A Bit About...

         Cult-classic road machine, Max Hay, delights audiences with madly entertaining stage antics and expert musicianship. After 10 years of constant touring, his shows are a polished departure from the typical solo pub act. A double dose of comedy is balanced by expressive musicianship as Max shifts smoothly between genres and styles. Max's delivery is a workout of stomping feet, emotional harmonica runs, articulate hybrid-style guitar, and occasional percussion. Expect original songs, Reggae, Irish, Country, and Blues rhythms mixed with soulful bass vocals and sailing harmonica leads. Carbondale Rocks says, "Hay’s act blends music and comedy in creative ways, incorporating stories, anecdotes, and a degree of fun and spontaneity not often found in most live shows." The Missoula Independent simply says, "Hay Wails."

          Max tours relentlessly, playing guitar and cracking jokes from near to far. Playing upwards of 200 shows per year since 2008, Max's act is forged and tempered in the crucible of a thousand dimly lit bars. A pillar of the working-class music scene, Max strives to provide quality entertainment with a good time as the first priority. 

          Although most shows are solo performances, The Max Hay Band performs select concerts around Montana. The MHB consists of John Dendy on upright bass and vocals, Travis Yost on drums, and Max Hay on guitar, harmonica, and vocals. MHB shows tend to be skewed towards dynamic improvisation, the blues, and psychedelia. 
  
          Max has entertained audiences throughout the USA, China, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. His travelogue includes a slew of bars, nightclubs, festivals, fairs, restaurants, Irish Pubs, and private events. Nightly performances at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai and a 7-month stint as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Australian “Sand Bar Band,” brought his music to a truly worldwide audience. Often, in the winter months, Max can be found performing a nightly show at McGuire's Irish Pubs in Destin and Pensacola, FL. 

          Hay grew up in Helena, MT and spent his early twenties in nearby Missoula, playing in bands; Shot in the Foot, The Two Fuggin Guys, and Front Street Guitar Army. In 2003 Max attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, AZ. Following school, he worked as an audio engineer in Nashville, TN, mixing for stages and studios before hitting the road as tour manager/sound guy for Kendall Meyer and Common Ground. Max began warming up the crowd at select gigs and his focus soon shifted, from engineering and management, back to his own music. 10+ years later, the tour continues. For booking visit here

Press:

Lively Times - Charlo, MT
What's on Central Coast - Woy Woy, NSW Australia
Missoula Independent - Missoula MT
Carbondale Rocks - Carbondale, IL
Independent Record - Helena, MT
    
Discography:
"Music By People" Shangraloft Records Sampler (2002) out of print
"Shot in the Foot Live at the Ritz" (2003) Nathan Kochman (Bari Sax) has the only remaining copy
"Cement Tapes" (2003) out of print
"Space Hermit" (2004)
"Live Music is Best" (2009)
"Max n Vern Live in Nebraska" live cover songs w/ Vern White on piano (2011)
"Another Flea" (2012)
"Hay and Guth; Live in Spearfish" Max Hay and Jason Guthmiller (2013)
"Party of One"  (2015) Live Irish Drinking Songs @ McGuire's Irish Pub in Destin, FL and Pensacola, FL
"Christmas at Chester's" (2016) Musical Comedy Play 

     Max Hay proudly uses Seagull and Godin Guitars