Joseph Furey says we live on in the stories our loved ones tell about us, and he is determined to tell the story of musician Maximum Martin.
“Max is a book I never want to finish,” Furey said.
Furey, an Irish freelance journalist who has written for publications such as The Sunday Times, has traveled from the United Kingdom and gone across the Mississippi Delta spreading the legacy of his late friend, who loved blues music. The two friends had bonded over their love of the genre, and they planned to visit Mississippi and all of its blues sites someday.
“He was a massive blues fan, and we had all kinds of oddball ambitions for it,” Furey said. “He died before we got to do it.”
Martin was 34 when he, and two other friends living in the same house, accidentally overdosed on fentanyl, a prescription painkiller.
“They weren’t habitual drug takers; they were just curious,” Furey said.
Martin was memorialized with floral tributes all over town, and graffiti was painted in his honor. Furey described him as “an extraordinary person.”
Then, at his friend’s memorial service, the 46-year-old journalist came up with a plan.
“Now I’m not going to let a little thing like my friend’s demise stop us from going on our adventure together,” said Furey in his speech at Martin’s service. “Max will be making his first rounds of the Delta this April. I am going to drop him off at a number of clubs, bars, juke joints and holy sites for blues pilgrims.”
Matchbox
By “drop him off,” Furey meant that he would leave matchboxes each bearing Martin’s face and including an introduction or note from Martin and a USB drive with a compilation of his recordings, video and audio about his life at these various sites across the Delta.
“He sang and wrote his own stuff,” Furey said. “He was just beginning to get going. You know, some people come into their confidence later in their life. Plans were beginning to stack up, and then it all switched off.”
He said although the music may not be everyone’s taste, it was important to Martin to emulate his heroes.
“It is a sign of who he is,” Furey said. “It’s more of an act of fandom, really, than anything else. He was of the opinion, you know, to be a fan you kind of have to emulate your hero.”
A Twitter account, @martin_maximum, is also set up for those who find Martin and can continue to share his story.
In Martin’s introduction letter, it says, “If you happen across one of my boxes, could you leave me a message? A nice one, if you can manage it. It would lift the spirits of my family and friends (to) no end to know that I made it to the Delta after all.”
“The primary response that everybody has had is ‘God, I hope somebody does this for me one day,’’’ Furey said. “It’s kind of given them faith in kinship and friendship.”
Furey said 13 matchboxes have been left across Mississippi, and they have been taken abroad to locations including France, Belgium and Holland.
A visit to one of the sites related to his favorite blues musician, Mississippi John Hurt, was a special afternoon for Furey.
“I dropped him off there, and then also the thunderheads were gathering, and driving back I thought he was going to be washed away,” Furey said. “The idea that he wouldn’t turn up for quite a while was extra sad because I thought, ‘Oh, no, maybe no one is going to see John Hurt in a while.’”
He said Martin was found there two weeks later and has been found three other times since then. There are 13 matchboxes left to go, and one is expected to be left in Greenwood.
Furey has traveled across Mississippi since April and is expected to be in the state for two more weeks.
“It’s not so much about me taking him there but where he goes on to next. I have left him on a couple of freight trains, and he has been found,” he said. “It’s more about me getting him to a spot where he can find a receptive audience and where people are going to appreciate not just his music but the vibe of what I am doing as well.”
During his journey, Furey also plans to write an article, expected to be out later this year, about his time following the Mississippi Blues Trail with Martin, whom he considered a younger brother.
“I know soon that I am going to have to stop, and that’s going to be sad because then I am going to have to bury him,” he said. “Going to have to do that myself, but I was able to do this and bring a lot of comfort. I don’t know, it’s kind of cozy feeling for his friends and family that it doesn’t just stop.”
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
