Episode 64 features my conversation with Michael Wegner from the band Cosmic Charlie, a Grateful Dead tribute band.
In this episode, Michael talks about his introduction to Max Creek, how the band influenced his approach to music, and what it was like performing with Mark Mercier.
Related links:
- Learn about Michael Wegner
- Learn about Cosmic Charlie
- Listen to Cosmic Charlie’s live performance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 13, 2025
Transcript of episode 64
You’re listening to Hooked on Creek, a podcast celebrating the music, history, and fans of the legendary jam band Max Creek. I am your host, Korre Johnson, and this is episode 64.
The clip you just heard was the band Cosmic Charlie performing the classic Max Creek song Fire & Brimstone with special guest Mark Mercier last month at The Met in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. When I heard that Mark joined Cosmic Charlie as their guest keyboard player for two shows, I knew I had to connect with the band while they were out on tour.
In this episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Michael Wegner from Cosmic Charlie. I caught up with him just before the band took the stage at Shank Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 13. If you’re not familiar, Cosmic Charlie is a high-energy Grateful Dead tribute band from Athens, Georgia, known for putting their own spin on the Dead’s music and delivering powerful live performances.
Michael and I talk about how Max Creek shaped his approach to music going back to his teenage years in the early 1980s, and what it was like having Mark Mercier perform with the band last month on August 12 and 13, including the thrill of performing Fire & Brimstone together.
It was a really fun conversation, and Michael’s love for Max Creek shines through. So let’s dive in. Here’s my conversation with Michael Wegner from Cosmic Charlie.
[interview begins]
Korre: Michael Wegner, welcome to Hooked on Creek.
Michael: Happy to be here. Thanks.
Korre: Well, I’m just so glad to be here at Shank Hall with you. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Cosmic Charlie for a while, but I’ve also been looking forward to talking to you about your recent shows with Mark Mercier from Max Creek. But maybe before we talk about that, I’d like for you to introduce the band Cosmic Charlie to listeners of this podcast who might not be familiar with you.
Michael: Okay, well, there’s an easy reference point, because Cosmic Charlie, for the most part, plays music of the Grateful Dead. There’s a big canon there. There’s Grateful Dead originals. There are all the covers that they did. So, you kind of know where it’s at. We’ve got two drummers. There’s seven people in the band. So, guitar, bass, drums, keys, vocals. It’s kind of a big sound. We call it high energy Grateful Dead, just because that’s kind of our approach.
You know, there’s different ways to approach the Dead. Some can be kind of laid back and kind of noodly. We do we do a lot of noodling, but usually we try to get dynamic with it and really dig into it.
And I have to say, we’ll probably get into this, but for me and my approach to music and the high energy element, I can trace that directly back to when I used to go see Max Creek back in the early ‘80s when I was a teenager. And I just was kind of taken by the Max Creek energy and how they would just get super dynamic. So, that that definitely factors into my approach to music in general and definitely to this band, too.
Korre: So, you guys are from Athens, Georgia. Is that right?
Michael: Athens, Georgia.
Korre: And you’re on tour right now.
Michael: We are.
Korre: How are things going?
Michael: Well, it’s been good. There’s been some really fun shows and then there’s been, you know, the surprises that come up, like two trailer-tire blowouts in the Chicago metro area in about 45 minutes and dealing with that, and a $2,000 trailer repair. But we’re back on the road and doing what we love.
Korre: Well, you made it to Milwaukee. That’s awesome.
Michael: Made it to Milwaukee.
Korre: Tell me about this experience that happened, I think it was last month, there was two shows with Mark Mercier. How did that come about? What led you guys to invite Mark Mercier to those shows?
Michael: Well, starting fairly early on with this band, we kind of got in the habit of having a revolving keyboard player position. Well, I can tell you, at the very beginning, our keyboard player lived in Heidelberg, Germany, and for our first 8 or 10 shows, he literally commuted from Germany. He would come, he would fly in like on a Wednesday, and we’d do a rehearsal on a Thursday, and then we’d play Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then he’d fly back home, and he’d be at work the next day in Germany. As you can imagine, that’s not a really sustainable model for running a band.
So, once we realized we were going to be gigging more often, we started playing with other keyboard players. Now we often will play with different keyboard players depending on where we are. So, for instance, tonight we’re in Milwaukee and we’re playing with Joe Burbach, he lives in Madison just down the road, and he plays in a band called The Mission. And we love playing with him. Last night we played with Michael Cole, keyboardist for Terrapin Flyer. So, it’s a lot of fun for us.
Anyway, that’s your background to your question. As far as the specifics? Well, when I knew we were going up to Providence and to Port Chester, New York, I was like, “I’d love to get Mark Mercier in there if possible.” He and I, we had talked several times over the years. There were a couple of almosts. I mean, dating back to like 2001. I know we needed somebody to fill in for a tour and he almost could do it, but he had 2 dates out of 10 that he couldn’t make. And it didn’t work out. So, it’s been in the works for about a quarter century. But in this case, we contacted him and he was like, “You know what? I’d love to do that. Let’s do it.”
Korre: Well, I saw some videos of your performances, and one of the things that surprised me is you guys played Fire & Brimstone. So, how did you come up with the idea or whose idea was it at first?
Michael: That was my idea. Since I was 16 … 15 … 16, when I first heard Max Creek and got their albums that were out at the time — I guess that’s on Rainbow, is that right? I think the studio version of it. And I kind of fell in love with that album and in particular that song. I actually remember early on in this band, which we started in 1999, that was like my go to song when it was time to soundcheck my vocal microphone. And I would always be singing, “I’m gonna lay me down and I’m gonna …” And I think everyone else in the band is like, “What the heck is he singing?” Nobody knew the song. And they’re like, “Oh, is that some sort of spiritual kind of gospel song or something?”
But it’s just a song I’ve always loved. And then I thought, well, wouldn’t that be fun to get a chance to play that song with, with Mark? So, I just tossed it out there and he took the bait. He’s like, “Yeah, we could do Fire & Brimstone.”
One thing I especially was excited about is the original version of that song has got a lot of harmony vocals on it. Amy, who used to sing with Max Creek, she’s singing a lot, all in the verses. “Old man sitting in his rocking …” I always have missed those harmonies live, because these days they do add harmonies, but not all those harmonies. But we have Shelley here and she was up for the challenge and learned. So, we kind of got all those harmonies in there and I was loving it. And Mark seemed to have a good time with it.
Korre: It sounded great.
Michael: Well, that’s the best we could hope for.
Korre: So, for a Max Creek fan to get that opportunity to have him in your band, what was that like for you?
Michael: Well, it was definitely thrilling, you know? I mean, when I was learning to play rock and roll keyboards and guitar — I kind of play both and in this band I play guitar — he was definitely an influence on me. I was like, “OK, that’s one way you can approach keyboards.” And he’s super talented and got great stylings. And so, I was excited about that. I was a little nervous. Partially, I mean Mark’s a great musician, and you know, I cannot assess my own musicianship. I feel like I’m all right, but we can all be our own worst critic.
But more than anything, I was concerned with the fact that not only is Mark just an absolutely stellar player, but every night when he walks on stage, his guitar player is Scott Murwaski. And I’m like, “Oh boy, he’s used to that.” I mean, I’ll tell you right here and now —no, I can’t hold a candle to what he can do with his chops. I mean, he’s just so smooth. So, I was kind of a little nervous about that. Well, I can do what I can do, and I can do it the very best I can. And hopefully that’ll fly with the whole thing and Mark will be like, “This is cool, this is fun.”
But part of me was a little concerned. Like, I just don’t want to necessarily compare apples and oranges. But it crossed my mind like, oh God, what if he’s like, “Well, this guy’s all right, but I miss Scott.” I couldn’t help but think about that a little. But that said, it was a great experience. And we were connecting a lot, I felt, with the whole band. And he had a big old grin on his face most of the night. And I thought, OK, I think he’s enjoying this.
Korre: Why don’t you tell me a little bit more about that initial exposure to Max Creek? When was that? Where were you at in your life when you found this band?
Michael: That was a fun time for me because I was working at a summer camp in New Hampshire, initially. So, I was 15, I guess — 14 … 15. It was my first time just kind of having total autonomy. I had my own little cabin in the bunkhouse, and I was like, “Wow, I don’t have any parents telling me what to do. I don’t have a curfew. I don’t have …” It was a fun time. Let’s just say there were some fun people I was working with. We were musicians, and we were at liberty to stay up all night if we wanted, and pretty much do whatever we wanted as long as we didn’t cause too much trouble.
So, we were immersing ourselves in music. That’s when I got first turned on to the Grateful Dead and bootlegs, all the cassettes. Back then it was all cassettes. There was no archive.org or no discs or any of that. No YouTube. So, along with all the other new music I was getting turned on to — and there was other stuff. I remember I first heard Pat Metheny and then I had friends that had all these Neil Young bootlegs and David Bromberg from the ‘70s. Great stuff.
And anyway, along with all that, I was turned on to Max Creek. So, I had the Drink the Stars cassette. I had another one, Rainbow, and the first album — I think was just called Max Creek. I forget. It’s got Big Boat on the River and all that. I hadn’t seen them yet, but I was like, “Oh, wow. This is good.” I remember listening to Drink the Stars and I remember the first time hearing the soloing and just the interplay on how Emotional Railroad builds up there and suddenly you’re in Blood Red Roses and then all that, and then you get to side three and it’s Gypsy blue and the whole jam. And then back to Mark — Katie Mae on that album is just jaw dropping.
Korre: It is.
Michael: And pin dropping. You know, it’s like so delicate there. But then it gets so huge. So yeah, I was big into that. And then I started going to see them. At first, and this was part of the joke with Mark when I called him or messaged him, I was like … so they wouldn’t let me in the clubs back then. I was 15 and I think you had to be 18 at the time. And I was a little 15-year-old. I was a 15-year-old. I looked about 12.
So, I would hang out outside of Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel there and they would play every Tuesday night. I’d go down and I would just dance outside. I would ride my unicycle down there because I ride a unicycle and I would ride around town with it. So, I would hang out, and I was pretty good on the unicycle. So, I could dance outside on the sidewalk on my unicycle, just kind of twirling around. And the thing is, I don’t know if you’re familiar with the old Lopos, but it’s glass doors that are just side stage. So, you’re looking right at the side of the stage, so the band can see everything that’s going on out that window.
So, I’d be out there on my unicycle, and I remember Scott looking over like, “What’s going on out there?” And so, when I first contacted Mark, I was like, “Ah, yeah. So, I don’t know if you remember me. But I was a kid that used to dance around on my unicycle outside of Lupos in like 1983.” And he was like, “Oh, yeah, I think I remember that.” Well, anyway. So, then I started seeing them live, and that was of course next level. I already loved the music from the recordings.
Again, I was soaking it up. I was 16 … 17 and I was starting to play in bands. I got an electric guitar, all that. I was very influenced both with Scott and with Mark in terms of guitar and keys, like I love their approach, the dynamics of it, as much as I loved — I was into folky stuff. I loved Joni Mitchell and I loved the real mellow stuff that the Dead would do and all that. But I was also into punk rock and power pop, indie, and heavier stuff, too.
And so, Max Creek, like I loved how they would cover Talking Heads and just really spunky versions of Life During Wartime or Cities. Like when I first heard Drink the Stars, too, you know, it was like, oh, Pissed Off. That’s basically a punk rock song, pretty much.
Korre: It is.
Michael: So, I was appreciating that aspect of them, and that’s kind of where I was soaking it up. Eventually I started taking a boom box down there. I made a few bootlegs. I probably have some bootlegs of shows that nobody else has sitting in my garage.
Korre: Michael Wegner, I know you’re about to go on stage here. Thank you so much for joining me on Hooked on Creek.
Michael: Yeah. I love that Hooked on Creek exists. The couple of podcasts that you focused on Mark I enjoyed. You had a whole podcast on Fire & Brimstone, so that was nice for me to listen to going into this experience with Mark. I’m like, “OK. We’re going to play Fire & Brimstone.”
Korre: I did the best I could.
Michael: Yeah, that’s great. And of course, Mark, what a great guy. We love him.
Korre: All right. I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.
Michael: Great.
[interview ends]
Huge thanks to Michael Wegner for joining me on the podcast. He was incredibly generous with his time, bringing me backstage at Shank Hall to chat just before his band went on to perform. I don’t often get the chance to record in-person interviews for Hooked on Creek, so this one was especially fun.
And here’s a bonus — along with our conversation, I also taped Cosmic Charlie’s full performance in Milwaukee. You can find a link to that live recording in the show notes. Now I have to say, if you have a chance to check out Cosmic Charlie, you should take it. I had a lot of fun and they put on a great show.
So, that wraps up episode 64 of Hooked on Creek. If you have feedback about this episode or suggestions for future episodes, please visit hookedoncreek.com and click the contact link to send me a message. I would love to hear from you. Thanks for tuning in!