Megan Zurkey: Questions and Answers (self-released)
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, singer-songwriter Megan Zurkey was able to finance this, her first full-length, which she recorded with the help of Grammy-winning mastering engineer Andrew Mendelson. She displays a good deal of exuberance right from the start as she triumphantly sings, "I'm ready for a new song" on the poppy opening number, "Side B." The Sheryl Crow-like "Volume" is equally high energy. It's not all roses here, either, as Zurkey turns up the electric guitars and channels some genuine frustration and anger into the bitter break-up ballad "Undeserving."
Megan Zurkey performs with Chris Burns, Top Hat Black and Brothers of Hey Monea! at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, at Mahall's.
