John Mark McMillan is something of an anomaly. From the very beginning of his career, nearly a decade ago, his music has defied easy categorization. A singer-songwriter as interested in musical exploration as lyrical exploration, McMillan carved his own path from the outset—with an ear for melody with a poet’s eye for metaphor—no topic was off-limits: death and love; isolation and exultation; restlessness and silence. And always consistent—an ongoing dialogue with God, ever-wrestling for some kind of blessing and usually at volumes most suited for rock clubs. Now ten long years in, McMillan released Borderland, his fourth studio album and arguably his finest, on March 4, 2014.
Borderland is indeed something rare—the sound of an artist staking a claim in the no-man’s land of contemporary life, intent on finding heaven there. Make no mistake, Borderland is the musical statement of a songwriter at the height of his powers; one who has made a career of rejecting easy categorization and defying expectations, and this album and tour is certainly no different. He brings his tremendous talent to Lincoln Berean Church on Tuesday, September 16th in the Upper Room.
