Ice Mac Sea

Michael McCrickard, aka Ice Mac Sea, calls his music “listenable, but downright weird alternative rocking country-techno pop.” If you’re the sort of listener who simply must put things in a category, that’ll do.

I discovered Ice Mac Sea at four in the morning while driving to Sacramento airport. The car rental company had apparently run short of cheap cars, because I got one with satellite radio. I tuned up the “Progressive Country” channel, and a half-hour down Interstate 5, Ice Mac Sea’s “Steve Earle” popped up.

Gram Parsons never died
You can hear him singing every night
They love the dead ones the best
They never disappoint you like the rest.

I liked “Steve Earle” right away. I pulled over at the next gas station, and wrote down the name of the artist. I was afraid to rely on my memory, since the sun hadn’t even shown a hint, and my caffeine level was dangerously low.

So, I decided that I had to have “Measure for Measure” in its entirety. It’s a leap of faith to buy an album based on one song, but that one song led me to believe that Ice Mac Sea had something special to offer. I wasn’t disappointed. Yeah, it is “downright weird,” but delightfully so. There is a techo-pop element to it, and a dash or two of hip-hop, combined with country-rock instrumental stylings, a goodly heaping of electronica, and McCrickard’s vocal phrasing, sometimes electronically altered. His voice would seem to be at home with Nashville-smooth country, alt-country, or the neotraditional fold. To me, his singing evokes the spirit of all three. Think Ronnie Milsap meets Junior Brown.

Does it sound like those elements would clash? Nope. They don’t. In fact, this “downright weird alternative rocking country-techo pop” has strong pop sensibilities, imbued with a spirit of artistic integrity, with sharp, witty lyrics. Yep, it’s weird, but infectiously so. Just ask my wife and son, who spent many mornings singing along with Ice Mac Sea on the way to my son’s kindergarten class.

One of the unfortunate things about belonging to the iPod Nation is that I tend to listen to artists as part of a mix, and I seldom listen to albums track by track anymore. That's a shame, because as a listener, I miss out on the tapestry of songs that the artist has put together. While flying to work this time, I pulled out the iPod, and played Ice Mac Sea's Measure for Measure in its entirety. Once again I was caught up in the catchy nature of "Measure for Measure" and "Steve Earle." Once again, I felt haunted by "Navy Pier." And, once again, I was reminded of why "Perfect Man," a song Michael wrote about his infant son, is my favorite song about fatherhood.

You are just the perfect man
Yeah, you've got perfect feet
When the band strikes up a tune
You dance a perfect beat

In your time upon the earth
You've never told a lie
You've disappointed no one
And made nobody cry

How strange and wonderful, then, that a few days later, I got an email with the title "Greetings from Ice Mac Sea."

Hal,

It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that finding your blog post where you mentioned my song, Steve Earle, made my year. I’ve been very inactive musically since I did the CD, and I have no band, no label, no manager or anybody promoting my stuff. But somehow, at least one of my songs made it onto satellite radio and without you, I might not have ever known. And the fact that a total stranger has my songs on an iPod with the likes of Dave Matthews Band, John Prine and the Beatles, well, that’s about as big a compliment as I’ve ever gotten on my music.

So, of course I had to read the whole posting and parts of it were laugh-out loud funny. Yup, if I had an iPod, it would probably have the Monkees and the Carpenters on it, too. I have a feeling that we could have a lot of fun talking and sharing music if we ever get to meet. I live near Washington, D.C. and I don’t get out your way much, but I hope to when our boys get older. Please give me a call, if you are ever in the DC area. Take care and thanks so much again. And send me your snail mail address if you want a free copy of the CD. I’ve got a bunch of ‘em in my basement collecting dust!

Michael McCrickard

How strange and wonderful indeed, to get an email from the man who wrote my favorite song about fatherhood. Instead of taking him up on his offer of free CD's, I ordered two of 'em from CD Baby, a great place to find and buy indie music. (Uncle E, one of the copies is for you.) That said, though, I did ask Michael if he would mind sending Dylan an autographed copy.

Dylan's gonna like that.