Max Beal

Max Beal is a singer-songwriter and pianist splitting time between Ohio and Nashville, writing catchy, theatrical soul music rooted in Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Prince, and David Bowie.

Raised in Dover, Ohio, Max started playing piano by ear at seven and fell hard for doo-wop, the harmonically dense acapella sound of Harlem's streetlight era. He recorded his first album, Streetlight Serenade, at fifteen, then spent a summer working at a local power plant to fund the basement studio where he built out the rest of his early catalog.

In 2018, Max became the first-ever solo act to win GROOVE U's Instaband battle of the bands, landing him a deal with Elementary Records and a run of releases: New Love (his Spotify/Apple Music debut), the Change and Dumb in Love EPs, and the concept album Xplode, released on his eighteenth birthday.

Max has since taken the show to Nashville, including a June 2024 set at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and a spot on the Bus Call Nashville bill at Category 10.