MAX COUNTRYMAN performs the song "THE TINKER'S TINCTURE" for BalconyTV.
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PRESENTED BY JOANNE COLLINS
PRODUCED BY PABLO GOMEZ, VIDA VISION AND JOANNE COLLINS
Maxwell Countryman, his real name, is a multi-instrumentalist influenced by a variety of musical genres not only from a wide range of geographic locations but from multiple historical periods as well. Though he has spent the majority of the last sixteen years playing the banjo, it seems Max will play any stringed instrument you give him. Having grown up in Portland, OR, he is somewhat of a rarity in the town in which he still resides. He doesn't write about love or self discovery. He doesn't play standards or make innocuous lyrics about his feelings. Instead Max composes ballads: elaborate stories complete with definitive characters and plot twists, and he does so in language ranging from middle-English to modern Irish Gaelic. He performs primarily on both five-string banjo and the octave-mandolin, accompanied by his own percussion and vocals. A blend of medieval and dark celtic influenced melodies provides an eerie backdrop as his he spins his tales of the macabre, marbled with his own breed of dark humor.
Rather than try to explain Max's style of lyric writing, one can get a better feel for it based on his subject matter: A six year old girl who lives in the house governing the graveyard who can convince no other children her age to come to her house turns to hosting tea parties with the spirits of the deceased from the children's cemetery; a dying mother attempting to convince her son to donate his organs to her, and to impregnate young women so that he may have future organ donors as well; a traveling potion monger making botanical concoctions which cause the consumer to first experience euphoria, then subsequent anguish - a tool which she uses to convince noblemen to take their own lives against the instruction of God's word.
Spending his teenage years roaming the music shops of Portland, at 16 years old, Max decided his first major musical purchase would be a second hand banjo he had been eyeing for sometime. After experimenting with both clawhammer and tenor styles of picking, he settled on the three-finger picking style he uses today. Though this style became popularized by bluegrass, Max has spent much of his time applying these techniques to variety of musical genres including klezmer, classical and punk. Upon turning 21, he moved to Cork City in the south of Ireland where he expanded his knowledge in celtic traditional music and language, and developed his skills at bouzouki: though a traditionally Greek instrument, it was imported into Irish music in the 1970s, complete with a rhythmic picking style unique to that genre. Upon returning to Portland several years later, he had a local luthier build a custom octave mandolin (of the bouzouki family) to his specifications which he currently plays. Since then, Max has divided his time between living in Portland and Christchurch, New Zealand, having being invited on several tours with multiple bands.
To this date Max has played tenor banjo in Celtic bands, five-string and bouzouki in klezmer bands, mandolin and upright bass in a New Zealand-based Americana band, bluegrass style banjo in punk bands and his solo act of comedic pornographic country songs entitled "Max's Sexy Banjo Show" has performed all over the globe. He is releasing a 2 song, 45rpm 7inch record single this summer and is currently record a full length debut scheduled for released next year.
http://maxwellcountryman.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/meacsbhuel.tiranfear
CREDITS / SPONSORS
JO COLL PRODUCTIONS, VIDA VISION, CORK FIM CENTRE, THE IMPERIAL HOTEL CORK
Tune in again to BalconyTV //
Subscribe to us right now at http://bit.ly/15yj4oc
'Like' us on Facebook - http://Facebook.com/balconytv
Follow us on Twitter - http://Twitter.com/balconytv
PRESENTED BY JOANNE COLLINS
PRODUCED BY PABLO GOMEZ, VIDA VISION AND JOANNE COLLINS
Maxwell Countryman, his real name, is a multi-instrumentalist influenced by a variety of musical genres not only from a wide range of geographic locations but from multiple historical periods as well. Though he has spent the majority of the last sixteen years playing the banjo, it seems Max will play any stringed instrument you give him. Having grown up in Portland, OR, he is somewhat of a rarity in the town in which he still resides. He doesn't write about love or self discovery. He doesn't play standards or make innocuous lyrics about his feelings. Instead Max composes ballads: elaborate stories complete with definitive characters and plot twists, and he does so in language ranging from middle-English to modern Irish Gaelic. He performs primarily on both five-string banjo and the octave-mandolin, accompanied by his own percussion and vocals. A blend of medieval and dark celtic influenced melodies provides an eerie backdrop as his he spins his tales of the macabre, marbled with his own breed of dark humor.
Rather than try to explain Max's style of lyric writing, one can get a better feel for it based on his subject matter: A six year old girl who lives in the house governing the graveyard who can convince no other children her age to come to her house turns to hosting tea parties with the spirits of the deceased from the children's cemetery; a dying mother attempting to convince her son to donate his organs to her, and to impregnate young women so that he may have future organ donors as well; a traveling potion monger making botanical concoctions which cause the consumer to first experience euphoria, then subsequent anguish - a tool which she uses to convince noblemen to take their own lives against the instruction of God's word.
Spending his teenage years roaming the music shops of Portland, at 16 years old, Max decided his first major musical purchase would be a second hand banjo he had been eyeing for sometime. After experimenting with both clawhammer and tenor styles of picking, he settled on the three-finger picking style he uses today. Though this style became popularized by bluegrass, Max has spent much of his time applying these techniques to variety of musical genres including klezmer, classical and punk. Upon turning 21, he moved to Cork City in the south of Ireland where he expanded his knowledge in celtic traditional music and language, and developed his skills at bouzouki: though a traditionally Greek instrument, it was imported into Irish music in the 1970s, complete with a rhythmic picking style unique to that genre. Upon returning to Portland several years later, he had a local luthier build a custom octave mandolin (of the bouzouki family) to his specifications which he currently plays. Since then, Max has divided his time between living in Portland and Christchurch, New Zealand, having being invited on several tours with multiple bands.
To this date Max has played tenor banjo in Celtic bands, five-string and bouzouki in klezmer bands, mandolin and upright bass in a New Zealand-based Americana band, bluegrass style banjo in punk bands and his solo act of comedic pornographic country songs entitled "Max's Sexy Banjo Show" has performed all over the globe. He is releasing a 2 song, 45rpm 7inch record single this summer and is currently record a full length debut scheduled for released next year.
http://maxwellcountryman.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/meacsbhuel.tiranfear
CREDITS / SPONSORS
JO COLL PRODUCTIONS, VIDA VISION, CORK FIM CENTRE, THE IMPERIAL HOTEL CORK
Tune in again to BalconyTV //
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Music