Exclusive Look Into Mae Simpson's New Album-Band Goes Back To Roots

“The best songs are the ones that come to you in an hour”, Mae said with a chuckle. On February 21st in the space of El Diablo Amps & Guitars in NE Minneapolis, friends and family gathered around the band for the first public listening party of their second EP, “Did You Make It Back”.

Mae Simpson Music was formed in 2017 after Mae made a spontaneous move to Minneapolis from Omaha. The group started out as a three-piece, percussion (Ricardo J Romero), lead guitar (Jorgen Wadkins), and Mae on vocals/writing/guitar. But Mae always had the idea in her head of a big band with a full horn section. The group decided to take to Craigslist for their search and lucked out in finding two incredible horn players, (alto-sax player Keaton Judy, and trumpet player Paul Pederson). Later adding David Kellerman (bass), and Aaron Silverstein (drums), the group was finally complete.

The Mae Simpson Band’s first EP “Feel It Coming” was a joyous combination of funk, blues, jazz, rock, and even a little hip hop. Their high energy performances landed them the win at the 2018 Battle of the Blues Bands at Famous Dave’s Minneapolis, and they opened the Lowertown Blues Festival. Since that time, Mae Simpson has been nominated for many “Best Of’s”; winning the City Pages “Reader’s Choice Best New Band”, and most recently First Avenue’s “Best New Band of 2019”.

With every song on the new EP under 2.5 minutes, Mae explains that they made the decision of keeping the songs on the album short and sweet, and decided to save the extended versions for jam sessions at the live shows. The group invested around $10,000 in the production and distribution of this album, a leap of faith for Mae Simpson Music. A hush fell over the room as the first track began to play.

Track 1: “Keeping On My Feet” is a driving dance song described by Dave as “if Tom Petty was recorded by Stax Records.” This high-tempo americana song is a perfect introduction to the album, offering aspects of classic rock, funk, and blues.

Track 2: “Already here” is an older song of theirs made fresh during production. The instrumentals tweaked a bit, resulting in the bass really coming through and leading the momentum and groove. Mae describes the inspiration of the lyrics, stating that “Meeting someone at the wrong time don’t mean it ain’t real.”

Track 3: “Smile” sounds exactly like you’d expect a song named “Smile” to sound. As the first song written with drummer Aaron in the band, you can feel the camaraderie in this funky and light-hearted feel-good tune. Mae even pulls out her surprising rap skills for a little hip hop breakdown that is so very Mae.

Track 4: That night was the first time the full band was able to listen to the completed track called “Sorry”. This song was written in three hours while the band was in the recording studio drinking gin. After listening to the recording, David is quoted as exclaiming “I’m drunk, I’m never gonna write a better bass line than that!” and he very well may be right. Featuring aspects of beach rock, hip hop, classic reggae, funky flute solos, and the ironically cheesy triangle hit at the end (which always gets a chuckle), this track is a goofy respite from the previous, more emotional tracks.

Track 5: “Home” is the first emotion-packed track on the album. Giving us some raw and gritty belting, Mae’s Janis Joplin inspiration makes a huge appearance in this blues-rock ballad. In a moment that touched everyone in the room, Mae’s best friend from Texas surprised her and showed up right before this song began. Dripping with a sense of belonging and some killer saxophone riffs from Keaton, this song is a perfect juxtaposition of angst and fulfillment.

Track 6: “Monsters” is an upbeat and nostalgic americana/folk song about love. Steady bass drum hits paired with the group echoing Mae with tight harmonies gave the song a campfire-esque feel. The song was written by guitarist Jorgen for his now fiance Steph, who was in the audience that night. She later joined the band on stage to sing backup vocals for a live/acoustic version of the song. It was impossible to ignore the sweet looks between the two of them.

Track 7: The last track on the album was titled “Birds”. This acoustic song really brought it back to Mae’s southern roots. Strong soul/americana influences came through like never before in this track. It gave an idea of the heritage and emotional history beyond what we heard in their first EP. As the final song on the album, it wrapped-up and simplified the feelings and messages of the rest of the album. It brought you down to the base level of why Mae writes, and it makes you very happy that she does.

At the end of the night, the band proceeded to play a few live acoustic songs, illustrating that their talent extends far beyond the reaches of produced tracks. Energy of love and acceptance emanated throughout the room, followed by emotions of pride and excitement about what is to come for the group. “Did You Make It Back” absolutely harnessed their pure soul and americana-folk heritage that the previous album maybe missed the mark on. In the closing statements, Mae referred to her music as being “something that’s beyond me, and I think that its for helping other people, and I hope I can do that for you”.

Mae Simpson Band will be holding their official album release show with the McNasty Brass Band at the Cedar Cultural Center on March 28th at 7pm.