With the Jammie Awards being unleashed tonight, nominee and Big Dudee Roo frontman Max Lockwood offers up his batch of favorite songs, a diverse list spanning decades.
The Local Spins Guest Playlist: Max Lockwood
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Max Lockwood might be a nominee for the region’s “most collaborative artist,” sitting in with a variety of bands and musicians, from The Crane Wives’ Dan Rickabus to Earthwork Music’s Seth Bernard and crew.
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Collaborative Fellow: Max Lockwood with Dan Rickabus at SpeakEZ Lounge. (Photo/Anna Sink)
But he’s also established himself as of late as a compelling solo act, playing behind his debut album, “Outrider,” which is nominated for Jammie Awards tonight at The Intersection. And yet, his band Big Dudee Roo remains a priority, too, with the jam-oriented, psychedelic folk-rock band set to release its next EP, “Heavy Dudee,” next month.
Today, however, Lockwood offers up his playlist of top songs. Check it out here, and catch Lockwood at 6:10 p.m. in the front lounge of The Intersection (The Stache) when he performs as part of WYCE’s Jammie Awards show.
FROM MAX: I had to sneak one extra song in there; 10 slots just wasn’t enough. Plus, I love bending rules. 😉
1. “Off He Goes,” Pearl Jam (from “No Code,” 1996) — From one of my all-time favorite albums by one of my favorite bands. This song has stayed close to my heart since I first heard it back in high school. Some of Eddie Vedder’s best writing, detailing a reunion with an old, restless friend. Or is it from the imagined perspective of one of his own friends reunited with him? Some simple, timeless lines here like, “Nothing’s changed but the surrounding bullshit, that has grown.”
2. “I’m the Ocean,” Neil Young (from “Mirrorball,” 1995) – I can never put my finger on what I love about this song, but it’s always been a favorite. A lesser-known Neil record from the mid-90s with Pearl Jam (minus Vedder, except for a couple vocal cameos) as his backing band. I’m not sure what exactly this song is about, but I am sure that this is some of Neil’s most poetic, evocative writing. Long live Neil.
3. “Fisherman’s Blues,” The Waterboys (from “Fisherman’s Blues,” 1988) – My Dad turned me on to this album when I was in high school and I fell in love with it, this tune in particular written by Mike Scott. To my ears, it’s about turning the many struggles of this life into grace and empowerment and beauty.
4. “Easy Now,” May Erlewine (from “Love Labor,” 2009) – One of the best songwriters Michigan has known, and I consider myself very fortunate to play music with her. I first discovered her and her uber-talented hubby Seth Bernard at the release show for this album at Wealthy Theatre back in ’09 and I’ve spun it countless times since. This song especially has been a light at the end of a dark tunnel several times in my life.
5. “Johnny Appleseed,” Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros (from “Global a Go-Go,” 2009) – The Clash were another of my favorite groups growing up, which led me to discover the two albums Strummer made with this band later in his life. I love his raw passion and vision, and his politics. The way he bemoans the need of industrial civilization to take, take, take as much as it can without thought for the health of ecosystems, or the freedom of other human beings, is done beautifully in this song and has always given me chills. “If you’re after getting the honey, then you don’t go killing all the bees.”
6. “Flamenco Sketches,” Miles Davis (from “Kind of Blue,” 1959) – When I was a music student at DePaul University in Chicago studying classical and jazz performance on upright bass, this is a tune that really struck a chord in me. The first few bars get me every time: Paul Chambers and Bill Evans laying down that tender foundation. A classic that I always find myself coming back to.
7. “Marrow,” St. Vincent (from “Actor,” 2009) – Another artist whose music I first delved into while at DePaul University. Annie Clark’s arrangements and lyrics are so creative, unique and inspiring to me. Not to mention her striking anti-guitar shredding. This album blows my mind. So does the killer riff that is the funky disjointed backbone of this song.
8. “Kid Gloves,” Cavepainters (from “For the Sea,” 2013) – I can be a sucker for a sad song and my buddy Morgan Haner wrote a knockout heartbreaker here with a classic lead vocal and unforgettable chorus. Cavepainters are a great indie-folk outfit from Chicago and some of my dear friends. Honest, sincere, passionate folks.
https://cavepainters.bandcamp.com/track/kid-gloves
9. “Ancient Arms,” Donna the Buffalo (from “The Ones You Love,” 1996) – Another band my Dad turned me on to in high school that I fell in love with. (Thanks Dad!) Big Dudee Roo has had the distinct pleasure of opening for them 4 times now, with our 5th coming on March 27 along with our friends Nicholas James and the Bandwagon. This song from one of their early records, “The Ones You Love,” written by Tara Nevins, tells the story of a woman turning away from a society intensely disconnected from the natural world and rediscovering her own wildness, which we all have inside of us if we only care to reconnect with it. “The rise and the fall is our own creation.”
10. “IV. Adagietto,” Gustav Mahler (from “Symphony No. 5,” 1902) – This list would be incomplete without acknowledging my love of classical music. I first played this with the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, directed by the wonderful John Varineau. Only strings, simply gorgeous, particularly the dramatic ending with the long, cascading suspensions.
11. “Move on Up,” Curtis Mayfield (from “Curtis,” 1970) – What can I say? Sampled by Kanye, covered by Lettuce, but never done as well as Curtis did it himself. Inspirational. Also, sweet bass line. Can’t help but feel better when this song is on.
MAX LOCKWOOD: THE LOCAL SPINS GUEST PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY
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