CARM’S ROAST

There was something strange about playing at Carmelita’s Roast. Host Dave Tree called Carm up to the stage and had her sit in a big comfy chair right at the beginning of the show. Usually this would happen when the roast portion of the show would start. So, when I got introduced to play, Carm was already sitting on the stage—and throughout my half-hour set she sat behind me in total view of the audience. It was one of those times when I wish I had had eyes behind my head. I probably would have excused Carm from having to sit in the spotlight with no one to talk to and the only thing for her to look at was my butt because the spotlights basically made the audience invisible. But those situations just happen sometimes. When I play at the Byfield Community Arts Center (7 Central Street, Byfield, MA) on Saturday, June 12, I will not have anyone sitting behind me on stage.

 

WHY DO WE GO TO WAR?

The first press has come in since I started mailing out Why Do We Go to War? to the media. It’s a story run in the Georgetown Record by Sally Applegate. This online version is shorter than the piece that ran in print.

In July I will publish a review of my CD in the Noise. Trying to be fair, I found someone totally detached from the Noise, a friend of a friend of a friend, to do the review. This impressive writer, Marc Levy, was an infantry medic during the Vietnam War. That’s all I’ll say for now.

 

T MAX BIO

As an active musician since the age of 14, T Max has played on stage with Pete Seeger, Carley Simon, Gary Cherone, Kate Taylor, Bleu, Peter Moore. He is also known for publishing the Noise, a fanzine dedicated to New England music for the past 30 years. The Noise has been recognized by the Boston Phoenix as one of the most important elements of Boston’s music scene. The Improper Bostonian called T Max one of the most influential people in Boston music.

As a founding member of Boston Rock Opera he performed in Jesus Christ Superstar, Preservation (the Kinks), Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (the Beatles), A Quick One (the Who), S.F. Sorrow (the Pretty Things), and a live performance tribute called Project Eno. He has now written his own folk-rock opera Why Do We Go to War? In 15 songs he tells the story of a newlywed couple dealing with the moral dilemmas that are inherent in war.

Combining his anti-war stance with music did not suddenly materialize. Back in 1995 he formed the band Max and released the 10-song CD Ride the Dove, an ode to peace. Then during the Iraq War, he gathered 44 vocalists and a star-studded 13-piece band to record “End War Now.” The recording rose to #1 on Neil Young’s Living with War chart, a compilation of over 2,800 songs. Sgt. Maxwell’s Peace Chorus, an 11-piece semi-theatrical ensemble, staged peace shows around the Northeast, and released the Military EP. They performed at venues ranging from the Middle East to the Boston Common. Now as a solo artist he recorded the entirety of Why Do We Go to War? The debut live performance of the entire CD was held at Northeastern University.

T Max says, “My intent with this project is to open the eyes of the people who are afraid or unable to look at the reality of war.” Here are some of the quotes that helped him shape the sentiment behind Why Do We Go to War?

Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. ~ Albert Einstein

He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. ~ Albert Einstein

War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals. ~ Charles Evans Hughes (1916 presidential candidate)

I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends. ~ Abraham Lincoln

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. ~ Albert Einstein

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

to learn more about T Max and his projects visit

http://www.myspace.com/dreamerswanted