Maximilian Eubank will be on the acoustic stage at Little Big Fest, but the 26-year-old musician was once a part of the local jam scene. He fronted the band Euforia before heading off to college in Colorado. There he began performing in coffee shops as a solo singer-songwriter.
"The biggest change for me was learning how to write for one person," said Eubank, who returned to his hometown in 2006. "I had done songs for two vocalists and doing songs that would lead into a sweet fill or a solo. Playing solo is not that different when it comes to songwriting, but when you mess up, everyone knows. When you're in a band with seven people, no one can tell."
This summer was a busy one for Eubank: He landed a spot at the 80/35 Music Festival as well as Camp Euforia near Iowa City. When he wasn't playing music, he was studying for the bar exam. (He passed, and is now working as an associate attorney.)
"I was studying so much this summer that those shows were like a night off for me," Eubank said. "When you're playing in front of so many people and you can hear them singing your words it makes you want to play all night long."
Eubank's LBF show will be all original tunes, but at other venues he sometimes performs for up to four hours, covering songs by Bob Marley, Sublime, Jason Brown, Phish, and some out-there selections like Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone." He also has a few original rap tunes he'll throw in from time to time.
Eubank is currently gathering songs for an album he hopes to record in 2010, his third in as many years. While the first two albums were acoustic, he hopes to incorporate a rhythm section, piano and other musicians to expand his sound. For Little Big Fest he will be solo, but he wants his show to be as lively as any band there.
"I'm going to try to keep the mellow songs out, or to a minimum," Eubank said. "I want to get people revved up. We're not at the coffee shops anymore."
See Maximilian Eubank at LBF: 11:30 p.m., Backstage Bar
