Chuck Maiden is a singer/songwriter who creates music that combines Southern California folk rock with British pop. His songs have been featured on XM Satellite radio and have received airplay across America and Europe. The DIY Music Festival awarded him with an honorable mention for his debut album, Morris Road in 2004.
He was born in Lawrence, Kansas and grew up in Canoga Park, California. Inspired by The Beatles, he began playing guitar at age 11 and soon after, joined his first band, playing mostly bass guitar through his teens. Having three older sisters exposed him to a lot of popular music: Arthur Lee and Love, Dylan, The Stones, Buffalo Springfield, etc.. They all left their mark. At 18, he began composing songs on acoustic guitar. Around this time, he moved to Washington State.
Eventually, Chuck formed his own band, Hands and developed a large following around Seattle, playing a mixture of covers and his originals. One of his songs, Angel Love, appeared on Seattle station, KZOK’s Best of the Northwest compilation album.
Chuck left Hands to move back to Los Angeles and continued to write and record demos. In 1985, he met some musicians in Santa Barbara and formed The Story So Far. He was writing and performing more alternative music at this time, but a melodic component was always important to him. Around this time he was a member of the Santa Barbara Songwriters Guild, where he won three first-place awards for his song, Wring It Out.
After a few personnel changes and gigs which included sharing the bill with Toad the Wet Sprocket, the band settled in Los Angeles, recording demos and showcasing for labels. The record deal the band had hoped for never materialized and Chuck’s musicians went their separate ways.
After much soul-searching and stilted attempts to form another band, Chuck, for the first time, decided to take a break from performing. He focused on another long time interest—art. During his hiatus, Chuck worked for Malibu and Marvel Comics as a computer colorist. This led to working as a background painter for Fox’s King of the Hill and American Dad.
In 2001, He met fellow singer/songwriter, Bill Reveles who encouraged him to make a record with session musicians. Bill shared Chuck’s musical sensibilities and was enlisted to help produce his debut. Tracks were recorded at Matt Thorne’s MT Studios in Burbank in early 2002. A year and a half later, the record was mixed by Talley Sherwood and mastered by Gavin Lurssen. Morris Road was born.
Maiden’s most recent release, Adobe, was co-produced with Todd Chapman and recorded in Hollywood, California in 2005. Chuck sang, and played acoustic and electric guitars while Todd played keyboards, bass, drums and lead guitar in spots. Four of the songs were co-written with Bill Reveles.
Chuck Maiden currently performs acoustically as a solo act and with a full band, playing material from Morris Road, Adobe as well as newer songs. He lives in Newbury Park, California with his wife, Paulette and daughter, Mackenzie.
