Max Ochs

Maxwell David Ochs

Folklorist - Musician - Poet

Besides a nearly four-decade career in anti-poverty work and conflict resolution, Max Ochs also taught world history in high school. He was a key figure in the reinvention of the steel-string guitar as part of the hugely influential Takoma LP, "Contemporary Guitar Spring '67", pioneering ways of opening up old blues and country tunes with a new improvisational freedom. Ochs has pursued his low-profile, high-achievement career ever since, running the 333 Coffeehouse in Annapolis and releasing a number of albums. Tompkins Square Records chose Ochs' composition, "Imaginational Anthem," as the title track of a compilation of new guitar music.

He received his BA in Philosophy from the University of Maryland and a master's in Humanities from St. John's in Annapolis, where he and his wife Suzanne still live.