Rockin' Rich Lynch Remembers Fallen Nashville Musician on Latest Single 'Vague To The Max'

Nashville based musician Rockin' Rich Lynch had only been in town a short while when he went for a ride on the famed Natchez Trace Parkway. While crossing the valley in Franklin he decided to walk across the chasm courtesy of the concrete double arch span provided by the Natchez Parkway Bridge.

"I didn't like it," Lynch vividly recalled. "I felt vertigo, got dizzy and fell to my knees. Something about the experience triggered my long-dormant fear of heights."

Having come away a bit shaken from the encounter Lynch decided to do some research.

"My first thought was 'how many people have jumped off of this thing' and I soon found out," Lynch added.

A quick search on the web revealed that this particular bridge has become notorious in the region. But, it was one story that popped up from the Nashville Scene that really hit home.

Lynch found an article dated September 1, 2005 called "Life Lived and Lost" about an extraordinary musician named Max Vague who used the bridge to bring his own existence to an end.

"It was a harrowing and heart-wrenching read," Lynch concluded. "I realized then and there that I wanted to tell his story from one Nashville musician to another. It just took a few years to find the words."

Lynch's mid-tempo tribute to the fallen New Wave influenced rocker called "Vague To The Max" is out now and available for purchase from his online store.

"Honestly, what was particularly disturbing was that Max was really prolific and seemed to excel at his craft and had achieved a great deal of name recognition in town," Lynch reflected. "He had even just wrapped up recording an album (still unreleased) that he believed would be the one to help him finally break out big beyond Music City."

But, it wasn't meant to be.

According to his online biography, Max Vague released six full length LPs over a decade's time beginning with 1992's "Love In A Thousand Faces" through 2002's self-titled "Maxvague". The album that was completed at the time of his death was to be called "Drive" and the critically-acclaimed work by those who heard it remains mostly a mystery to this day to the larger listening audience.

"The story of Max Vague is not an unfamiliar one in the music industry," Lynch suggested. "There are countless tragic tales of artists who were chewed up and spit out by the malevolent machine that churns in the shadow of the starlight. Some attain success but can't hold on to it while others struggle for a simple nod of recognition."

Lynch hopes to find an audience of his own with the highly charged and emotional 4 minute and 51 second track produced in Nashville by the always in demand Dallas Jack. This is the fourth song in a row from the artist and producer combo and it's safe to say that they have once again expertly tapped into some of that Music City magic to tell one of this city's sadder stories in recent memory.

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