Don't break your bread with me
For I'm not hungry
I've just been drunk with love for a while
There's a bed for me 
where I am going
And that's enough to last me these
final few miles


I've been stumblin' over roots
And chasing vowels
Tryin' to explain how I got here at all
There's a love like a liquor
that has bound us
So when I fall, then she falls; together we fall

And she's humming with a smile in Wisconsin
As the melodies take shape between her ears
For my music in her mind is a reminder
That this lover still can love when he's not near
So she waits to break the bread upon the table
Sipping patience from a bottle like it's gin
'Cause she knows these roads I walk along and they always bring her home
And that's enough to last me
And that's enough to last me
And that's enough to last me these final few miles

Untitled Love Song (featuring Becky Johnson)

I wrote "Common Sense" for my high school ska band, Tromboner. Common Sense was originally performed by the full 7-piece band in 2007. Performance notes for this recording are listed below:

Max Mellman - Vocals, Trombone, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Organ
Zack Levine - Drums
Harry Hipwell - Trumpet

Recorded & Mixed by Matt Aidekman at Estate Studios in Short Hills, NJ. November, 2008. 

Lyrics:
Indecision plagues us like an unrelenting friend
Who just can't make up his mind
He'll be stuck nowhere 'til the end of time
It's what's at stake here it's not yours and it's not mine
We can't control it but it

Dominates our lives
With every action, think too hard
Don't give off those good vibrations
Common Sense where have you gone now?

Chorus:
Oh round and round we spin with no direction
Living in the present of the future before
We don't know where to go, feelin' low, take it slow
Motivation hindered by procrastinating minds
Generations manifesting "Leave responsibility behind!"

What's the matter with people these days?
All they wanna do is look the other way—
away from all their problems, how to solve them?
Does the answer lie intrinsically inside us?
Or does it sip pink lemonade and deride us?

Well it's clear nobody cares
Remedial time will do repairs
To tampered minds that lag behind
Common Sense is so far gone now

Chorus

So if you wanna try and be cool,
Just go and be lazy!
It's okay if you act like a fool,
We know you're not crazy.

Well it's clear...

Tromboner - Common Sense

This past summer, I had the pleasure of studying vocal technique and Czech music in a Moravian Master Class with 15 other talented voice students at the State Castle in Náměšť nad Oslavou, Czech Republic, under the direction of Eliška Pappová, Mirka Zemanová, Timothy Cheek, Marie Horáčková. (http://moravianmasterclass.com/Home_Page.html)

In this recording, I am singing Jaroslav Ježek's 1932 "Život je jen náhoda" ("Life is Just a Chance") for a recital in the castle's library, accompanied by Ms. Horáčková on piano.


Fun story: a day earlier, I had eaten some delicious pork with a local Czech friend of mine, and the pork did not sit well in my stomach. Shortly after my performance in the library, I nearly vomited on a priceless tapestry in the dressing room behind the library. I missed it by mere inches :)

Život je jen náhoda

My arrangement of R Kelly's "Echo" for the Obertones, from our 2013 album "Game of Tones". Featuring the beautiful Ben Martin Mooney on the solo.

Two Thoughts:
1. I can't believe I didn't upload this sooner. This arrangement rocks, and we've always loved singing it (I can't say that about every arrangement I've produced).
2. When choosing takes for the album, I was deciding based upon the ensemble's sound; not the sound of the soloist. Ben was under the weather when we recorder this track, and he still sounds really good! But if I had been listening for the bigger picture, I would have selected one where Ben absolutely killed it, and the ensemble sounded just a little bit looser. For that, Ben, I am sorry.

Echo [Explicit]

My arrangement of Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" from our 2010 album -Fun Patrol- featuring soloist Bud Stracker. Get it on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fun-patrol/id433199461

the Obertones - Dock Of The Bay

My arrangement of Kanye West (ft. Bon Iver)'s "Lost in the World" sung by the 2010-2011 Obertones.

the Obertones - Lost in the World

My arrangement of the traditional Jewish song "Hinei Matov" sung beautifully by my high school a cappella group, the MHS Passing Notes.

Passing Notes - Hinei Matov

On the chorus, repeat after me: "A Bagel!"

Buy it on iTunes at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-bagel-song-single/id435114760

The Bagel Song

My arrangement of Jonsi's "Sticks & Stones" from our new album "Game of Tones," with soloist Richard Townsend, available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/game-of-tones/id627531884.

the Obertones - Sticks & Stones

My arrangement of Katy Perry's "Firework" from our new album "Game of Tones," with soloist Noah Guthman and me on the countersolo, available on iTunes at itunes.apple.com/us/album/game-of…ones/id627531884.

the Obertones - Firework

Elementary Music Teacher ◦ A Cappella Arranger ◦ Singer-Songwriter & Songleader

Max Mellman

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