Biography:

Music connects people who will never meet, uniting them in the most profound and unforgettable manner, in a place they cannot see nor touch, but that they can feel as nothing else. What kind of a miracle is that?

Some of these songs were done in the studio. Some are working demos; some are just live guitar and vocals to be used as tempo tracks for production. “The Gospel According To Luke” was written by Skip Ewing and Don Sampson.

“Winds Of Time” was written by Max’s sister Ruthie and her daughter who was dying of cancer. Her husband had left her while confined in the hospital and during one of my stints in Nashville, Ruthie brought me the lyrics and asked me to write the melody and produce a demo for her.

Though I’ve had many opportunities to work for publishers, I have never been a “commercial” songwriter. I write first for myself. If others find something in it, that is the gift. Sometimes I write because there is a story I want to tell, but mostly songs just have a way of presenting themselves and forcing their way to the surface and I have no choice but to write them. The difficult part is crafting them in such a way as too keep them from being too esoteric…even for myself.

When I was in my teens, I wanted to play piano. We didn't have one; my parents couldn't afford one, or the lessons or transportation. When I was 16 I got a guitar for Christmas. The rest as they say is history. I never was as good a player as I wanted to be, but thankfully the guitar is the most versatile and expressive instrument ever invented bar none. As it turns out, I never could get the drift of playing bass and lead on the piano anyway. But I was a really good rhythm player....and guitar opened up songwriting to me...and what I was it turns out, was a writer. And I loved guitar playing...it was like sex for me...only better! A guitar will go anywhere, do anything, take you anywhere your mind can imagine...and when it was in my hands it was love, it was sensual, it was my soul, it was like caressing a woman as my fingers ran over the strings and frets....and it let me write and express myself. If it weren't for music in general when I was a teenager, and the time I spent listening to Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Donovan, Hendrix, Rita Coolidge, I honestly don't think I would have survived it. Music kept me sane and full of hope. All I ever wanted to do with my music was reach other people in their private places. Performing was a rush when things were flowing between me and the audience...no greater feeling on this earth...but as incredible a thing as that is, it was not the most important thing to me. Communicating was. I had my shots and runs at the music industry in Nashville and LA in many ways...and they were fun, but what really mattered to me was writing and communicating in the way that only music an. So...I write and keep working at it.