Max Allard is a banjoist, guitarist, pianist, and composer from Chicago. He has performed in a duo with his brother Otto and with a trio (From the Start) featuring Ruben Whitaker and Otto Allard. Max recently toured with the Minneapolis-based progressive bluegrass band Barbaro. He was the winner of the 2018 RockyGrass Banjo Competition and the 2019 FreshGrass Banjo Award. He was also selected to participate in the 2020 Acoustic Music Seminar in Savannah. He is now a freshman composition student at Oberlin Conservatory. Max spoke to host Matt Brown in August 2021 about his forthcoming solo album Odes/Codes, which was produced by Jayme Stone.