Ancestors

Ancestors is an original live performance bringing together music, dance, family history, and the stories and art carried through generations. Created by Ithaca musician and artist McKenzie Lauren Jones, the work traces lineage, land, loss, resilience, and the complicated inheritance passed down from previous generations.

Featuring new music co-written by McKenzie Lauren Jones and London McDaniel, original choreography by Megan Omohundro, and a cast of talented local musicians and dancers, Ancestors transforms McKenzie’s new body of music into a fully staged experience hosted by Mighty Mickie Quinn. Part concert, part dance performance, and something entirely its own, Ancestors invites audiences into an intimate, powerful evening built from real family history and brought to life through sound and movement for one night only!

Doors at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm. Local jazz band Plan Z will provide music before and after the performance.

This project is made possible in part with SOS grant funding from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.

McKenzie Lauren Jones is a singer, songwriter, and arts and culture worker whose music bridges the personal and political, the spiritual and material. Based in Ithaca, NY, she has been a lifelong cellist, poet, dancer, and vocalist weaving together folk, soul, and rock traditions with storytelling.

As the frontwoman and songwriter of Strange Heavy and founding member of Mama Look, McKenzie has performed across local and regional stages for decades. She has released two studio albums with Strange Heavy and is now stepping into solo artistry with Ancestors, an original project that explores identity, lineage, liberation, and belonging through collaborative and movement-drive songs debuting in 2026.

McKenzie has contributed backing instrumentation and vocals to a variety of projects, including The Ilium Works, Drew Kiddoo and the Blackouts, and Rachel Beverly. In 2025, she presented on music cooperatives at AmericanaFest and also performed in Nashville, bringing together her dual roles as an artist and activist.

In parallel with her music, McKenzie works as a cooperative developer, helping to build structures of equity within grassroots organizations and justice-oriented businesses.

https://mckenzielaurenjones.com/