RickMalis.com

We had an absolutely phenomenal turnout for the Twangathon fundraising event for our friends Joe Briggs and Cheri Cunningham. Special thanks to Shani Love and Johnny Carlino, Slim Forsythe and His New Pay Day Loners
and all my friends who braved the cold weather to make this event successful.

Played three very fun solo gigs in January with friends, Charlie Barath, Doug Wilkin and Peter King at Biddle’s Escape and the Bocktown Grills in Monaca and Robinson. Looking forward to playing more solo gigs so stay tuned.

The Mavens are playing a The Park House on Pittsburgh’s Northside, This Friday, February 8th for the first time.

On next Saturday, Feb. 16th we will be sharing the stage again with our good friends Tom Breiding and American Son at Frankie’s in Squirrel Hill for a great evening of honky-tonk and roots rock.

And then on Saturday, February, 23rd, we will play a more acoustic 4 piece show at Elwood’s Pub in Rural Ridge, PA just outside of Pittsburgh.

Also check out this link to see a video of the Johnny Cash benefit that we played in the fall. A trailer has been posted by an Australian company that features The Mavens playing the “Bump Bounce Boogie”.

http://php4.arte.tv/box/usa2012/en/brouillon-auto/choose-an-episode/pittsburghs-lifestyle/a-homage-to-johnny-cash/#/box/usa2012/en/brouillon-auto/choose-an-episode/pittsburghs-lifestyle/a-homage-to-johnny-cash/

This was our first gig of our comeback with Pete playing dobro and lap steel.

Had a very busy musical week. Played at the Bocktown Grill last Wednesday in Monaca and Charlie Barath saved my butt by sitting in on the harp. On Friday, I played at Biddle’s Escape and had a great night with Doug Wilkin, Peter King and Roger Day sitting in.

On Saturday, the Mavens played “Tavern in the Wall” (formerly The Aspinwall Grill). It turned out to be a great gig. It’s a small intimate space, a lot of our musician friends stopped by.

Mitch Bell also posted a performance/interview from December at W&J. You can see and hear it here:

Want to remind everyone too about our big fund raising event, Twangathon for Joe Briggs and Cheri Cunningham. The Iron City Slickers, Slim Forsythe and His New Pay Day Loners will be trying to raise money for Joe and Cheri who have been beset by cancer. We are actually grieving for Cheri today. Joe passed away on Sunday, so this is a very important to us and the music community.

It happens on February 1st at The Lawrenceville Moose 120 51st St
Pittsburgh PA 15201. the music starts at 8:30 p.m. You can get tickets ahead of the event from Mark Evans, Slim Forsythe and myself.

I’ve got a lot of live events coming up in the new year.

January 11th – The Mavens at Hambones in Lawrenceville
January 16th – Rick solo @ Bocktown Grille in Robinson
January 18th – Rick solo @ Biddle’s Escape in Regent Square
January 19th – The Mavens @ Tavern in the Wall (formerly Aspinwall Grill in Aspinwall
January 26th Fodis Bar
January 29th – Rick solo Bocktown Grill in Monaca
February 1st – The Mavens, Slim Forsythe and His New Payday Loners and the Iron City Slickers at the Lawrenceville Moose benefit Twangathon for Joe Briggs and Cheri Cunningham.
February 8th – The Mavens at The Park House (on the North Side of Pittsburgh)
February 16th – Frankie’s in Squirrel Hill with Tom Breiding and American Son
Feburary 23rd Elwood’s Pub in Rural Ridge PA
March 9th – Black Sheep Vineyard Adena Ohio http://blacksheepvineyard.com/

The Mavens had a great time in their return to the Wheeling Jamboree now held at the Casino on Wheeling Island. Also on the show were Wil Maring and guitarist Robert Bowlin.

Sorry it’s been awhile since I posted. The Mavens are reformed and playing better than ever with the addition of Mike Evans on bass and Mike Knee on drums. To keep up with all our performances and new news become a fan and sign up for email @ www.reverbnation.com/the mavensburgh.

I’m also starting to play out solo. My shows will be posted @ www.reverbnation.com/rickmalis

More stories, photos, videos to be posted soon.

My performance schedule is in first gear in September.
September 1, at the Bock Grille in Robinson solo performance.

September 15th Maven’s Performance at Carnegie Science Center 2-3 p.m.

September 15th Johnny Cash Day at Elks Club in Northside

September 21st Hank Williams’ Tribute at Lawrenceville Moose.

New solo CD, “Heatbreak Town” is now widely available on CD Baby, Itunes and other digital music sites including Spotify.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rickmalis4

Lots of exciting stuff happening. Just about to send off my new solo CD, “Heartbreak Town” off to the replicators. Should be available for sale and download in about eight weeks.

The Mavens are starting to book gigs and should be easy to find starting in September.

I’ve been dong a lot of bike riding on the city trails this summer. New songs that I’ve been listening to: “There Won’t Be Anymore” by Charlie Rich, “Bottle Baby Boogie”. Bob Wills and “Truck Drivers Blues” on the new Marty Stuart CD which I highly recommend.

Captured on a recent bike ride along the city.

57 Eldorado CadillacMy song 57 Eldorado Cadillac from my last solo record “Blue and Brokenhearted” www.cdbaby.com/rickmalis2 was played on Car Talk on Saturday, May 12th. Here’s the tune.