Max Gomez comes to Ardmore

Mill Street Garage Listening Room, opened last year by local resident Jennifer Tillison and local businessman and artist Robert Smartt, has booked another great artist for Ardmore’s listening pleasure. The venue is located at 32 Mill Street NE in Ardmore and on January 18 they are hosting New Mexico singer/songwriter Max Gomez who recently had his latest EP Me & Joe (2017) reviewed in Rolling Stone Magazine.

“Gomez delivers his latest batch of songs with an easy twang that arrives at the halfway point between tender folk balladry of Kris Kristofferson and the pop melodicism of Coldplay’s Chris Martin,” said Jonathan Bernstein in that review.

29 year old Gomez, who hails from Taos, released his debut album Rule the World in 2013 and has been touring and getting to be a part of big music festivals like AmericanaFest, Red River Folk Festival and SXSW among others. When asked about his latest EP and how he writes songs in a Q&A interview with American Songwriter Magazine, Gomez had this to say:

“I think I write songs in about four or five different styles these days. And one of those styles or song types is definitely written from a sort of daydream that can’t be easily explained. Some songs come as a concentrated effort. Some come from that escape or meditative place. I love that dreamy kind of writing.”

Getting the chance to see Gomez, especially in a listening room atmosphere is definitely a treat you won’t want to miss. If you have never been to a listening room, it’s quite a different experience than the average live music venue. Just as the name implies, it is strictly for listening to the music. In a typical live music venue the music may only be background noise to many other things going on, from playing pool to partying with friends. However listening rooms are not the place to have loud and lingering conversations with friends catching up and just hanging out, it’s a place to sit and have an intimate and quiet gathering of music fans to really pay attention and appreciate the musician and their craft. Many times in the listening room atmosphere the musicians will have more of an opportunity for story telling about the songs and general conversation during the show, making it even more personal and unique. It’s created as a music experience for true music lovers, and something every music fan should experience for themselves

Tillison’s whole goal for opening up the venue was to bring in musicians from other areas that local residents may not have the opportunity to see regularly, giving them a chance to branch out musically and become more aware of the vast amounts of great music available.

 “In Ardmore we have a lot of musicians locally and a lot of talented musicians but I’d like to bring in people that we don’t get the chance to hear all the time, while also incorporating our local talent in with it as well,” explained Tillison.

The venue has already hosted several shows including Kaitlin Butts and Charlie Stout, Mike Mcclure and Bryon White, and Courtney Patton and Jason Eady.

The “It’s All Good” Food Truck will be on hand with free tacos with the purchase of a ticket, starting at 5:30 p.m. The doors to the venue will open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 7 p.m. The venue has a BYOB rule in place, being limited to beer and wine for alcoholic choices. Tickets will be $20 and are available at Ticketstorm, and it is an 18+ event. You can visit https://www.ticketstorm.com/event/maxgomez/millstreetgarage/ardmore/20537/ to purchase tickets.

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