Fairfield & Westchester County Weekly - Jan 16, 1997
G-Strings And Revelations
by Stefanie Ramp
In 1971, John Rider (bassist, vocals), Dave Reed (now ex-guitarist) and Bob
Gosselin (now ex-drummer), students at Hartt College of Music in Hartford,
got the notion to read charts for strippers at Shaker Park, the local boys club.
This was back in the day when stripping was a delicate art form and the ladies
picked their favorite inspirational pieces to be played live during their
performances. Then after church one day, Rider wrote Crystal Clear,
a song that ponders the Book of Revelations. It was the impetus for the three
to quit the strippers and get serious with their music; the song became the
first original for the band soon to be known as Max Creek. My how the Lord
works in mysterious ways.
That summer, the boys landed at a Berkshires roadhouse called the Maple
View Ballroom. A man by the name of Arlo Guthrie owned 20 percent of the
establishment, and Arlo and friends would drop by on Sundays for a habitual
spaghetti dinner and a bit of pick-up pool, while the infant Max Creek
jammed along. Prolific in both original material and promotion, the summer
proved to be one of those mythical, romantic ones - part of the Max Creek
great American novel - the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end
of their obscurity.
For the next 25 years, Max Creek etched out a niche in the Northeast, gaining
a large and always expanding cult following. They promoted themselves as
tight, country rock, though their songs vary greatly in tempo and amount of
country/bluegrass infusion. Most are upbeat, danceable tunes, and the slower
numbers take on a blusey, bittersweet quality that makes you want to go find
love gone wrong in New Orleans. Or maybe that’s just my fixation, but you
get the point.
In conjunction with the country rock sound, the San Francisco
improvisational style heavily influenced Max Creek. The band has matured
this style through the years, hovering at a virtuoso level today.
“The improvisational style is like a marriage for us,” John Rider explained.
“We’ve been doing it for so long that each of us knows where the other is
heading.”
I wondered if this ever causes problems - if any of them are ball hogs, so to
speak. Rider assured me that with Max Creek “no one asserts too much.
That’s why we’re still together.” Their body of original work has grown past
bookkeeping bounds but guesstimates point to a figure well over 100 songs.
That’s not including the vault of material Scott Murawski (guitar, banjo(sic),
vocals) hasn’t gotten around to introducing yet but could keep them supplied
well into their geriatric years.
After putting down some roots and growing a few families, Max Creek has
finally decided to tour nationally; they leave for California in two months.
“We can feel the momentum building,” said Mark Mercier (keyboards,
vocals). “I like the feeling. It spawns creativity.”
Max Creek played the Globe Theater in Norwalk last Sunday. According to
all there, including diehards who have seen countless shows, it was one of the
band’s finest. Murawski opened the second set on banjo - an unexpected
pleasure. Drummer prodigy Scott Allhouse proved himself during a bang-up
solo. He and percussionist Rob Fried played off of each other surprisingly
well, considering that Allhouse signed on only two months before (sic).
Max Creek moved through tempos and styles gracefully and coherently. The
improv jams were close to perfection - not too drawn out, never dropping the
integrity of the song’s structure. Most enthralling was the momentum
Mercier had mentioned. Max Creek has enough energy coursing through
them right now to blow up a small continent.
If you missed the Globe gig - or attended and have become a junkie - Max
Creek will play Tuxedo Junction this Sunday, Jan 19 and Irving Plaza in New
York City in February. I highly recommend getting a solid dose before they
fly the coop for California.
Go west, young men, and prosper!
©1997 New Mass Media Inc.
Used with permission
