Shannon McNally plays The Basement on Thursday

The Americana singer behind "Black Irish" and "The Waylon Sessions" plays a $12.85 show at the 400-capacity room on Nov. 12.

Some of the best nights in Nashville happen on a Thursday, in a room under a record store, for less than the price of a downtown cocktail. This week's case in point: one of Americana's most reliable voices, at $12.85 a ticket.

Shannon McNally plays The Basement on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12.85 through TicketWeb, and the room holds about 400. McNally is a familiar name on Nashville stages; she plays here more than in any other market in our records.

McNally has spent a career moving comfortably among country, rock and roots music, which is why she's hard to file and easy to love. Her official site and press page present her as an Americana musician, and her records back that up with a wide reach. Her 2017 album "Black Irish" was a collaboration with Rodney Crowell, who teamed with her on the record, and it showed off a singer equally at home with a slow-burning ballad and a rocker.

Then came "The Waylon Sessions," her tribute to Waylon Jennings, which AllMusic dates to 2021. Taking on Waylon is a dare for anyone, but WTJU's write-up captured how fully McNally dug into those songs, and the record made a natural calling card in a city that still treats Waylon as scripture. A 2020 Poughkeepsie Journal interview she shared on her site ran under a headline that sums up her career well: she's here to stay.

There's something newer, too. Her site points to a new single, "Ceremony," a song she describes as a long time in the making, so Thursday is a chance to hear where she's headed as well as where she's been.

She's been on the road this year, with dates including a Sunday matinee at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz in March and a June show at The State Theatre in State College, Pennsylvania. Coming home to a Nashville club after a year of travel tends to bring out a looser, friendlier set, the kind where a singer tells the story behind the song because half the room already knows it.

The Basement suits that perfectly. At around 400 capacity, it's small enough that you can hear the room breathe between songs, and the crowd on a Thursday tends to be people who actually came to listen. For a singer whose strength is the voice and the song, that's the ideal setup.

The 9 p.m. start leaves time for dinner first, and at under $13, there's no reason not to bring a friend who's only heard her name.

Go for the Waylon songs if you must, but stay for the originals. That's where McNally has always done her best work.

Sources: Shannon McNally (official site) (shannonmcnally.com); Shannon McNally press (shannonmcnally.com); Shannon McNally Teams With Rodney Crowell On New CD 'Black Irish' (MusicRow) (last.musicrow.com); Shannon McNally digs into The Waylon Sessions (WTJU) (wtju.net); Shannon McNally albums (AllMusic) (allmusic.com); Poughkeepsie Journal: With new album, Shannon McNally is 'here to stay' (shannonmcnally.com); Moe's Alley presents Shannon McNally Sunday matinee (moesalley.com); The State Theatre presents Shannon McNally (thestatetheatre.org); Shannon McNally tickets (TicketWeb) (ticketmaster.evyy.net); Shannon McNally at The Basement (JamBase) (jambase.com)