Max Bien Kahn,
Industrial Canal, New Orleans
I know Max through Gina. He plays for a band called ‘Tuba Skinny’ and has a band called ‘Max and the Martians. He’s a prolific singer-songwriter.
We met at the Industrial Canal in New Orleans. This body of water connects the massive tidal estuary of Lake Pontchartrain with the behemoth of the Mississippi River with a canal called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, or ‘Mr. Go.’ The canal is so big, and connects such large waters one might be forgiven for thinking that some kind of natural waterway preceded it. All of this was dug, and only about 100 years ago. The floodgates, levees, and bridges remind me of a dystopian planet.
Max and I rowed past some gators by a lone cypress tree that hadn’t gotten the memo that this canal was not built for nature. I wanted to show him a sunk tugboat. There was a sign on the tugboat advertising that it was still for sale. It hadn’t been down too long. He sang a song called ‘Trouble,’ and a few lines might have been applicable to the captain who walked away. We joked about it a bit, he strummed a bit and then made up a little ditty about the sunk boat.
We rowed past the floodgates that looked out of Star Wars, the oil cars on railroad tracks, and found a spot in front of the iconic paddle wheeler, NATCHES. He sang his second song, “Planet of Love,” and it seemed perfect for the place. New Orleans can feel like a different planet and it is many things. While a whole lot of it might be dystopian, there is just as much love, and on some days a whole lot more. @maxbienkahn