Now based in Tucson, Arizona, the marvelous Nancy McCallion has released here a cracker of an album.  You sometimes find in many newly released albums that the vast majority of the tracks can sometimes sound the same.  This is not the case here, as every track is a delight to hear.  Perhaps the finest song of the twelve has to be It's Never too Late to Get Lucky.  Changing beat on several occasions, the backing harmonies along with the delightful harmonies is emotional to say the least.  Waver On is just as fine too.  With an early rock and roll beat about it, it is a track which can wholeheartedly be described as one which has direct influences from Hank Snr.  Danny Krieger's slide guitar too is just peachy, and is that good you have to listen to the track several times just to appreciate it fully.  The charitable spirit is certainly present here, as one US dollar form the purchase of each copy of this album is donated to the Primavera Foundation; a Tucson charity which helps people to escape the poverty line.  I admit to having heard many a fine album in my life, but this album certainly ranks amongst the best of them.
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"Take a Picture of Me" is the latest album from Nancy McCallion. It's a wonderful collection of easy listening folk/rock songs that is inspired by the recent economic recession and its difficult effect upon the lives of the American poor. "Clydes Bonny Banks" is a beautiful and leisurely folk number that has just a hint of a Celtic sound, in which McCallion sings with crisp and clean vocal clarity. Another highlight, "Good Old Days," is a see-sawing folk song with a little bit of a honky-tonk influence that will get you tapping your toes with its bouncy beat and rootsy lyrics. "Cruel Thing" is a song in which we hear McCallion sing with an edgier style in more of a rocking folk song as the steady drums and power chords of the guitar compliment her voice. This album is a wonderful example of contemporary folk/rock music, which takes influences from many genres, yet always resulting in an excellent American-folk sound. If you think you would like to take in a folk/rock reaction to the recent economic recession which has affected us all, then take a listen to "Take a Picture of Me" by Nancy McCallion as you will be thoroughly pleased by this collection of folk/rock songs.
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http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/317977.php
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.19.2009

When Nancy McCallion was laid off as a teacher from the Tucson Unified School District in 2008, she joined millions of jobless Americans who had no idea what they were going to do next.
"I had a house, a mortgage," the singer-songwriter said in a phone interview Monday. "My husband (Danny Krieger) is a professional musician, so he didn't have health care. I was the one with health care. There was no way we could afford it on our own. It was kind of scary."
McCallion, 46, was eventually called back to teach, but not before getting inspired.
Her latest album, "Take a Picture of Me to Show I Was Here," was heavily influenced by her time spent unemployed. It will be showcased Friday with a CD-release party at the Hut.
Tracks on the project follow themes of abandonment, loss and angst during tough economic times and are delivered in an eclectic mix of musical styles.
Songs such as the slow-going "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" have a old-timey feel. The cut "Good Old Days" leans more toward rowdy, boot-stomping country.
"Ain't no such thing as the good old days," McCallion sings on the track. "But I miss them anyway."
"The songs were more personal than sitting down and trying to put myself in a difficult situation," she said. "I was actually going through this, close to it. It wasn't so abstract."
The idea for an album documenting economic woes was a long time coming for McCallion.
Two years prior, she had attended a photography exhibition at the University of Arizona dubbed "Unseen America" that inspired her to write the album's title track.
The display was made up of black and white photos taken by low-income workers from across the country.
"Some of the photographs were really strong," McCallion said. "They had narratives that went along with them. I wrote the song from the perspective of someone who lost everything and is moving on."
When McCallion found herself unemployed, juggling finances she knew she couldn't afford, the rest of the album just flowed out of her.
"I want people to get an awareness for people who are on the fringes," she said, "the working poor who can't afford health care. I think a lot of us don't realize what it is like not to have it, until it is gone."
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