Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Artist: Johnny Max Band, Album: It's A Long Road, Song: Too Many Fish

"She caught me on the fishing line but we didn't get to shore.  She tossed me in a holding tank, went trolling out for more.  Now throw one back into the sea, it's the sporting thing to do.  She brought you up into the boat.  Now you're in here too."  The Johnny Max Band are a blues band from Toronto.  They've had a changing cast of talented blues musicians but the steady member has always been front man and founder, Johnny Max.  They released their debut album in 2000 and have since released 5 albums.  They have been nominated for Best Blues Album Of The Year twice, in 2008 and 2011 respectively.  Unfortunately, they came up short both times to fellow Canadians, Fathead (see blog 11/5/10) and Jim Byrnes (see blog 9/27/11).  The Juno nominated, It's A Long Road, was released in 2010.  The album was recorded at the legendary Metalworks Studio.  Too Many Fish, is a wonderful southern blues rock tune with fantastic horns, clever lyrics and some of the grooviest dirty guitar I've ever heard.  This song is so cool it is ridiculous.  Johnny is a bonafide entertainer and a true music lover at heart.  He often hosts radio programs about the blues and surrounds himself with some great players.  You can check out a promotional video on the band that was released in conjunction with this album on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCNz7sgPiZ4).  You can check out the song, Too Many Fish, on You Tube as well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5fy3cCUC7Y&blend=1&lr=1&ob=0).  You can purchase the album, It's A Long Road, from Itunes.  Johnny Max is playing shows in Ontario currently and you can keep tabs on him and the band at http://www.johnnymaxband.com/.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!