By Eric Schelkopf
Her powerful vocals have captured the attention of everyone from Jennifer Hudson to Kelly Clarkson.
Those who attend her Jan. 19 show at The Venue in Aurora will get to hear why so many people are talking about Chicago native Meagan McNeal.
McNeal will perform at 7 p.m. at The Venue, 21 S. Broadway Ave. in downtown Aurora. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $25 for premium, available at The Venue's website, themusicvenue.org. A portion of the ticket sales from the show will benefit MusiCares, directly supporting artists, musicians and the creative community impacted by the recent fires in California.
I had the chance to talk to McNeal about the upcoming show.
Q – You have been busy lately. It must have been special for you to sing the National Anthem last month at the United Center at a Chicago Bulls game.
McNeal – Yes, that was a very special time. I was very grateful to be considered.
I have a 12-year-old son and he thought it was really cool. He got to hang out with Benny the Bull.
I remember watching Bulls games when I was a little girl with my family. So it was just kind of nostalgic for our family. It was a really cool and exciting time to be a Chicagoan.
Q – Was it a better experience than you imagined it would be?
McNeal – Yeah, it was in so many ways. I was scheduled to sing on Friday and that Monday, I was diagnosed with strep throat.
The highlight for me was all of the teamwork to make sure everything went well. That included my doctors giving me the care I needed right away.
There were so many people that played a part in making it successful, because there was a lot of work from Monday to Friday to be done.
Q – I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Marquis Hill, who also grew up on Chicago's south side. I know he appears on your latest album, "Greenhouse."
And I know you sang vocals on one of his songs from a few years back, “I Remember Summer." It does seem like there are so many Chicago musicians who want to collaborate together.
Is that one of the things that makes the Chicago music scene so great?
McNeal – I think there is a beautiful spirit of collaboration. Chicago musicians have a ton of heart and not a ton of pretense. They say if you serve the music, it will serve you.
And Marquis, not only is he an incredible musician, he is also a wonderful person. Not only did he contribute to the record, he held my hand as we walked through creating it.
We flew to Atlanta and kind of tucked ourselves away in an Airbnb. And we had a "Greenhouse" camp.
I'll never forget that week. It was just so beautiful. I cooked for everyone and the production team was in the front house and the writing team was in the back house.
Everyone sat and listened to the concept that I had and the stories that I wanted to tell. But it wasn't about creating a project.
I was trying to share my life and capture those ideas that I was feeling at the time and put them into the music.
Q – Is that one of the best studio experiences you've had in your career?
McNeal – Absolutely. Because of how it was set up, it wasn't even like a studio experience.
We lived together for a week. And we just created.
Everybody brought what makes them magical and we created something wonderful.
We opened up and just built community with one another over the course of that week.
Q – Music runs in your family. Your grandmother sang and your mom sings. Did they inspire you to start singing?
McNeal – I remember listening to a ton of music as a little girl. You name it, there was no musical genre that wasn't represented.
I remember even listening to "Jolene" by Dolly Parton. It's one of my favorite songs.
They were just all over the map with music. And I could not be more grateful to them for that.
My grandmother and mom do have good voices. And I didn't realize that until later in life.