Mike Maimone

Describing the front man of Chicago garage rock veterans Mutts, Daytrotter said Mike Maimone "goes from zero to a hundred quicker than most." Relocating to Nashville in January 2020, he moved characteristically fast and was named a Lightning 100 Local Artist of the Week in February. When COVID put an end to his auspicious start as a Nashville performer, he recorded a pair of albums in his bedroom studio. A covers record called "Borrowed Tunes, vol. 1" came out in September, and a new original album called "isolation:001" came out in October. These are the 9th and 10th albums that the singer/songwriter and producer has released on his label 8eat8 Records since 2008, along with 8 EPs nearly 20 singles. As a session keyboardist he has also contributed to dozens of other recordings. On top of being prolific in the studio, Maimone also averaged over 100 tour dates each year since 2009. As a solo artist and with his band Mutts, and as a keyboardist for Company of Thieves, Los Colognes, and others, he has performed at legendary venues from The Fillmore in San Francisco to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and at festivals such as Lollapalooza and Riot Fest. In his own words, Maimone says, "My songs are born from a life of contradictions." Maimone grew up in conservative rural Ohio, not coming out of the closet to his Catholic family and friends until age 30 - three years into living with his partner at the time. He was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school while studying classical piano and performing at school recitals. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame business school, but quickly walked away from corporate America to focus on music. From these experiences the prolific writer has published over 100 songs that are as diverse as his life has been. For example, on the one hand "God, Country, Grave" appeared in a sex scene of an adult show Banshee on Cinemax. And on the other, "Let's Go" was played in the "Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field during the Cubs' historic World Series run.