Kris McKay

After Austin roots rock outfit the Wild Seeds split up, Kris McKay launched an intermittent solo career as a roots-oriented acoustic troubadour. A former drama student at the University of Texas, she joined Michael Hall's Wild Seeds—an ensemble already exploring an Americana style before the term gained currency—late in 1987, just as the band finished its debut long-player Brave, Clean & Reverent. Primarily supplying backing vocals on the 1988 follow-up Mud, Lies & Shame, she took the lead on the album-closing track "All This Time." Once the group disbanded in 1989, McKay landed a solo contract with Arista and delivered What Love Endures in 1990. Composed largely of covers, the album failed to connect, hampered partly because adult alternative radio had not yet become a common format. Dropped by the label, she navigated extended lean stretches, accepting sporadic session work while continuing to perform locally in Austin. She returned in 1996 on Shanachie with Things That Show, a set of seven covers and four originals that featured a duet with Matthew Sweet on "How Cool" plus her distinctive version of the English Beat new wave classic "Save It for Later." McKay kept up session singing and Austin appearances until relocating to Los Angeles, yet she performed at the South by Southwest Festival in both 1998 and 2000.