Melodic songs with dark elements from Max Jury

The Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell

The name Max Jury mightn’t ring any bells – yet – but his concert in the City’s Róisín Dubh on Saturday, October 4, should not be missed. The 21-year old singer, from Des Moines, Iowa, is precociously talented and writes melodic songs with dark edges.

His work brings to mind the great American singer Gram Parsons, who he name checks in his music video Christian Eyes. Parsons died in 1973 and has something of a cult following – how did Max hear about him?

“When I was 13 or 14, me and my friends were really into Ryan Adams and Wilco and that whole new, alternative country scene,” Max says. “Through them, we heard about Gram Parsons and really took a liking to him.”

This year Max released two EPs, The Sonic Factory Sessions and Something in the Air. When did he write the songs for these releases?

“A couple of them I wrote when I was 17 or 18,” he says. “They’ve been kicking around for a few years. But I wrote All I Want last winter sometime, and I wrote Black Metal with two other members of the band.

“We wrote Black Metal last summer as a fun little thing,” he says. “We were at a party, a dance party thing, in Des Moines and the guitar player was dancing with this girl. He kind of had a crush on her. But she was a Satanist – we were really surprised!”

At the time of our interview, Max is in London, working.

“Right now, I’m writing with different people while I wait for the tour to start,” he says. “But I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been on tours, but not this extensive, a month of dates right in a row. I’m sure it’ll be learning experience.”

Max will be playing solo in the Róisín, where he’ll alternate between a Fender Rhodes piano and an acoustic guitar. Which instrument does he prefer writing on?

“I usually write on the piano, it’s my main instrument, my first instrument,” he says. “I just picked up the guitar in the last couple of years, but sometimes I’ll write a song on it. Writing on different instruments gives each song a different vibe.”

Crooked Time is a sublime tune with a forlorn chorus that just sticks in your head. How did that one come about?

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.