Mark McKay – Shimmer

Mark McKay has taken the loose and literary folk and rock from last year’s Live From the Memory Hotel and tightened it up a bit for his newest project, Shimmer. The result is an album of punchy roots rock fit for prime time. In their incarnation on Hotel, some of these tracks displayed a raw beauty that tended toward sprawl. Musician/producer Eric Ambel strikes a balance here that concentrates McKay’s passionate guitarwork and storytelling into a more polished package.