Mike Maimone

Piano-playing singer/songwriter and producer from Ashtabula, OH. Spent 12 years in Chicago, 3 in Nashville, now located in Los Angeles.

Career Highlights:
- Played Lollapolooza, Riot Fest, Sasquatch!, Nashville Pride, and other major festivals both as front man and as session keyboardist
- Toured supporting Plain White T’s, Blues Traveler, OK Go, Murder By Death, opened for Imagine Dragons, Weezer, Blink 182, JD McPherson, and more
- Performed keys with Stevie Wonder at husband's memorial service
- 80,000+ followers across socials and newsletter (@mikemaimonemusic on IG/Tiktok)
- Averaged over 100 tour dates/year, have played every House of Blues and legendary venues such as the Fillmore in San Francisco, Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, the Troubador in LA, and the Bowery Ballroom in NYC
- 56 independent releases since 2008, including 13 albums, which have sold out of several vinyl pressings
- Catalog of over 150 published original songs, including several film/TV placements
- Named an artist of the week in Feb 2020 by Lightning 100FM in Nashville

"If searching for a shortcut portmanteau to encompass Nashville treasure and impeccable thirst trapper Mike Maimone, you could do worse than “Dr. John Grant,” melding the latter’s erudite social X-rays and queer queries with the former’s boisterous barroom piano promenades.
But even amid the joyful mood roulette of Mookie’s Big Gay Mixtape, you get a feel for the emotional undertow that lurks just beyond some of the pleasant party vibes and the evening of scales. After the unexpected death of Maimone’s husband just before the album's release, the ballads’ impact is harder, the party jams and interludes feel like safety valves, and a wrenching take on Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” hits like Closing Time-era Tom Waits." - Jason Shawhan, Nashville Scene, June 2023

"In a city filled with hard-working musicians, Mike Maimone is right up there. The blues musician has released six albums, six EPs, and averaged 100 live shows per year over the past 12 years. Maimone plays the blues, but with a swampy New Orleans-influenced sound reminiscent of Dr. John or Leon Russell. He brings ‘a little queerness to traditionally straight blues-based genres." - Jenn White, NPR, Feb 2019

BIO (updated Summer 2024)
Lyrical pillars: coming out, finding purpose after quitting a corporate job, grief for his late husband Howard Bragman, surviving pericarditis, persistence and staying positive through setbacks

Off stage, Mike Maimone is humble and calm. He greets the staff at venues, quietly sets up his keyboard, and mingles with the audience before his set. But as soon as the lights come up, he transforms. Daytrotter founder Sean Moeller took note, saying he “goes from zero to a hundred quicker than most.”

Of Maimone’s raucous performances, The Windy City Times said, “The man has the keyboard style of Fats Waller and Jerry Lee Lewis combined (he punches the keys with violence which make the notes sting, but his speed and ease give those notes a smooth velocity and irresistible swing), and a vocal style that clearly recalls Tom Waits and Warren Zevon… With him bouncing up and down, smacking the keys and growling like a jolly puppet who just lost its strings, it was pretty hard not to get engulfed in all the fun he was having.”

Relocating to Nashville in January 2020, he moved characteristically fast. He took his keyboard-stomping, howling vocals, and piano chops to songwriter rounds and showcases every night. By February he was named a Lightning 100 FM Local Artist of the Week.

When COVID put an end to his auspicious start as a Nashville performer, Maimone switched gears, creating a visual album in his home studio. “isolation:001:the movie,” was accepted to multiple film festivals, including a very special live performance at Hobnobben Film Fest.

As live music came back, Maimone released “Broke, Not Broken” on June 18, 2021 (he had recorded it with his band in Chicago pre-pandemic).

Maimone was hospitalized the week of the album release with pericarditis and canceled his release tour. But in typical workaholic fashion, Maimone made a music video in his hospital bed for album track F.M.L. Since he had no playback device for the audio, he had to film the entire video in 14-second clips using Instagram stories. Shortly after returning from the hospital, Maimone and his partner of 7 years – and then-fiancé – parted ways.

About a year later in 2022 Mike met PR guru Howard Bragman, and their lives intertwined immediately. Over the next year, the two split time between Nashville and LA, while Maimone released six singles in anticipation of a “mixtape” album. The couple was engaged in February 2023, when Bragman was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia. They were married in the hospital on February 10, 2023. Howard passed on the following evening. His last request of his new husband was to perform “The Best” at his memorial. Maimone granted that special request, following a performance of “God Bless the Child” with Stevie Wonder.

In his grief, Maimone pushed back the release of “Mookie’s Big Gay Mixtape” until June 2023. But instead of promoting the album with tour dates and music videos, he spent the Summer creating a tribute album for his late husband.

“Our house had been so full of music and friends, but I suddenly found it silent,” Maimone said. “I couldn’t write my feelings, no new songs were coming, only tears and anxiety. I needed to get it out somehow. So I started learning some of the cover songs that meant a lot to us. Somehow I recorded them, in between breaking down on the floor of my studio.” The resulting album, “Borrowed Tunes, vol. 2: Songs for You,” came out in August, 2023. Maimone performed the album live at three sold out release shows in LA, NYC, and Chicago. The final show was recorded and released as a live album in February 2024.

Maimone’s music has always transcended genres, and his EP “Unfollow [VERSIONS]” takes it a step further. One year after the release of the original song, Maimone rolled out five alternate versions – all entirely re-recorded – ranging from Americana to electronica. It is the 56th release from the singer, songwriter and producer on his label 8eat8 Records since 2008. He has also contributed keyboards to many other artists’ recordings including Company of Thieves‘ “Running From a Gamble,” produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) and “Crazy Dream EP” by Jon Walker of Panic! at the Disco.

On top of being prolific in the studio, Maimone has recently completed his 1st book, a memoir about his beautiful, tragic year with his late husband Howard Bragman.

He has also averaged over 100 tour dates each year since 2005. As a solo artist, with his trio Mutts, 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, Sasquatch!, Summer Camp, Forecastle, and Riot Fest. He has opened for Blink 182, Weezer, Imagine Dragons, and toured with OK Go, Plain White Tees, Blues Traveler, Murder By Death, The Hold Steady, and more.

Maimone grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, and considers himself a late bloomer. Although he started piano lessons at age 5, he didn’t start writing original songs until college. He realized he was gay in his early 20s but didn’t come out to his Catholic family and friends until age 30 – three years into living with his partner at the time. He was an all-state high school athlete (played basketball against LeBron James) while studying and performing classical piano. He graduated from business school, but in less than a year quit his accounting job to focus on music full-time.

Mining these disparate life experiences, the prolific writer has published an eclectic body of work spanning over 150 songs. For example, “God, Country, Grave” appeared in a sex scene of the adult show Banshee on HBO Max, while “Let’s Go” made the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field playlist.