Conjuring the image of a lonely all night truck stop along highway 1 on the California coast, all but lost in the fog that comes creeping along the shoreline, Nellie McKay's new "Sister Orchid" album speaks of the night, the outsider, the plaintive wail of those lost at sea. "Sister Orchid" was conceived in solitude, executed in darkness. It comes from a place of quiet, a world of low lights and cool drinks, up against a hard wall. An oasis of hungry eyes and easy promises, warm as a biscuit, the kind of place your mother warned you against.Nellie McKay has released six relatively accomplished albums, won a Theatre World Award for her Broadway portrayal of Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, co-created and starred in the award-winning Broadway hit Old Hats, written compelling musical biographies of a variety of female figures, and much more that's unlike anything else out there.