Max Creek Book Update

Friends,

First and foremost, thank you for all the kind messages about the passing of our beloved cat, Minnie. Your love and light truly helped ease the pain of our loss. She had a wonderful life, but it’s never easy losing a pet, and I’m grateful for all of your support 🙏🏻

On another note, my BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for 2024 was to finish the first draft of my Max Creek book. As Thanksgiving approaches, my manuscript has surpassed 100 pages. I’m proud of that work I’ve accomplished this year. It’s been a labor of love with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I’m determined to see this project to the finish line. In order to do so, I need to focus all of my writing efforts on the book. So, this will be my last post in 2024. Don’t worry—I’ll be back right after the holidays. You can count on it. 

Writing about Max Creek has been a dream project. Seriously. I discovered the band in high school and much to my parents’ chagrin, I saw them every Wednesday night at an infamous club in Providence, Rhode Island called, The Living Room. And I had the grades to prove it, too. I’ve seen the band over 150 times. I thought I knew everything about them. Boy, was I wrong. I have tumbled down some beautiful rabbit holes.

Max Creek had all the ingredients to become the scene's biggest band after the Grateful Dead. As a writer, I embarked on a journey to find out why the band didn’t have more commercial success—not that commercial success should ever be a measuring stick when it comes to matters of the arts—but exploring what it means to be a successful artist is a fascinating topic to explore. 

The journey led to some amazing interviews. I had the opportunity to interview band members (past and present), crew members (past and present), and a slew of wonderful musicians including David Gans, JB from Widespread Panic, Mike Gordon, and more.

I recently was the guest speaker at the Fort Collins Foothills Rotary club. I shared with my fellow Rotarians the inspiration for my books. People really enjoyed learning about my stories. Especially the Max Creek story. There are a lot of lessons to be had. The band exemplifies a DIY ethos, grassroots community building, innovation, perseverance, and Word-of-Mouth marketing. It dawned on me that these lessons are applicable to so many things in life, even business. With that said, I’m excited to announce that I will be delivering a presentation at the LeadingRE conference in Las Vegas in February 2025 on Max Creek. I am super stoked for this!

I’m also super stoked that the band recently announced that they’re playing Denver this coming spring at Ophelia’s, on March 28th and 29th, 2025. By the way, March 28th just happens to be my birthday. Why did I write this book? Because Max Creek holds a special place in my heart and preserving the band's legacy is important to me. And let’s be honest, the world is a better place with Max Creek in it.

Max Creek at Ophelia’s in Denver, Colorado, March 28th and 29th 2025

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I’ll see you on the other side. 

-Tom

P.S. I heard a rumor that Acapulco and The Potato Puff Surprise make great stocking stuffers 😉