Sweet Megg is a local singer down in Nashville, TN originally from New York City. She performs a range of material steeped in the American traditions of jazz, blues, and country. Her vocals reveal a vast variety of influences, ranging from Billie Holiday to Patsy Cline & from Edith Piaf to Karen Dalton. She grew up performing as a songwriter in the East Village and dreaming of being a writer like those of the folk era of the Greenwich Village. After high school she found herself down in North Carolina where she trained as a raft guide and got her first taste of Southern music. The sounds of bluegrass and country intrigued her and she always felt a longing to return once back in the big city. She continued songwriting in college and eventually moved to Paris to study jazz where she began performing around town with local musicians. After college she returned to New York City and fell head first into the early jazz community where she found the excitement of improvisational jazz accompanied by the storytelling of the early blues and country she loved. She flourished in that community and her first formation, Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers, gained popularity and began touring outside of the city. Her tours brought her back to the south where she became more and more curious about country music.

Her first two releases Under the Moonlight (2020 Data Records) & I’m in Love Again (2021 Turtle Bay Records) are steeped in the classic jazz she was playing every night in New York. After I’m in Love Again came out she finally packed up her bags and moved down to Nashville TN. She was able to convince Scott Asen (the chef of Turtle Bay) to do a record that mixed the sound of Nashville with the sound of New York. That was the inspiration behind her next album My Window Faces South (2022 Turtle Bay). She mixed her horn section & piano player from I’m in Love Again with a few of her favorite musicians down in Nashville (Chris Scruggs, Billy Contreras, Chris Gelb, & Dennis Crouch). This set off her vision of what Sweet Megg would sound like going forward. Real Hill Billy Jazz.

Inspired by Bob Wills, she is taking the idea of mixing country and jazz to the next level.
“I’ve been building a sound combining my knowledge and experience in the old-time jazz world of New York with the country music I love and have learned so much about living down in Nashville. Bob Wills loved jazz and I believe his vision was to meld the two genres of his era creating Western swing. I’m just expanding on that idea by not only taking jazz & country ideas from the 30s & 40s but also integrating ideas from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and so on”.
The only missing puzzle piece now is to reintroduce her original music to the mix. Her next album Bluer than Blue is in the works and will be released in the fall of 2023. It includes an original by Megg and moving forward she plans to keep writing tunes that hint at the classic sounds of country music while leaving spaces for the freedom and improvisation of jazz.

New York Love Song / Sweet Megg Live / St. Louis

Listen to the Album
Tracks
  1. My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms
  2. Foolin’ Myself
  3. Right Or Wrong
  4. Squeeze Me
  5. Last Night On The Back Porch
  6. Angry
  7. I Got It Bad
  8. Ragged But Right
  9. I’m In Love Again
  10. I’d Love To Take Orders From You
  11. A Blues Serenade
Listen to the Album
Tracks

1. Faded Love
2. Hesitation Blues
3. I Can’t Stop Loving You
4. There’ll Be Some Changes Made
5. My Window Faces the South
6. Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia
7. Stardust
8. I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling
9. Tennessee Waltz
10. Those Memories of You
11. Trouble in Mind

Listen to the Album
Tracks
  1. Winter Weather
  2. Santa Baby
  3. Here Comes Santa Claus
  4. I’ll Be Home for Christmas
  5. Blue Christmas
  6. White Christmas
  7. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
  8. Silver Bells
  9. All I Want for Christmas Is You
  10. Silent Night
Hi-Res Photos
Press Highlights

 

Syncopated Times artist profile and album review
“Megg’s vocals are also superb to a fault—deep, rich and breathy on the slower numbers but full-throated, nimble and clear as a bell when the occasion calls for it.”

DownBeat Magazine
“Megg’s agility with Modern Swing feels gives her vocals a decidedly individualistic flair.”

JazzWax
“Megg’s voice is sultry, but as you listen, you can hear her bending notes and digging in with just the right emotion and coyness.”

Music Connection Magazine show review
“Influenced by singers like Billie Holiday and Edith Pilaf, Farrell’s convincing vocal portrayal of the early jazz years is due to her ability to internalize that sound and the sentiments surrounding it.”

Jersey Jazz album review
“Sweet Megg knows how to put this material across convincingly.”

Jazz Weekly album review
“Husky voiced Sweet Megg joins with reed man Ricky Alexander’s team for a collection of two stepping pre-swing era dandies.”

Take Effects album review
“Megg’s expressive, flawless pipes…”

New York Daily album review
“The opening track, My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms has a jaunty, brassy dixieland interweave contrasting with Farrell’s mentholated purr. It sets the stage for the rest of the party.”

Lucid Culture album review
“…Farrell’s expressive, dynamic vocals.”