Mutts frontman Mike Maimone “goes from zero to a hundred quicker than most,” according to Daytrotter. Choose Chicago says, “He plays the piano with his feet. He swills whiskey between songs. He shouts and howls. He is an unstoppable music force.” Vern Hester of the Windy City Times adds, “The man has the keyboard style of Fats Waller and Jerry Lee Lewis combined, and a vocal style that clearly recalls Tom Waits and Warren Zevon.”
Maimone has averaged over 100 tour dates each year since 2007, primarily with his band Mutts and as a solo artist, as well as on keyboards for Company of Thieves and Los Colognes. He has opened for Imagine Dragons, Weezer, OK Go, Blues Traveler, and The Hold Steady among others, played Lollapalooza, Sasquatch, Riot Fest, Last Call with Carson Daly, and at notable venues across the country, from The Fillmore in San Francisco, to Emo’s in Austin, to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.
Maimone released his solo debut LP Open Mic Nights, Empty Bottle Mornings in 2008. Going on to form Mutts with bassist Bob Buckstaff in 2009, Maimone has subsequently written and self-released 4 more albums and 4 EPs. In 2017 Mutts were named to WXRT’s Local Anesthetic Best-of list for the second time. The most recent LP from Mutts, Fuel Yer Delusion vol. 4, is their fourth consecutive album to chart on the CMJ Top 200. More Mutts music is on the way in 2018, as well as a follow-up solo release featuring his new brass band.
Mike Maimone endorses Lewitt microphones and Nord keyboards, who chose him to perform at their NAMM exhibition in 2018.