You just never know with Nellie.

Nellie McKay, the karma chameleon chanteuse with a penchant for politics, presents a solo concert at 7:30 p.m. March 18 in the “Jazz Upstairs” series at Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.

McKay returns to the Rodale Community Room where she performed in 2012 with the Turtle Island Quartet.

The Allentown concert, presented by the Allentown Symphony Association, which owns and operates Miller Symphony Hall, is a Berks Jazz Fest preview concert.

McKay also does a solo concert at 7 p.m. April 16, Deerhead Inn, Delaware Water Gap, Monroe County, her home stomping ground where she often performs at the COTA Jazz Festival.

Nell Marie McKay was born April 13, 1982, in London, England, to Malcolm McKay, an English writer-director, and Robin Pappas, an American actress. She lived with her mother in Harlem, N.Y. and Olympia, Wash., before settling in Mount Pocono, Monroe County.

McKay graduated form Pocono Mountain Senior High School, Class of 2000. She played in the Pocono Youth Orchestra and Phil Woods’ orchestra of young musicians.

Of the Miller Symphony Hall concert, McKay says, “It’ll be a mixture of jazz and rock choices with a beat. We’ll try to keep it entertaining.”

That should not be a problem for McKay, whose between-song patter is sprinkled with all manner of repartee about social morays, pop culture and political humor.

“There may be stuff about animals, if you care about women, and fighting for environmental justice,” McKay says during a phone interview from Detroit where she was campaigning for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on the day of the Michigan primary election.

McKay manages to work all manner of topical references into her songwriting. You might say she’s a “singer-wrong-righter.”

In her self-penned “The Dog Song,” a tribute to her pet, McKay sings, “Just go right to the pound, And find yourself a hound.”

Another of her many songs, “Mother of Pearl,” includes the ironic lyric, “Feminists don’t have a sense of humor.”

Will the Miller Symphony Hall show have a political theme, McKay is asked?

“Every show is politically-themed. You can’t be neutral on a moving train. Everything that one makes tacitly supports the status quo, or not. You can’t do an a-poltical show. It’s impossible for one to do an a-political show. It doesn’t have to be explicit. But one way or the other, it means something.”

McKay’s first album, “Get Away from Me” (2004), produced by legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, is believed to be the first double album debut by a female singer-songwriter. Jon Pareles of The New York Times reviewed it thusly: “a tour de force from a sly, articulate musician who sounds comfortable in any era.”

Among her six albums are: “Pretty Little Head” (2006), “Obligatory Villagers” (released in 2007 and recorded at Kent Heckman’s Red Rock Recording Studio, Saylorsburg, Monroe County), “Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day” (2009), “Home Sweet Mobile Home” (released in 2010 and produced by McKay and her mother with artistic input from David Byrne), and “My Weekly Reader” (the 2015 release was covers of 1960s’ songwriters’ tunes).

McKay’s one-woman shows include: “Silent Spring: It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature,” about environmentalist Rachel Carson; “I Want to Live!,” about executed convicted murderer Barbara Graham; “A Girl Named Bill: The Life and Times of Billy Tipton,” about the female jazz pianist who passed as a man, and “Nellie With a Z,” a triibute to Liza Minnelli’s “Liza With a Z” show.

McKay made her Broadway debut in 2006, co-starring with Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper in “The Threepenny Opera,” receiving a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut for her portrayal of Polly Peachum. In 2013, she performed her songs, opposite Bill Irwin and David Shiner, in the off-Broadway revue, “Old Hats.”

She’s performed onscreen in the film, “PS I Love You” (2007) and wrote songs for the soundtrack of director Rob Reiner’s film, “Rumor Has It” (2005).

McKay’s songs have been heard on the TV shows “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Weeds,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS” and “Nurse Jackie.”

McKay performed on the TV shows, “Late Show With David Letterman,” “The View,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Live with Regis & Kelly” and “CBS Saturday Morning.”

McKay’s March through July tour takes her to California, New York, and her place of birth, London.

When McKay performed in the Rodale Room, she played the marimba. This time, she’ll play the baby grand. And she’ll bring her ukulele.

“I’ll just try to make the ukulele sound like the marimba,” she jokes.

McKay says she has plans to record a new album after the election season.

“I’ve just got a lot of little notebooks,” she says of her songwriting ideas.

Tickets: Miller Symphony Hall Box Office, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown; millersymphonyhall.org; 610-432-6715