(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- Grammy nominated songstress Shannon McNally will perform with her band at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 8:00pm. Arlan Feiles, whose 2025 release Diaspora was recently named Album of the Year by Makin Waves, will open the show.
Known equally as a critically acclaimed songwriter and for her powerful interpretations of the works of others, Shannon McNally’s live music career began on the jam band circuit of the 1990s with bands like Derek Trucks and Railroad Earth. Since then, her catalog has grown to span the whole of the Americana music spectrum. She brings a soul-stirring musicality to her craft. Her honest and, at times, elegant voice immediately grabs one by the heartstrings. Shannon's stage performances are further enhanced by her own exceptional electric guitar playing.
McNally has fourteen albums to her name and a string of single self-releases on her personal label, Queen Maeve Records. Her most recent release is Live at the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a vibrant live album recorded at her celebrated set from the Fair Grounds Race Course in April 2025 and released last summer. Spanning 13 songs and nearly 50 minutes of music, the album showcases McNally’s dynamic performance and deep connection with her audience — from spirited originals like “We Are the One” and “Ember” to her soulful take on classics such as “God Bless the Child,” interspersed with her warm, engaging stage banter. The recordings capture not just her remarkable voice and instrumental finesse, but also the spontaneity, emotional depth, and authentic Americana spirit that define her as a live performer.
For those who have followed McNally’s twenty-plus-year career, the thing that sticks with listeners the most about her is the timeless effortlessness she brings to all she does. With an impressive catalog and extensive list of collaborators with whom she has written, recorded, and toured, McNally continues to turn out great music across wide-flung ends of the spectrum, defying genrefication. At home on any stage, from Lincoln Center to the juke joints of Mississippi—she always brings the house down.
Advance tickets are $35 and are available for purchase online. The Jersey Shore Arts Center is located at 66 South Main Street in Ocean Grove.
The show is part of the on-going Split Level Concerts Series which highlights renowned Americana and contemporary folk musicians in a uniquely intimate setting. Net ticket proceeds from all Split Level concerts support the programming and arts education offered by the Jersey Shore Arts Center, a non-profit organization serving Ocean Grove and its surrounding areas. In addition, Jersey Shore Arts Center and Split Level Concerts are proud to partner with Brookdale Public Radio 90.5 The Night and Musicians On A Mission (MOAM) to promote the concert series. Musicians On A Mission is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating connection and inspiring giving through music. MOAM will be on hand for all shows in the series, collecting non-perishable food items and cash donations to benefit Fulfill (formerly the Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean County). Concertgoers that visit the MOAM table in the lobby before the show, or during intermission, can learn more about Fulfill’s mission and enter a drawing to win items donated by the artists, 90.5 The Night, and local businesses.
Opener Arlan Feiles is an award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. Discovered and mentored by the late great Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Record Producer Tom Dowd, Arlan has gone on to release 6 critically acclaimed records and has had his music placed in many TV programs and movies. His latest LP, Diaspora, landed in the Top 10 of the Euro-Americana Chart and he's also a finalist in the Americana/Acoustic/Folk/Bluegrass Artist of the Year category for the 2025 Asbury Park Music Awards.
New Jersey Stage is a big fan of Arlan Feiles and his latest release, Diaspora. In addition to being Bob Makin's Album of the Year and the Makin Waves artist of the Year, New Jersey Stage publisher Gary Wien wrote, "He's created a piece of art that is as beautiful as it is painful."
"Diaspora is an album well worth listening to from start to finish and it will change you if you do," wrote Wien. "Arlan's words are powerful, the music is beautiful, and the stories are heartbreaking. As we watch the far right gain in numbers throughout the world, it seems more and more like history is sadly repeating. Now more than ever, we need art like this. We need artists like Arlan."
You can learn more about Arlan in this pair of recent interviews from Gary Wien and Bob Makin. And if you'd like to hear Shannon McNally on one of Arlan's earlier albums, here's one of our favorites from his wonderful Razing The Nation album.
