Jackson Free Press

Music can transport the listener to a specific place and time. Musicians can give the vision of driving through the green fields of the Mississippi Delta or paint the scene of the bustling New Orleans French Quarter.

Jackson native Beth McKee does both, and much more, on her new album "Next to Nowhere." The album is packed with original songs by the soulful-voiced piano and accordion player that are difficult to categorize by genre. "Next to Nowhere" is simply, yet complexly, southern.

The Jackson Free Press caught up with McKee while she was preparing for her upcoming shows in New Orleans and Jackson, two cities she called home before moving to Texas and then to her current home in Tampa, Fla. McKee said she has drawn influences for her music from all over the South.

"There's a little bit of all of it. I just kind of write what I know—like most people, I think," McKee said. "You just kind of deliver your experiences into lyrics and music."

While her regional heritage drives the music of the album and the lyrics of songs like "River Rush" and "Tennessee Blues," McKee's personal experiences as a musician influence much of her lyrics. "Next to Nowhere" is packed with songs like the title track that tell the story of McKee's return to playing music full time, with lines like, "Tired of trying to fool myself and nobody to blame but me / Why'd I ever turn my back on who I was born to be?"

"I just took a little bit of a break," McKee said about the time she spent playing at churches and corporate parties before the release her 2009 album, "I'm That Way."

"It's hard out there on a piano player. So, after a while, I just realized, again, that that is what I felt like is my calling: to write songs and sing them and take them out around the world to play them for people. I'll just be honest, it took a lot of courage to climb back up on that horse," she said.

McKee's husband and drummer in her band, Juan Perez, helped her summon that courage. Though he was supportive of McKee during her break from full-time music, he never let her forget her calling.

"He just kept saying, 'Aren't you ready to make an album, Beth? Let's make an album,'" McKee said.

"I'm that Way" was a collection of cover songs written by Louisiana songwriter Bobby Charles.

When McKee set out to make an album of original music, she decided the best way to keep the music close to home was to record it in her house.

"We had a great engineer named Mark Mason. (He) came, brought his gear and combined it with some of our gear, and we converted the whole house into a studio," McKee said.

Hal and Mal's will host the CD release party for "Next to Nowhere" April 21. Along with a concert by McKee and her band, the party will include an art showing from H.C. Porter, who runs a gallery on Washington Street in Vicksburg. The show will include pieces from her collection "Blues at Home: Mississippians and the Blues, The Living Legends."

McKee said Hal and Mal's is like home to her, because she once lived around the corner from the venue and played there several times while in college at Millsaps College. She said she is trying to get Hal White to make one of her favorite meals for the night.

"I'm trying hard to convince Hal to cook shrimp and cheese grits," McKee said. "We did that here at a club in Tampa not long ago, and it was a huge hit. They sold out. I'm hoping that Hal will get out the grit pan and stir up some shrimp and grits for us."

Doors open at 8 p.m. at Hal and Mal's, and the show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Advance tickets are available at http://www.bethmckee.com/tix.