" Formed by Mac The Knife Okuyama in 1997, Max Blues has been one of the most powerful blues rock bands on Tokyo's live music circuit. They have backed up quite a few foreign acts in the past years and have released five original albums so far. Their sound is blues blended with various types of music from rock to swing etc. The feeling the band emits is truly genuineand not hollowed out. Its just a matter of time before this band is noticed on a broad scale. "Eddie The Ed-Man Stauffer BLUES ALIVE MUSIC MEDIAMac "The Knife" Okuyama
Guitar player / Singer / Song Writer / Bass player / Promoter / Sloppy drummer
Mac “The Knife†Okuyama was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. In 1990, he went to Vancouver, Canada as an exchange student, where he fell in love with live music and started playing blues/rock guitar. His influences include: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Faces, The Rolling Stones, Tim Hearsey and the Powder Blues to name a few. After playing with several bands in Vancouver, he returned to Tokyo in late 1997. Since then, he has been a regular on the Tokyo music scene performing at several venues and festivals including the “Year of the Blues Celebration†at Roppongi Hills where he performed with Guitar Shorty and Melvin Taylor.
In April of 2006, he organized memorial concerts in memory of Eddie “ The Ed-man “ Stauffer, his former manager and friend who founded “Blues Aliveâ€; a music production company that brought over foreign acts, such as Harmonica Shah and Matt Corcoran, to Japan. Eddie was also the man responsible for naming Mac “The Knifeâ€. Participants in the memorial included L.A. Jones and Steve Gardner.
Mac is currently lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the blues/rock band Max Blues. He is also in Tarantula sound and The Good Buzz. He can also be seen making guest appearances with Rude Boys, Inc. ( R. B. I. ), the J.J. Vicars band, SUPERFUNKTION and T.K. and the Blues Blasters and many other bands.
Mac has just put a new five piece blues band, Messin' With The Blues with Steve Jonas and Sandra Lorimer. They are going to rock the whole world. So be ready!!!http://www.messinwiththeblues.com
He hosts the acoustic jam / open mic night at Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba every 3rd thursday. http://www.benscafe.comMAX BLUES launched three new CDs in August 2007. They are available at gigs.Tarantula Sound just launched their 1st CD, " BLUE POP ROCK " in February, 2008 and it's available at gigs.
http://www.myspace.com/tarasolheimKeep the BLUES ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
