Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill McCracken.
Jill, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Despite growing up playing the drums in school and taking guitar lessons on Tuesday nights, I didn’t start singing publicly until the college days. Sitting on the floor of the dorms having some pretty classically cheesy singalongs, some new friends managed to single me out to tell me, “hey, you have a nice voice”. Enough of that kind of thing started to happen that I felt confident enough to start singing and playing acoustic guitar at small cafe open mic nights, and then writing my own songs, and then forming a college band. Once I started playing live music, I never stopped. I moved from Ithaca, NY to Boston in 2014 specifically because I wanted to live in a bigger city and play music to more people. I fired myself from guitar (greatest decision ever) and began focusing on my voice and stage presence. I started shifting my focus and goals and gave myself permission to set my sights on making a real career out of what’s always been the thing I’m best at, and the thing I Iike the most.
It’s felt like baby steps so far, but now I’m taking big giant leaps. My full-length album “Shake Me Up” will be released on 8/14, and I am so proud of it. My band and I are supporting the record on our tour at the end of August, and I can’t wait to spread our music farther and farther.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hell to the no! I’ve worked like a dog for every damn thing. There’s no magical thing where a man in a golden cape comes down from the heavens and presents you with opportunities. My mom always says, “you don’t ask, you don’t get”, and for so long in my life, I was too scared to ask for things. Now, I don’t hold back — I’ve gotten to where I am now — and I will get to where I’m gonna be — by believing in myself and my band, and pushing us to the next bigger thing. That’s my advice for other women (particularly the youngens) — work hard and ask for the things you want! Ask kindly and courteously and respectfully, and be prepared for the answer to be no sometimes, but don’t let it stop you from asking.
We’d love to hear more about Jill McCracken.
I sing and write songs and perform with my indie soul/pop band. I write about the things that my heart gets hung on — all the wonderful things that bring joy and color to my life, and the cracks that lie within them — and hope that the listener connects in a way that feels really right. I’ve got an awful lot of feelings, and my songs run the full gamut. But when I perform them, they’re sung with unadulterated joy. I celebrate the honest-to-goodness truth of life and love — not only the beautiful, terrible, horrible parts but especially all the in-betweens.
One of the songs that we usually end our live set with, “Whole Wide World”, repeats this mantra: “anything you got in, let it out”. That’s the best advice I could give anyone. I personally do so by belting words that mean so much to me, by boogying up and down the stage, and beating the hell out of a tambourine, and laughing and telling jokes between songs. That’s the stuff that is inside of me, and that’s what I let out into the world.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
Well, man, I lucked out with parents who loved me an awful lot, and that’s a leg up on anything. They got me a drum set at age 11 (god bless them) and encouraged me to play in the school orchestra and the high school theater’s pit band and take guitar lessons.
And I lucked out as a kid in being the sidekick to my best friend, Alex, who was always cooler than me and introduced me to The Beatles (beginning my love of oldies) and Ani DiFranco (beginning my appreciation for songwriting and female badassery). Alex and her family taught me about arts and culture and good taste.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jillmccracken.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jillmccracken
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jillmccrackenmusic
Image Credit:
Photo 1: Corwin Wickersham
Photo 2: Ryan LeCours
Photo 3: Jen Vesp
Photo 4: Jen Vesp
Photo 5: Tory Corless
Photo 6: Tory Corless
Photo 7: Tory Corless
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