At Fifty Years Old, This Musician Is Finally Taking Center Stage

As an aspiring songwriter and guitar picker, Max Mackey has paid his dues over the years. The fifty-year-old musician, who has contributed to a variety of rootsy acts in Colorado during the past three decades, has just released his first full-length album and is marking the occasion with performances by his self-named outfit, the Max Mackey Band.

"My grandfather was a musician from Tennessee," shares Mackey, who moved to Gunnison from Alaska to attend Western Colorado University. "He left my older brother and me some guitars, and my brother taught me my first few chords. I haven't been able to quit playing music since. Throughout my life I've always been in a band or multiple bands, and have had a home studio where I record."

Mackey says he began approaching music as a full-time occupation in 2018, when he launched the Max Mackey Band, which includes Chris Bell (keys), Eric Straumanis (guitar), Dave Nielsen (bass), and AJ Knight (drums). The group will celebrate the release of its debut album, Eyes on the Road, with a show at the Velvet Elk Lounge in Boulder on Friday, March 7. The Max Mackey Band also marked the new ten-track album with a performance at the Aggie Theater in February.

"I'm hoping to make a career of this," Mackey says. "I like to sing harmonies and I've played a lot as a sideman, which I really enjoy, but I'm excited about being with my own group and creating my own music. We've been getting great support from our fan base as well as from local venues. After many years of being in different groups where someone tells you what to do, I decided I'd try and do my own thing. It's all my original music. I call it 'genuine American rock.' "

Mackey says his album is the result of some personal struggles that he has gone through, as well as some of the lessons he has learned during his thirty-year career as a musician. Despite being derailed by a few recent set-backs in his life, Mackey never let go of his dream.

"Writing songs, putting them together and recording them takes time and effort," he says. "When you do a full album, it's a lot of money and a lot of commitment. I started on the album in 2019, not long before the pandemic. In 2021, after the pandemic was over, I got in an accident on my motorcycle and I spent the better part of two years in and out of surgeries to save one of my legs. I did save [the leg], but when I finally got back to the studio, it had been a long time since I'd been there."

Mackey enlisted the production help of a Nashville friend, Cameron Solon, who helped him mix the album. Solon sorted through the songs and helped him polish and complete the record, which includes A and B sides on its vinyl edition.

"It has a good flow to it," enthuses Mackey. "I wanted to go full on with this release and we did that. Cameron says my sound is like mid-'70s Pink Floyd meets the Eagles; which is great. I like both of those bands. I'm very thankful to him and I hope to keep working with him for the rest of my career," he enthuses.

When not playing his own music, or loaning his skills to one of several other local outfits, including 3rd Wheel, or Lid Dixon, Mackey says he enjoys artists including Chris Stapleton, Goose and older material by Phish, among others.

The dedicated troubadour is also a longtime Deadhead who has played in the local Grateful Dead tribute act, Peak2Peak.

"I like good song-writing, good harmonies and good singing," shares Mackey. "I'm always going to be a guitar player, first and foremost. I go back to the Dead a lot. I like quirkiness but not trite stuff. It's all so subjective, but I can find real gems in all sorts of genres. I've always been a guitar player, though I wasn't really a Jerry [Garcia] guy in particular. But a couple times, [Peak2Peak] needed a fill-in, so I sat in. Eventually, one of their guitar players went to play with Shakedown Street and their Jerry guy moved away, so now I play with them regularly."

Max Mackey Band, 8 p.m. Friday, March 7, the Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $14.