Max Jared
Max Jared
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Max Jared is that rare kind of artist whose music makes an immediate impact. With an innate talent for crafting memorable pop melodies, the Texas native grips listeners with socially conscious lyrics and a versatile acoustic sound. His musical influences include Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, and John Butler, yet Max has a continuously evolving style uniquely his own. Vaunted hip-hop/dancehall label Shemspeed Records (Matisyahu, Y-Love, Kosha Dillz) is excited to announce that Max is the first artist to be signed to its recently launched folk and rock imprint, Soul Snack Records. Max’s highly anticipated debut album, Thoughtless Sounds, will be released via Soul Snack digitally on August 28th, with a worldwide physical release set for August 30th.
Growing up in Dallas, Max showed a natural inclination for music from a young age. In middle school, he was forever tapping on his desk during class. His percussive talent was finally given an outlet when he inherited his Uncle’s 1960s Apollo drum set, and after four years as a drummer, Max bought himself a guitar with money received from his Bar Mitzvah. He wrote his first song at age 13 as a way of coping when a close friend was put in a coma by a car accident. After his friend’s miraculous recovery, he performed the song for her and fifty other people; their powerful emotional reaction confirmed for him that music was his true calling. Since then, Max has been writing songs that celebrate life, infused with Jewish themes of social responsibility and tikkum olam (Hebrew for repairing the world). One of his greatest experiences thus far occurred while he was an undergrad at Indiana University, where he sang for the Dalai Lama during an Interfaith Welcoming Service in 2007.
Max first premiered the tracks comprising Thoughtless Sounds at last year’s CMJ Music Festival. Produced by Tom Prasada-Rao and Dan Lee, the album was recorded in 2011 and features renowned musicians Chuck Rainey and Julie Bonk. The music sounds at once timeless and current, with rich material drawing on his global travels and experiences as an environmental and social activist. Talking about what inspires him, Max said, “If we’re lucky, for one moment we can celebrate the awesomeness of our lives and share the same existence. That’s why I write songs: for that one split second when groups of people are singing together, and it seems like the whole world is in that one moment.” Thoughtless Sounds drops just in time for fall with breezy, infectious melodies and uplifting lyrics that perfectly capture the universal wonder of being alive.
Following the release of Thoughtless Sounds, Max Jared will begins a tour across the world including stops in NYC and Tel Aviv, Israel. Free mp3 downloads of “Talk” and “Unify”, as well as upcoming tour dates, are available on Max’s official website.