With the kind of artist who's both fearless and immensely gifted, a musical residency can let an audience witness the very act of creation. Young L.A.-based singer and songwriter Maxim Ludwig is that kind of artist, and Wednesday's opening night of his monthlong stint at the Hotel Caf in Hollywood provided a captivating glimpse of Ludwig's restless musical passion at work.
He and his four-piece band, the Santa Fe Seven -- “None of them are from Santa Fe and there aren't seven of them, which is why they're called the Santa Fe Seven," Ludwig quipped right before the show got underway -- are willing experimentalists, players who derive joy from making music in the moment rather than reproducing what's been honed to perfection.
There were certainly ragged moments, but it was apparent that this quintet, which got a high-profile opening slot last spring at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, is deeply schooled in the art of Americana music stalwarts such as Bob Dylan, the Band, Gram Parsons-era Byrds/Flying Burrito Brothers and the twangiest leanings of the Rolling Stones.
Ludwig just turned 20 but shows a literary sophistication in his writing that would suggest someone who's logged considerably more years than that. He often spews out lyrics like a man having a bullet pulled from his thigh without anesthesia. His eyes roll back, then close, as one who completely surrenders to the will of his muse, and the result is an electricity that can't be faked.
