Mark Crissinger – Night Light
self release
10 songs time-45:14
The wave of talented musicians coming out of Canada have tapped into a never ending wellspring of creativity. Mark Crissinger is the lasted to fall into my music hungry little mitts. Roots-singer-songwriter music tempered with a touch of blues is his forte. His smooth voice and versatile way with a guitar make the songs go down easy. Having a top shelf assemblage of musicians doesn’t hurt either. All the songs were written by Mark and he also co-produced along with Rick Salt.
The upbeat and happy sounding “Holding My Heart” starts things off quite nicely thank you. Mark’s guitar and the harmonica playing of Marty Howe give the listener a preview of the good music to come. Mark rattles off his blues influences on “Poor Boy Blues”, where his guitar along with Pat Rush’s crazy good slide ignite the song. The easy rollin’ title track features the harmonica playing of Jerome Godboo to compliment the always tasty guitar styling’s. Dust your self off and get back up is the sentiment of “Defeated”, where Mark’s guitar just takes off. Bill Hicks thumps the beejeezus out of the tom-toms on this one.
The breezy and rootsy vibe of “One Of These Days” is enhanced by the splendid honky-tonky piano of Dan Dube along with the sprightly harmonica of the inimitable Marty Howe. If Chuck Berry, the blues and Jerry Lee Lewis had a baby the resulting bundle of joy would be “The Sunday Blues”. “Cedar Shuffle”, the lone instrumental here, is a jaunty little ditty with guitar and harp playing in tandem at times along with Dan Dube’s always spot on piano tinkling. The guys mellow out on the slow and mellow love song that is “A Simple Truth”. Steve Hill unleashes his wicked slide guitar in the rockin’ groove of “Wild Wind Fever”. The closer “Run” starts off life slow with acoustic guitar, then picks up a bit of steam. Mark introduces some nifty wah-wah guitar towards the middle section.
Mark and his cohorts have cooked up a gem with this effort. They get a really comfortable rootsy vibe going with their stellar musicianship that pushes all the right buttons. The players compliment one another and give each other space to contribute their solos. This is well crafted and enjoyable music from head to toe. Do yourself a favor and snatch up this puppy.
