Mark McGuinn - One Man's Crazy

"One Man's Crazy" is one of those CDs that stays fresh with each successive listen. It has timeless melodies mixed with unique lyrics. In a just world, Mark'd have a few more hits from this record. However, despite Nashville's recent 'acceptance' of indie artists, Radio still seems to prefer stuff from a 'label system.'

In early 2001, Mark McGuinn came out of nowhere with his debut single "Mrs. Steven Rudy." It rose to the top of the singles chart and Mark promptly followed it up with two more Top 30 hits and sold nearly 150,000 albums before his label VFR Records closed due to a lack of funding. At the same time Lonestar recorded one of Mark's songs and had a big hit in 2002 with "Unusually Unusual." Because of the label closing, Mark had some struggles finding another label and he took his time and got married and had a child. All the while Mark never stopped writing and the result of his writing sessions is this album, "One Man's Crazy."

The title track leads off the record and it features Mark's 'signature' banjo and drum loop rhythm section along with a lyric that is affirming in that people should be allowed to be who they are: "One man's crazy is another man's cool," he sings. "115 Pounds," along with "Turtle" and "Trampoline" showcase the unique writing style that Mark has for his songs. He simply comes up with lyrics that are, to quote another song on the record "left of Centerville."

It's refreshing to hear a writer stick to his guns the way Mark has and continue to write songs that define him as an artist/writer. Written during on the way back to Nashville from California after (9-11-01), "More Beautiful Today" shows a softer, of-the-moment, poetic side to Mark that is also touched with the lovely current single "Deep."