
MAX
CREEK
In those rare instances that a band reaches its sixth decade,
it’s usually a result of stardom. It’s easy enough to keep things
together when each member has a jet and techs on retainer and
the world tour rolls around every few years. But that’s not how
Max Creek has done it. In 40+ years Max Creek has been small,
big, regionally-huge, medium, and any other size one can think
of; they’ve never graced the cover of Rolling Stone, but you’d
be hard pressed to find a music fan in the Northeast that hadn’t
heard of them. Well then, how’d they do it? If you knew Max Creek
you’d answer simply, “they just did.” Creek lacks pretense; there
is no hip style or genre-title that can define them. From the
beginning they’ve mixed anything they liked—rock, country, reggae,
soul, jazz, calypso—in with their own
great songs and it’s all just come out sounding like Creek. As
such they’ve never been the hot item in the flavor-of-the-year
club yet they’ve also never gone out of style. Moreover, Creek
exudes confidence but lacks ego; each member is an incredible
musician but that’s never been what it was about. But that is
all things Creek is not, and what Creek is is far more important.
The band is certainly joyous, and their stage is full of smiles
and laughter, both during and between songs. All one has to do
is glance into the crowd to see that the feeling is contagious.
Creek is also much more engaging than the average band, sculpting
lengthy shows on-the-fly from their 200+ song catalog with rockers,
ballads, deep jams and crowd sing-alongs all tucked into their
perfect places. And Creek is, most definitely, a family. 40-odd
years in, the audience is a multi-generational stew; it’s not
uncommon to witness old-school Creek Freeks getting down with
their teenage (or older!) kids. Creek itself is multigenerational.
Though the “front line” of guitarist Scott Murawski, keyboardist
Mark Mercier and bassist John Rider has remained intact since
the mid-70s, the current drums and percussion team of Bill Carbone
and Jamemurrell Stanley weren’t even born when Max Creek was founded.
So come and see what every seasoned "Creek Freek" has known for
decades: that seeing this band is a more than rewarding experience.
. . and don't forget your dancin' shoes!

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