Ali McGuirk

Ali McGuirk and special guest, Mary-Elaine Jenkins, head to Vinegar Hill Music Theatre on Thursday, August 10th!

“2022’s 50 Best Albums of the Year“— “Ms. Ali gets it. And she can play that damn guitar, too. There’s a history scattered through soul music, and blues, that speaks to this aesthetic. Boston and New England last saw this combination with a gal named Sue [Tedeschi] a couple of decades ago.”– Boston Globe

Ali McGuirk has made a career of captivating audiences with her powerful, buttery voice and heartfelt songwriting. Her earliest years as a performer were spent earning residencies across 4 continents, from Santorini to Hong Kong. In 2016, she was recognized by the Boston Globe as an “artist to hear,” along with Lake Street Dive, Haim and other notable names. Shortly thereafter, she released her debut, self-titled EP and has been riding that momentum ever since.

In November 2017, she released her first full-length album, “Slow Burn,” which saw her working with an eclectic mix of artists, including Boston guitar legend Jeffrey Lockhart (Lettuce, D’angelo, Lalah Hathaway), Brandon Mayes (Kendrick Lamar, Soulja Boy), DeShawn D’Vibes Alexander (Marcus King, Eric Krasno) and Cilla Bonnie (Air Traffic Controller).

“Slow Burn” was named on multiple year-end lists, including Boston rock critic Steve Morse’s Top Ten Albums of 2017, and contributed to Ali’s current total of 7 Boston Music Award nominations and her 2018 New England Music Award nomination for R&B Act of the Year. At the 2018 Boston Music Awards, Ali took home Blues Artist of the Year and Live Residency of the Year for her monthly First Fridays at Bull McCabe’s Pub.

Mary-Elaine Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based songwriter, singer, and guitarist. A native of the South Carolina Lowcountry, her sound combines manifold influences with a distinctly southern sensibility. After graduating from college in Washington, DC, she spent two years in Madrid, a time that would prove creatively transformative. Upon making her home in NYC, she surrounded herself with a creative network that would eventually include Thom Beemer, who produced and engineered “Hold Still,” her full-length debut.

MEJ has been named among “5 Up-And-Coming Women Musicians You Should Know About” (Bust Magazine), described as “standing righteously above other young pretenders” (Glide Magazine), and her voice has been called “a mix of cloves, sage, ash, thorns, and honey” (The Deli NYC). She is a fixture in the New York music scene, has toured Europe, and has supported artists such as Martha Wainwright, Birds of Chicago, and Courtney Marie Andrews. She and Beemer are currently at work on a new record.