The Maple Street Project
The Maple Street Project plays acoustic oriented geezer folk/rock! We've been writing, rehearsing and jamming on Tuesdays for 18 years. We don't feel "old" but... we ain't kids! While most of us are in our mid '50s we're totally committed to composing and performing original material.
In live performances we unabashedly play our own songs - sometimes tossing in a cover to prove that ours are better! Depending on the cover, they usually are.
Every band has its history. Here's ours:
Guitarist/vocalist George Pultz and mando player/vocalist Bob Littman met in 1972 in New Jersey. For extra credit in a college English class, they wrote music to accompany works by such poets as Yates, Shelley, and Tennyson. The lyrics were a bit naff but the tunes were terrific!
After graduating in 1975, the pair spent a year on the country rock scene in a group called Shayn. In 1976 they switched gears and moved to Boston to pursue a short lived music career as a duo, Ziro and Napoleon (we won't say which of them is more vertically challenged but you can tell from the band photos).
''We played at a number of big clubs in town, then George wound up going to law school and I got married," Littman recounts.
Time passed...
Meanwhile, singer/songwriter Mel Green - a transplanted South African - invited Bob to join him to play at a local talent show in Needham. Lo and behold - it was the start of something good! After performing together for a short time as a duo, Bob introduced Mel to George in 1991. Thus The Maple Street Project was born. Songs were written, gigs were played, and the buzz began to grow.
But still something was missing... So, sometime in 2000, they recruited Eric Luskin to play bass. Jim Mavor was later invited to play percussion for a "special" gig and... the dude is still here.
From two duos a mighty quirky quintet evolved. Those are the generally agreed upon facts. Anything else is likely revisionist history!
Check out the pics on our photo page. Our thanks to MJ Maloney - official photographer of the Maple Street Project.
Mel Green - Vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, dulcimer & song writer
Originally from South Africa where he performed with the trio Mel, Mel and Julian, an acoustic folk sensation producing three successful record albums for Columbia (www.melgreensings.com). Mel is an graphic designer and watercolor painter, with many wonderful projects to his credit.
Mel's musical instrument fixation includes, a Martin, Maingard and 6-and 12-string Taylor guitars, a Michael Kelly mandolin, an Allan Carruth Appalachain dulcimer, Australian and African claves, shakers, conga drums, many harmonicas, and a newly acquired bass guitar. Maybe a banjo next!
If you're curious, he will not wear stripes, brown, or 100% cotton.... and wishes he could tap dance.
He has two grown sons and resides in the garden suburb of Boston, Brighton, MA, by way of Needham. Mel is very active in the Boston folk music scene and performs solo as well as with The Maple Street Project.
Bob Littman - Vocals, mandolin, bouzouki, fiddle & song writer
Moved to Boston, post college, from New Jersey along with fellow band member, George Pultz. Presently married with five children counting step kids. Vice President and co founder of Air Energy, Inc, Easton, MA. Previous experience in country rock, folk and bluegrass bands.
As for the old days, Bob says... "I met George in 1972 in a class, but didn't realize that he was a musician until late in the semester. We then formed a bluegrass trio called The Hired Hands with a banjo player and performed at several bluegrass festivals. It wasn't until the following year that we started writing music for poetry along with another classmate who played guitar (very well I might add). This was expanded into a country rock band called Shayn. We performed in the Trenton and Phili area for about two years. George and I left the band and went to Boston to pursue music before the need for a serious career and familial commitments interceded and ended this era."
Eric Luskin - Vocals, electric bass, acoustic & electric guitars & song writer
Originally from the Boston area, with an extended detour to Philadelphia, he resides in Needham with his wife; their daughter is a recent graduate of Boston College where she was a member of the prestigious a capella group the BC Bostonians. Eric also engineers MSP recording sessions. In his non-music hours, Eric is a Vice President at American Public Television, a program distribution company.
Previous bands include Firebird (a teensy footnote in Wellesley '70s music history), Nemesis, Yankee Go Home, and The Purim Band of Bucks County PA.
Instruments: Seagull S-6, Guild D-40, Gibson ES-333, Ibanez Roadstar, Fender Precision bass, and Warwick fretless bass.
Jim Mavor - Drums, percussion & stoic non-vocals
Jim is originally from the Cape Cod area and makes his living free-lancing his computer support services. Jim's percussion has allowed the band's style of song writing and arranging to further evolve. Unlike any drummer you've ever heard, gentle Jim is frequently chided by his bandmates for not playing loud enough.
In his spare time, Jim is also the accordian player for the Shpilkes Klezmer Band. Check 'em out at http://www.myspace.com/shpilkes
George Pultz - Vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, bass & prolific song writer
Moved to Boston, post college, from New Jersey and performed with Bob Littman in the late seventies in a folk duo. Presently General Counsel for GE Aviation in Lynn, MA. Father of three and very involved with the community and other organizations. George not only pens many of the MSP compositions, he has a key role in arrangements with a particular focus on harmony and vocals.