Kind Country Band, joined on vocals by Sullivan, honor the memory of the late Max Graham
Minneapolis —
I didn’t know Max Graham too well personally (there I go speaking Minnesotan).
But I was lucky enough to know his kindness, which was reflected in the name of his band, Kind Country.
Live painter Dusty Keliin has attached this picture of Max Graham to his easel stand, carrying it with him to any live music events where he paints.
Photo by Javier Serna
It’s hard for me and others that knew him far better than me to not get choked up thinking about him, wishing he was still here. That became apparent during and after last Friday’s co-headlined show at the Hook & Ladder with the Jon Sullivan Band.
Graham died in March 2021 following a battle with borderline personality disorder, according to the Star Tribune.
Graham was in the room, at the very least, in the hearts of so many who showed, including Jon Sullivan, who has the honor of singing Graham’s songs when he’s available.
In that sense, the billed combination was by design on a night that did double duty as birthday parties for two beloved members (Anders and Kara) of the tight-knit Minneapolis string music scene.
“It’s very cathartic,” Sullivan said Monday of singing Max’s parts. “I definitely shed a few tears every time.”
Sullivan’s vocal delivery on “Mountains,” a Max Graham staple, hit many in the heart.
“In my way, in my way, well I can’t move the mountains in may way.”
It was powerful and timed well in the back of the band’s set.
Chris Forsberg, Kind Country’s talented fiddler, said the band, going forward, might play a few shows a year, whenever Sullivan is available.
“Max was a mentor to him,” Forsberg said. “He loved him and took him under his wing. It feels right having him singing Max’s songs.”
Jon Sullivan.
Picture by Rachel Bulow
About performing Graham’s songs, Forsberg said, “They all have meaning to me. Mountains certainly has content to it that is relevant to the struggle Max was going through. That one hits in a very specific way.”
Kind Country’s lineup was Forsberg, Joe Sheehan on the upright bass, Chris Wittrock on drums, Brandon Johnson on guitar (Jon Miller was unavailable), Mike Hedding on mandolin, Harrison Olk on banjo, and Lee Martin on pedal steel.
The band worked up some steam and then got the entire lineup amped up on one solid jam during the closing song, “Studio B.”
Mountain Fern, the folk/Americana duo of Hannah Hendrickson on guitar and Tessa Nichols-Meade on fiddle, with the addition of Henry Ingber on upright bass, played on the venue’s lounge stage between the main stage sets.
Then Sullivan’s high-energy rock band, which he hesitates to define in style (there’s plenty of blues, soul and funk involved), followed it up with a set of originals and covers, including “Heard it through the Grape Vine,” and late in the set, Pink Floyd’s “Young Lust.”
Spielman nailed Roger Water’s bass lines and brought the room to a frenzy.
“When he starts stomping around, it turns on his low end,” Sullivan said of Spielman. “It’s ridiculous.”
Besides Sullivan and Spielman, the band includes Alex Gelking was on guitar, Drew Druckrey on guitar, Lucas Litke on auxiliary percussion, John Hanson on drums, and John Reinhart on keys. Spencer Muhich also joined the band with his tenor saxophone.
Reinhart plays a Hammond organ (the A-102) that he has modified (chopped the legs off and mounted to a folding table) for portability.
“He’s a gear head,” Sullivan said of Reinhart.
Sullivan said his band initially launched in 2020 but was slowed by the pandemic.
It’s planning on releasing a seven-song EP later this year, he said.
Jon Sullivan Band explores soul, funk and blues. Photo by Rachel Bulow