About

j
jill
Pink monochrome headshot of Jill facing forward but looking to the side. Flowers float behind her.

most soul artists can caress listeners with a song, but how many can say their music reaches out and asks for a caress in return? Jill McCracken knows comfort goes both ways, and she’d like her share of the love, please and thank you.

Jill in a yellow shirt and khaki skirt against a white wall. She holds a lemon close to her cheek which the shirt matches.

As one of Boston’s leading singer-songwriters, McCracken paints with strokes of compassion and warmth, using her long-standing love of songcraft to grip listeners to the soft spots of her heart. Her ears are trained to translate tenderness into works of art — and so is her eye for sentimental visuals, thanks in part to a BFA in Fine Art Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Jill in a yellow shirt and khaki skirt against a white wall. She holds up a lemon which the shirt matches.

Originally from western New York, McCracken’s obsession with strong songs began at just eight years old, long before she began tinkering on the guitar and drums as a preteen. It wasn’t until she was 19 that the world got to hear her strongest instrument – her voice – but she’s been using it to embrace crowds ever since.

Now rooted at the core of the Boston music community, McCracken’s passion for writing, arranging, and producing music remains front and center in her career, although her knack for pivoting between sparse solo sets and boisterous big band performances is just as impressive. (Fans who gathered at her headlining Brighton Music Hall performance in May can happily confirm this).

Pink monochome photo of Jill laying in front of a pink draping backdrop with flowers floating in the air. She's smiling and poking her cheek.
“I’ve always been a lot:
big ideas,
high standards,
loud voice”
Help Me, Hold Me, Heal Me
2022

McCracken’s May 2022 song “help me, hold me, heal me” took a literal approach to her signature call for openness, rousing a bold sound that asks for gentle patience and understanding. The single’s outreach clearly resonated with the scene; in recent months, McCracken nabbed a New England Music Award for “Soul/R&B Act of the Year,” as well as a nod from NEMA in the “Female Performer of the Year” category and a Boston Music Award nomination for “Singer Songwriter of the Year.”

2 of 3 - Jill sings into a mic against a while, front lit by a sunset projected on top of her.
1 of 3 - Jill sings into a mic against a while, front lit by a sunset projected on top of her.
3 of 3 - Jill sings into a mic against a while, front lit by a sunset projected on top of her.

After wrapping up 2022 with a West Coast tour, McCracken extends a piece of herself again, unveiling her new single “just right” on February 22. The new song helps her catalog come full circle, offering the earnest reassurance that “help me, hold me, heal me” pleads for.

Photo of Jill in a wooden walled room bend her neck with a flower over her left eye.
Wide-lens portrait of Jill standing in a grassy field wearing large pants while looking up and shielding her eyes from the sun.
Jill plays guitar on stage and sings two backing vocalists. She wears a flower crown.
Jill sitting in a wooden room laying over another chair.
Jill facing a crowd, singing and playing a guitar
Jill laying in front of a pink draping backdrop with flowers floating in the air. She's smiling and poking her cheek.

“i’ve always been a lot – big ideas, high standards, loud voice. we all internalize lessons about how we should be in the world, and i learned to shrink myself down. the best way to keep the peace was for me to be an ‘easy’ kid; there wasn’t much space for messy and complicated feelings, so i just denied mine altogether for so much of my life. ‘just right’ is a love song to myself and to anyone else who needs to hear this: you’re not too much, you’re not too little– you’re just right, just as you are.”

Jill McCracken

Bio by Victoria Wasylak

Awards

Singer-songwriter of the Year
Nominee
Boston Music Awards
2022
Soul/R&B Act of the Year
Winner
New England Music Awards
2022
Female Performer of the Year
Nominee
New England Music Awards
2022
Vocalist of the Year
Nominee
Boston Music Awards
2021
Singer-songwriter of the Year
Nominee
Boston Music Awards
2019