Brian Maes (born August 8, 1956 in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

) is an American musician. He graduated from

Lynn Classical High School Lynn Classical High School is a high school in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, United States. It is a part of Lynn Public Schools. The school was once located off of the Lynn Commons, in a building which is now the Fecteau-Leary school. The hig ...

in 1974 and from

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in 1979.

Biography

Early days

Maes' music studies began at the age of eight when he began

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

lessons with Louis Pascucci which lasted until the age of fourteen when he switched to playing

baritone horn The baritone horn, or sometimes just called baritone, is a low-pitched brass instrument in the saxhorn family.Robert Donington, "The Instruments of Music", (pp. 113ff ''The Family of Bugles'') 2nd ed., Methuen, London, 1962 It is a piston-val ...

at the request of Lynn Public schools senior band director, Fancis Pagnotta. By the age of sixteen, Maes had decided to focus primarily on singing and playing the

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. Private instruction from North Shore organist, Marie Fairfield as well as piano studies from jazz pianist, Joe Carlton prepared Maes for his audition and acceptance to Berklee in 1975. While at Berklee, Maes studied classical piano under Emanuel Zambelli and scored an A− on his senior recital, performing an hour of memorized classical pieces and an hour of memorized original material.

Career

After graduation from Berklee, Maes began touring with Boston-based pop rock group American Teen as keyboardist and vocalist. In 1982 Maes auditioned with

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

recording artist,

Robert Ellis Orrall Robert Ellis Orrall (born May 4, 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Signed to RCA Records in 1980, Orrall debuted that year with the album "Fixation". His first Top 40 single was "I Couldn't Say No", a duet with Carlene ...

, and was hired to tour in support of the release of the "Special Pain" album on RCA Records. In 1983 Maes travelled to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to play keyboards and sing backing vocals on the follow-up album, "Contain Yourself." Maes was commissioned to return to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to work on other recording projects, acting as

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

and conductor with Orrall bandmates, Charles (Kook) Lawry on guitar, David Stefanelli on drums and Don Walden on bass. In 1984, Maes began his long-standing relationship with

Barry Goudreau Barry Goudreau (born November 29, 1951) is an American musician. He was one of two original guitarists for the Rock music, rock band Boston (band), Boston alongside founder Tom Scholz; both Scholz and Goudreau shared lead and rhythm guitar parts ...

when he successfully auditioned for the keyboardist/backing vocalist chair with Orion the Hunter. The band toured as the opening act for

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

on the "Back in the Saddle" tour during the summer of 1984. After their first tour, Orion the Hunter disbanded. Maes and Goudreau made the decision to stay together and work on new material. In 1985, while still writing and recording with Barry Goudreau, Maes began collaborating with

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Peter Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946 in The ...

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic ...

frontman, doing pre-production and arranging work in the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

for Wolf's solo record "Come As You Are". Maes, Lawry, Stefanelli and Waldon all worked together in the studio recording the songs that would later be on this record and all received credit on the label. This collaboration between Wolf and Maes began a long-standing personal and professional relationship that would bring them together on numerable musical endeavors. It was during this time that Maes presented Wolf with the song "Until Your Love Comes Back Around" for consideration but Wolf passed on the song. Brian and Peter would come together again in 1993 to tour the United States and Japan in support of Peter's

Long Line Long line or longline may refer to: *''Long Line'', an album by Peter Wolf *Long line (topology), or Alexandroff line, a topological space *Long line (telecommunications), a transmission line in a long-distance communications network *Longline fish ...

album. The band was then called "Peter Wolf and the House Party 5" with Tim Archibald on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, David Stefanelli on drums and backing vocals,

Johnny A. John Antonopoulos (born November 14, 1952 in Malden, Massachusetts, United States), known professionally as Johnny A, is an American musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Early life Johnny A. was born in Malden, Massachusetts, of Greek heritage ...

on guitar, Doug Dube on

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

and backing vocals, Brian Maes on keys and backing vocals and Peter Wolf on lead vocals.Locey, Bill (1994) "Old-Time Rocker Goes the Distance", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', April 28, 1994, p. 5 (Part J) Maes was also a member of RTZ.Whitburn, Joel (1996) ''Top Pop Albums 1955-1996'', Record Research Inc., p. 673

Latest activities

Maes released the solo album ''Songs for Madeline'' in 2004, dedicated to his daughter.Convey, Kevin R. (2004)
CD reviews: Brian Maes; "Songs for Madeline" (Briola)
", ''

Milford Daily News ''The Milford Daily News'' is an American daily newspaper covering Milford, Massachusetts, and several nearby towns in Norfolk and Worcester counties. The newspaper is managed and printed by '' The MetroWest Daily News''. Both are owned by Gan ...

'', January 14, 2004, retrieved 2011-07-23 Maes was currently the lead singer and keyboardist for '' Ernie and the Automatics'' which features original and former members of the band

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

Sib Hashian John Thomas "Sib" Hashian (August 17, 1949 – March 22, 2017) was an American musician, best known as a drummer for the rock band Boston. Career Boston Hashian was chosen by Boston founder and band leader Tom Scholz in 1975 to replace origina ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Fellow RTZ and Peter Wolf's House Party Five bandmate, bassist, Tim Archibald is also a member of '' Ernie and the Automatics'', along with

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

, Michael "Tunes" Antunes from

John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band is an American rock band from Rhode Island which began its career in 1972, and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s. Originally known as simply Beaver Brown, they got their name from a paint can. The clas ...

. The Automatics' new album, ''Low Expectations'', was produced by Brian Maes and was set for release on February 17, 2009 on "Open E" Records, the new label owned by Ernie Boch, Jr, who is also a guitarist in the band. Maes also leads the Brian Maes Band, which also features Archibald and guitarist Kook Lawry.Higgins, Kaileigh (2010)
Concert series continues with Brian Maes Band
, boston.com, July 22, 2010, retrieved 2011-07-23 In late 2011, Maes co-wrote several songs on the newest Billy Shake album, '' Crashing Down''.Shake, Billy (2012)
Billy Shake Rocks"
/ref> Maes is currently touring with Barry Goudreau's Engine room in support of their 2017 album “full steam ahead” fronting vocals and keys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maes, Brian American male singers Singers from Massachusetts People from Lynn, Massachusetts Living people 1956 births