record, which you described to Tolchin as being similar to the fusion styles that Little Feat achieved in the 70s? What was it like to have Little Feat's guitarist/mandolinist Fred Tackett lay down a few parts on the album, and what can you tell me about the other session players on the album?
Ali: I’ve always been so inspired by music from the ’60s and ’70s. Bands like Little Feat, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Sly and the Family Stone: for me, it doesn’t get any better. Bringing any piece of that history onto this record was a dream come true.
I will forever remember when Fred put his electric guitar on “Empty Vase,” right from the intro. “Empty Vase,” like a good few of my songs, came out of me sort of by accident. I remember showing it to Session Americana when I was playing with them, and they were like “this is a country song, Ali.” I was like “It is?!?!” It was funny to me because I don’t have a ton of country references to work from, but there’s a definite twang in some of my favorite music (Neil Young's “Comes a Time”, Patsy Cline, Grateful Dead, Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin Sally Through the Alley”) and I think that stuff got in there somehow. Fred heard the tune and knew exactly what to do. It was exhilarating to hear.
Everyone who came through Sheldon’s studio was an absolute superstar. The title track “Til It’s Gone” before and after Lenny Castro put his percussion on it are two completely different animals. Lenny Castro was literally playing on Toto’s “Africa” and now he’s on my record forever; that sh*t is crazy. You hear his rhythms and your body moves; it’s not a choice.
The camaraderie between everyone was palpable and it was so validating that these musicians were actually excited and invested in the tunes. Winning the favor of the singers Valerie and Carmen was a real crowning achievement. Back-up singers are the absolute queens of the vocal world; they are usually the most talented singers on stage at any given moment. At first, Valerie and Carmen were gonna be in and out really quick, but after a few takes singing together we formed that vocalist bond that was so loving and palpable, and they ended up staying the whole day to see the tunes through. They were so kind and supportive, like everyone. The whole week was electric.
How would you describe the theme of the album, which touches on layers of generational trauma that the women in your family have survived and on reconciling your feelings towards feminism, to name a few? Do you feel there is an overarching theme that ties all of the songs together? What was your process of tracking the album and were there songs that didn't make the cut?
Ali: I definitely sing and write in the tradition of the torch singers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torch_song). It’s a funny thing to love old songs so much, but feel conflicted about the antiquated tropes they have in their lyrics. My mom went back to school when I was a kid at the all-women Wellesley College, so feminism and “girl power” was part of my early identity. But I was not free from internalizing the double standards and expectations for women around emotional labor, desirability, and compromise. Without speaking in generalities I think it's still just really hard to be a young woman in the world of love these days, with these historically unequal power dynamics still baked into our subconscious.
Abbey Lincoln says a song is like a prayer, and you get what you put out into the universe. If you sing something over and over, it will come back to you. I have certainly found that to be true in my life.
So many old songs that I love to sing romanticize the pain women have felt through the generations and it reminds me of the way old literature can glorify war. I didn’t want to do that with this album. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid writing songs about relationships, heartache, and longing, but I wanted mine to be “anti-torch” songs. I would not glorify or poeticize a woman’s staying power on this record. My hope is that I was able to write something honest enough to resonate with other women and empower them to stand in their strength.
You have said that every artist has a genre identity crisis because you don't want to get pigeonholed as an artist, which can be so easy to do. What has that journey been like for you? Do you feel like you have avoided being pigeonholed into a specific genre?
Ali: Time will tell! This album speaks to a certain phase of my musical development; one when I invested deeply in my songwriting. In making this record, I found inspiration in artists across the genre spectrum, from John Prine to Smokey Robinson.
People who have followed my career so far won't be surprised by tunes like All Back or X Boyfriends, because my home base is soul, R&B, and jazz music. Songs like Empty Vase or Milk might give a few people pause. I’m not sure people were expecting mandolin from my sound–not even sure I was expecting that–but the songs come out of me for whatever reason, and it’s my job to see them through and honor them for what they are.
For the last few years, I’ve been a regular guest of the Boston band, Session Americana. We love to jam together and play each other's songs. They introduced me to a whole community of folk/americana/country musicians. It was a shock to my system to be exposed to so many amazing hip musicians who talk about things like “fiddle camp” and participate in unironic square dances. This was a scene that traded in dense harmony and extended solo sections for clever wordplay and melodic 4-bar instrumental breaks. My journey in exploring that sensibility was to find which parts of that resonated for me and my music.
To find my niche in this scene and soak in what it had to offer was extremely expansive. I expect my next project to be another departure. I want to explore electric sounds, play with hip hop, to go back to straight-ahead jazz someday; I think maybe I’m greedy, but I want to do it all.
Music is a universal language with many dialects. I’m so interested in finding the good parts of all of it and growing and changing forever.
You will be releasing Til It's Gone in Nashville during Americana Fest! Was that planned on your part and what are you most looking forward to about the release of the album and being a part of the festival?
Ali: That was such a happy coincidence! We had been planning on releasing the record in the fall of 2022 and it’s pretty cool that we will be doing it around so many musicians and music lovers. And I’ve never been to Nashville! I’ve heard a lot of good things, so I think it is going to be a great time. The band will be Allstar: Miss Tess, Mark Raudabaugh, and Sebastion Falvo. Maybe some surprise special guests too!
What do you like to do for fun outside of music and who are some artists you are excited about right now? What does self-care look like for you and in what ways do you look after your mental health?
Ali: Double espresso over ice with a splash of oat milk. Hiking and being outside. I love my therapist. I love doing nothing. Making dinner. Hanging out with my boyfriend and his cat. I work part-time at a drop-in center for homeless/ unstably housed individuals in BTV called COTS. That certainly keeps things interesting. Teaching voice and songwriting lessons to kids through ZUMIX. Mostly I like doing nothing though.
What can fans expect from your upcoming tour? Aside from the new album and tour, what else do you have coming up?
Ali: For this tour, I’m gonna be playing with some amazing musicians and we’ve got some super rad opening bands. After this release season is over, I’m gonna try to hibernate for the winter in Vermont with my boyfriend in his lakeside a-frame and do as little as possible (although I just got an incredible offer for a gig I will certainly take this winter that I can’t announce yet, but I’m really excited for). CC: the Nap Ministry/ Trisha Hersey and Bob’s Burgers.