The Mallett Brothers Band
After just over a year of playing together, alt-country-rockers The Mallett Brothers Band swept the top categories at the 2011 Portland Phoenix’s Best Music Awards, winning Best Local Act, Best Live Act, and Best Local Album. Their fall 2010 performance at the National Underground in NYC was listed among the “Best Shows of 2010″ by the award-winning music blog Hidden Track, and their debut album was named the Top New Local Album (Maine and New Hampshire) of 2010 by Bull Moose Music, after spending nearly a full year on the weekly Top 10 Local Album chart. They shared a bill with the likes of Derek Trucks, The Flaming Lips, Jakob Dylan and Furthur at the 2010 Nateva Festival; they regularly sell out establishments ranging from rock clubs to grange halls throughout New England; and at their March 2011 performance at Portland’s Port City Music Hall, more alcohol was allegedly consumed than at any other local show in the venue’s history. The band most recently won first prize in the 2011 "Rockin' Country Showdown" put on by 99.9 The Wolf, southern Maine's #1 country station, beating out some very tough competition from all over New England.
While they’ve been called “a party that cannot be missed” (The Deli Magazine), “an authentic, rip-roarin’ alt country band” (The Portland Press Herald), “no softies” (The Portland Phoenix), “amazing” (The Piscataquis Observer) “luminaries” (NonAlignmentPact), with their songwriting compared to Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt (The Bangor Daily News), Sam Pfeifle of the Portland Phoenix is perhaps most accurate in his observation that “this band always seems to be having a hell of a time, and that emotion is infectious.”
Wally Wenzel cut his musical teeth playing bar bands in Vermont in the early 1980's, as the punk scene was blossoming and the small towns of Vermont provided ample inspiration for hard rocking and hard partying. He played in a variety of rock bands throughout the 90's and 00's, all while working as a sound engineer for a variety of Portland, Maine's premier music venues as well as for such acts as Rustic Overtones and Soulive; as well as producing/engineering albums for a number of acts including Boombazi and Bass Box. His most recent musical venture prior to joining MBB in 2009 was as a leader in The Horror, a breed of death-lounge-rock that acquired a fiercely, and enduringly, loyal local following. He serves as one of the band's multi-talents, contributing as a songwriter, a player of dobro, electric guitar, keys and more, and engineer/producer.
Nate Soule's musical experience envelopes the whole spectrum. A member of the Maine State Boys' Choir as a young man (and performing a solo at Merrill Auditorium at age 7, he had mastered the guitar and begun to play rock and roll shows by age 17, continuing to perform as a frontman, vocalist, bass player and guitar player with such acts as The Press, and The Awesome, among others. His engineering skills (Nate has worked as a sound engineer for a number of venues throughout New England), his multi-instrumental chops, his peerless high harmonies, and his solid songwriting contributions (Nate was responsible for "Take It Back" off the band's 2010 debut, as well as "Paper Cut" off their 2011 release, "Low Down"), have made Nate an indelible part of MBB since Day 1. He tears things up on the electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, pump organ, percussion, and vocals; while simultaneously holding the role of co-producer/engineer.
Nick Leen is the assbag responsible for forming the band of miscreants known as The Mallett Brothers Band when, while Will was crashing on the couch at Luke and Nick's apartment, he resolved for the three of them to jam more frequently. As songs began to form, Nick brought together Nate, Wally, and Brian, each of whom he had worked with on previous projects, choosing the musicians based more than anything on their capacity to "hang." Previously to MBB, Nick was a member of favorite local funk/rock group Boombazi, along with Luke and Nate. He plays the bass guitar, sometimes the keys, and has contributed a fair number of gem lines for a variety of tunes. Famous for his on-stage boot-stomp, Nick once stomped the sole off of his boot during a show, a feat met with a fair number of ooohs and aaahs.
When first approached by Will to possibly play drums in just-then-forming Mallett Brothers Band, Brian's was a curt reply: "I don't play country." A punk/metal/rock drummer since the mid-1980's, Brian's initial forays into the rock and roll world were accompanied by a wardrobe of big hair, leather pants and tank tops -- fashion traits he has thankfully since abandoned. He has performed with an impressively multitudinous selection of Maine rock acts including High-Fivin' White Guys, Lost Cause Desperadoes, Colepitz, Rocktopus, and The Horror (with Wenzel), among others. Of course, his first reluctant appearance at an early Mallett Brothers Band rehearsal was enough to twist his arm about joining the band, and he now holds down the rhythm section with his distinctive fast-brushing style (he had never touched a pair of brushes before joining MBB) and furious, heavy-metal-forged right foot.
One of two members of MBB that's a son of famed folk singer David Mallett, Luke began playing music as soon as he could walk. In the Mallett house, with instruments perpetually slumbering on various pieces of furniture like cats, it was easy enough. Early forays on the piano and bass guitar placed him in a number of hardcore bands in high school before he eventually joined Lab Seven, long regarded as one of the premier hip hop acts in Portland, Maine; and, finally, Boombazi, where he joined Leen and Soule in the mid-2000's. A lyrical firehose, Luke's hip hop background is credited by some as the source of his distinctive vocal and lyrical style that makes him one of the favorite vocalists (of any genre) in the Portland, Maine music scene.
Will Mallett, Cosmopolitan Magazine's "Maine's Hottest Bachelor" of 2011, is one of MBB's primary songwriters, contributing musically on acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, and lead and backup vocals. He appreciates a fine cigarette, cheap beer, fast food and fast women.