Artist Spotlight - HTX: Max Flinn

Max Flinn was born and raised in Houston, TX. Other than a short year spent in East Texas pursuing his college football dreams that were cut short by injury, he has spent his entire life in the big city. He began teaching himself to play the guitar at the age of 10 after he became bored playing air guitar with his mother’s broomsticks. His love for Texas country music started in Junior High and was heavily influenced by Pat Green, Robert Earl Keen, Cory Morrow, Roger Creager, and other local greats. Nonetheless, from his late teens to early twenties, music took a backseat to drugs and alcohol. He can recall at least two years of his life where his favorite guitars were living in local pawn shops so that he could finance his habit. Those years were characterized by run-ins with law enforcement, countless attempts to sober up, lost relationships, hopelessness and despair. He finally threw in the towel in December of 2012 and turned his life around. He has been sober since that day and is enjoying life in ways he could have never imagined. He fulfilled his goal of graduating from the University of Houston and took a job as a financial analyst for a leading midstream energy company. He credits God, a loving family, supportive friends and playing music to his recovery. Aside from music, one of his biggest passions is utilizing his story to help others recover from the disease of addiction.

Having found new freedom, he made the leap into pursuing his passion for music professionally in the summer of 2015. He made his start by attending a weekly Western Swing jam session at Rudyard’s that he found advertised in the Houston Press. It was there he met some great local musicians that openly welcomed him on stage and would ultimately back his first recorded demo in November of 2015. With CDs in hand, he began distributing them to almost every live music venue in the Houston area. Before he knew it, he was getting asked to play around town and never turned down a gig. While still balancing his 8 to 5 job in the energy industry, he is out performing 2 to 3 nights per week and is working on his first EP at Stormy Cooper Media in Houston, TX. Max has been fortunate to land some great venues in Houston in just a year’s time including House of Blues, Redneck Country Club, Dosey Doe, Armadillo Palace, Rockefellers, Discovery Green and the Rodeo Houston Championship Wine Garden.

While still partial to the Texas Country he grew up on, he has found his greatest affinity for the classic country legends such as Merle Haggard, George Jones, Jonny Paycheck, Ernest Tubb and others alike. “I really identify with the raw vulnerability and grit of the classic country folks. They delivered honest lyrics in the most simplest of ways,” says Max. In addition to his original material, he always sprinkles in a variety of cover tunes ranging from Bob Wills to Alan Jackson during his sets and rarely hits the stage without fiddle and steel guitar accompaniment.

The Give Me Something More EP is out in stores now. Please give a listen and share Max's songs with the world!