Maxim "Banjoman" Cossette
“A performer that keeps the audience on their toes. The great thing about Maxim is that you don’t know what will happen from one song to the next. With his stage presence & between song-banter, he's is truly nothing short of a good old-fashioned entertainer. A throwback to another time, when a performer had to really BRING IT!”
-Gena Ree, musicinkorporated.com
“a showman in the classic sense of the word, from his banter and storytelling with the audience, right down to the way he holds his guitar.”
-Jessica Runciman, Associate Producer, CBC Ottawa.
"imagine a hoedown in which Jimi Hendrix comes back from the dead, but instead of using his impressive skill to play psychedelic rock, he decides to have some fun by picking up a banjo and start jamming bluegrass, soul and rock. In other words, it’s pretty freaking cool."
-Alejandro Bustos Apt 613.
Music Lessons with Max
Multi-talented entertainer Maxim Cossette delights you with his fun and engaging glimpses of life. His music will get you snapping your fingers, tapping your toes and may well swing you out onto the dance floor. As a solo performer on banjo or guitar, whether you know him as Maxim, Banjo Man, or Salvador Dali Lama, you’ll find his live performances are upbeat and entertaining.
Inspired by more than ten years of touring and performing across North America and Europe, his lyrics include nods to his encounters with downhill longboard racing, a life altering Burning Man experience and his sideways looks at life.
Max Cossette is Based in Ucluelet, BC where he teaches banjo, guitar and ukulele. In the last fews years most of his stage time as been delivering unique jingles and poem introductions to as a super-host at music festivals around the province. Otherwise you might know him as “banjoman” musician to the downhill skateboard community, the only artist to have written an album completely about longboarding. Stylistically Max plays Old-Time style, Country, Blues, Swing, Surf and Rock and roll.
Artist Statement
“When I was handed my grandmother’s old camp guitar, I knew I would live my life by a musical instrument. From the jam sessions in my grandparent’s living room to dancing to string bands at folk festivals, music evokes a feeling of belonging, of community and of creating joy through simple and heartfelt methods. Music is an essential aspect of my existence; similar to being in love or engaging in physical activity, nothing carries me away, or immediately transforms my emotional environment with such rich diversity as well-crafted sounds do.
Strumming that guitar, my life’s work and purpose became clear. I thought, “Oh, I can do this too”. Reconnecting with those feelings that happen when my family plays music. To me, music is one of the simplest way to create, access and reproduce magic. By magic I mean the presence of an invisible force that runs though the universe. As an artist my purpose is to connect to that invisible force, channel it through practice and attempt to act as a vessel for its delivery. Music is then something that travels through me, not from me. The reception will vary from person to person but what I hope to accomplish is to leave people with the sensation that they have experienced something unquestionably pure and true.
By living simply and kindly within the means of the planet and ourselves, through actions and lifestyles that bring peace, fulfillment and happiness to ourselves and others, I hope that my life as a musician as well the music that I create helps every one of us discover and share the magic within.
May our paths cross.”
Maxim Cossette. June 30, 2015