Singer-songwriter Max Gomez. Photo by Paul Moore

By Bonnie J. Gordon
Los Alamos Daily Post
 
Taos Singer-songwriter Max Gomez will play two shows at the Posse Lodge in Los Alamos this month. An artist in the tradition of Jackson Browne and Kris Kristofferson, Gomez has a sweet smoky vocal style and his heart-felt lyrics have brought him acclaim around the country as well as here in the Land of Enchantment.
 
Gomez is at home in Taos these days, working on his second album. The first “Rule the World” on the New West record label has gotten quote a bit of notice.

“I have a home studio where I write and record new songs,” Gomez said in a recent interview.

Gomez, one of four brothers, first picked up the guitar in imitation of his 16-year-old brother.

“I wanted to be like him. Soon I was playing his guitar more than he was,” Gomez said.

His brother turned him on to the blues through Eric Clapton, and soon he was immersed in the roots music of Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Johnson. Gomez had his ears pricked up before that however. The first music he can remember liking well enough to learn the words was John Prine’s The Missing Years, a favorite of his parents, when he was four. He heard the song years later and realized he knew all the words.

By age 14 he was playing around Taos. By age 20 he was writing songs.

“I moved to Los Angeles for a few years to get my feet wet,” Gomez said. “I always wanted to do whatever it took to make a real record.”

Signing with New West Records, a label that’s home to Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson and John Hiatt, is certainly plenty real. Los Alamos is lucky enough to get Gomez for two shows before he’s off on tour again.

Gomez performs at 7:30 p.m. April 8 and April 22 at the Posse Lodge. He has a lot of new material to play and will be doing different sets at each show. New Mexican meals will be available as a fundraiser for History Off the Hill, a youth travel club. Bathtub Row Brewing will be selling beer and wine at both shows.

Tickets are $15 per show or $25 for both shows, and can be found at holdmyticket.com or the LA Schools Credit Union if buyers want to avoid the service fee.

Los Alamos High School teacher Jonathon Lathrop helped organize the show. He first heard Gomez in Santa Fe and was impressed with the quality of his music. He’s been a big fan since then.

Profits will be used toward the purchase of a sound system to be used at future Los Alamos shows, Lathrop said. Lathrop wants to see live music thrive in the winter the way it does at the Los Alamos Summer Concert Series.

“I want to try and bring artists of the same caliber as Max to Los Alamos,” Lathrop said.