Introducing an exciting new era of Max's music, emerging from years of personal trauma and loss. This preliminary sample includes all-new songs as well as rediscovered lyrics by Max and his late partner Katie, now set to music for the first time.

More than ever, these songs evoke vivid scenes and tell moving stories, from the intimate to the cinematic, ranging from bustling city streets to lonely roads and wild desert mountains.

Stay tuned for more in the coming months!

Release date April 24, 2026

Track List:

A Night to Remember

Lyrics and music by Max 2025

Dream of the Tomb

Lyrics by Max 1993, set to music 2025

Sacred Ground

Lyrics by Max 1982, set to music 2025

Indian Paintbrush

Lyrics by Katie Rauh 1986, set to music by Max 2024

Bring a Rattle

Lyrics by Max 1993, set to music 2025

Clear Creek Canyon Girl

Lyrics and music by Max 2024

Copyright © 2025 Max Carmichael

Before 2019, I was an artist who had explored, experimented, and produced since childhood, but had been frustrated, sidetracked, and oppressed for decades by the need to make a living. The result was a huge body of unfinished work that I desperately wanted to share. So when working on music, I was always looking back, never forward.

But my body was falling apart, and fighting the decline took most of my time. Then there was COVID, I temporarily lost my home to fire, and almost died from a mysterious illness. Finally, I had to put my life and work on hold for years to help my family.

But there was a silver lining. The family of Katie Rauh, my songwriting partner in the 1980s, asked me to lead a ceremony for her. I rediscovered her lyrics that had never been set to music, and while working on them, in spare hours snatched from family obligations, I began to write my own new songs, in my first sustained episode of musical creation since the early 1990s.

The current project encompasses all-new songs, Katie's songs newly set to music, and nearly 200 lyrics I started, beginning in high school, but never set to music until now. I hope you enjoy this sample, and if you do, please spread the word!