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Welcome to our Website!
The Muellers are a true family band, six children ages 6 to 22, plus Mom and Dad. Based in New England but with roots in Missouri, they are firmly grounded in the bluegrass tradition. Audiences across America are taking notice of this up-and-coming act. So put your feet up and sit a spell, enjoy the site, and don't forget to leave a note in our guestbook and sign up for our mailing list on your way out!
2.13.08 - Karen: Everyone who reads the updates written by the Momma of the band knows that I wait until news is long overdue before a word escapes my mouth. Well, this time is no exception but it hasn't been because I've been too busy, it's because I've been too tired! To all of you who have shown us so much kindness during my illness, THANK YOU! I appreciate your prayers for me and for the family as we get through this.
A lot of folks want to know just what happened and how things are, so let me just put it in the words of one of my doctors—"Even the Energizer Bunny runs out of batteries." Now there is a lot more medical jargon I could throw out there, in case that makes you wonder about the quality of my medical care. Lots of good doctors! Rest was number one on the list of things to do, number two was just getting rid of my big to-do list! So for those of you who have remarked that you've never seen me sit still (and there are a lot of you) well, guess what! I have learned how to sit still and do nothing! And I can do it without coffee! I know that quitting coffee will have a negative effect on the coffee vendors at all the festivals, but don't worry…I'm drinking decaf. Not buckets of it like before (!) but you'll still see me in the coffee line.
All joking aside, this has been an opportunity for our entire family to seriously ponder many things. Number one on the list was thinking about the many, many people who deal with serious long-term illnesses and how it impacts every minute of so many lives. What happened around here was a just a bump in the road compared to the situations of so many others. On the musical side of life, everyone, right down to George, has contemplated what our music means to us, and what it takes to be a traveling family band. While it is fun and rewarding, it takes a lot of work, I'm not gonna lie! And while the children have always been very helpful, and this has always been a group effort, they now know the importance of sharing the work even more. I'm so proud of my children for their commitment and willingness to work. They have a clear vision of where they want to go.
So there has been a re-division of labor, and while I am keeping my job as booking agent, I've been completely relieved of any tasks that have to do with managing the stage clothes, and let me tell you folks, that is huge! The kids are now in charge of the wardrobe department, so if you see George on stage covered in ketchup…well, ok…I'm still going to have a Tide-stick in my purse! Tom is handling a lot of management tasks in the band, and is helping me with booking as well. Curt is busy overseeing the whole big thing...and he is a dad that cooks, thank the Lord!
There's not enough space here to relate all the things that God has shown us about family, music and the limitations of being human. I've learned the most of all. And I'm so thankful to all of you for your prayers, emails, letters and gifts. I am still working at answering every email and I appreciate that you all took the time to write me.
We have a lull in our schedule right now with just a couple of shows here in Maine, but we are playing every night in the kitchen, working on a lot of new material, including some of Tom's originals. We're looking forward to hitting the road again May 1st. I'd like to let everyone know that we are now booking for the second half of 2008 and all of 2009, and it's full steam ahead. So ask for the Muellers by name at your local festival and we'll be sure to be there to play for you! And let me say 'thank ya'll' one more time.
1.10.08 - Announcement: Due to a serious health problem in the family, The Muellers have been forced to cancel all national engagements until May 2008. Karen Mueller, our bassist, manager, and mother, was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue syndrome after collapsing in late 2007. She has made great progress in the last two months and we are confident that she will be back, better than ever, by late spring. In the meantime, she is receiving the very best medical care and the rest of us are busy preparing new material for our 2008 performances.
We appreciate all of the prayers and kind wishes that so many of you have already offered to us, and we ask that you please continue to keep Karen in your prayers.
All the best,
Curt, Tom, Bob, Laurah, Sarah, John, and George
12.19.07 - Tom: Hey y'all! It's starting to look a lot like Christmas after the latest blizzard that passed through Maine. We've been very busy over the last few weeks learning new material for our touring schedule in the coming year, and we think that you're going to love some of our new songs.
Since you're here already, check out our 2007 Christmas letter! As always, we wish you a merry Christmas, with all the best for the new year.
12.4.07 - Annah: Hey hey, I just did a little maintenance around the site - we now have updated posters and stage plot info in our promo section, a link to the Muellers' snazzy new blog in the lower left-hand corner (beside the MySpace link), and some adjustments to the schedule and links page. Hope you're all having a fantastic holiday season so far!
11.6.07 - Karen: Hi all, just wanted to let you know that we’ve put some clips from a recent show in our hometown on youtube, just click here to see them.
For a treat for you all, I’m publishing Grandma Pat’s Fresh Apple Cake recipe right here on the website, with her permission. This cake is a staple food in our family but it’s extra nice in the fall when the apples are in. I don’t know if I should mention it here but when Grandma Pat attends events like SPBGMA or IBMA, she is toting about five apple cakes, and that’s what keeps the Muellers going. Especially when it’s accompanied by a nice steaming cup of joe. Grandma says to be sure to mention that you should chop the apples by hand as food processors do too fine a job, and also that for full flavor this cake is best made a day ahead…if you can wait that long to eat it.
The 2008 schedule is up! You can check it out by clicking here.
I’d also like to do the sales thing and say that Mueller CDs make excellent Christmas gifts for people you love and dare I say it, people that you don’t like, if you know that they hate banjos! (Who could hate banjos? I mean, really!) Mueller CDs are available for purchase right here on the site and come with free super stocking stuffer stickers, try saying that five times fast. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and as always we appreciate your support and prayers. Now go make that cake!
9.21.07 - Karen: Time for an update…or is it just an excuse to sit down and take a breath? Or, if you know me, to sit down and have a cup of coffee~ yes, I’m still looking out for that endorsement deal with a coffee company!
We’ve just added a 9:00 a.m. set on Friday, September 28^th, in Rosine, KY at the annual Jerusalem Ridge Festival. After that (I mean right after!) we’ll play an evening show at the Barbecue Caboose in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We’ll return to the Barbecue Caboose the following morning to do the weekly live radio show from the restaurant. After that, it’s Nashville, baby, for the IBMA World of Bluegrass trade show and FanFest. We have several showcases scheduled, which you can see by clicking here and viewing our schedule page. A new addition is Friday, October 5^th at 2:00 p.m. at the Bluegrass Inn right on Broadway, hope to see you there!
On the way home from Nashville we’ll be performing at the Museum of Appalachia’s Tennessee Fall Homecoming, presenting four 30-min.educational programs on Wed., Oct. 10th (Heritage Day) and appearing on the main stage on Thursday, October 11th .
Last night we were in our regular practice mode and as we sometimes do when breaking in a new song, we ‘phoned a friend’ for a little live performance. A standard evening practice for us is standing in a circle in the dining room (all furniture shoved out of the way) or oftentimes, just playing around the mic stands, pretending that you are all here. Anyway, during his evening’s dinner discussion someone hit upon the idea of regularly going to our mailing list and picking someone to phone up in a rather fashion, and delivering a song straight from our kitchen to your house or maybe just your answering machine. So what do you think? If enough of you email or sign the guestbook and tell us you’d like that, we’ll do it! And the kid who came up with the idea will get the standard Mueller reward of something chocolaty!
Well, there’s a pile of stage clothes but before I do, I’d like to thank all of you for supporting our band! We’ve recently sent Annah off to college and welcomed Tom back into the band upon his grad school graduation in May. It’s a period of rapid change for us on all front - in the coming weeks you’ll see and hear a lot of new things, new music, new photos in the gallery (winter project!) and a new blog that Tom will be writing to keep you more updated on Mueller musical happenings. And as always, thanks for letting us play and sing for you!
8.16.07 - Karen: The big transition is almost complete! We have a new band member, as most of you know by now, eldest son and founding band member Tom is coming back into the band, and Annah will be leaving for college next week. So we are ‘swapping out a Mueller’ and there’s a lot of excitement and happiness as we welcome Tom in, and of course a lot of sadness as we say goodbye to Annah. Tom comes back with two music degrees under his belt and Annah steps out to study graphic design. She’ll continue as our webmaster, still be doing all our promo art and special projects, and will make guest appearances with the band as time and geography will allow.
We have covered a lot of ground in the past few months, and I mean that both ways. Since April we have played shows in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Ohio, and of course our home state of Maine. We have also covered a lot of musical ground as we rearrange and add new material. There’s been a burst of songwriting around the Mueller house (and in the Mueller van!) And having Tom and his infectious musical energy in the house has kicked things up yet another level. It’s always something!
A note about our bus project, since so many of you have asked the burning question, “When are we gonna see that bus?” Our bus project suffered a major setback when the carpenter we had lined up had to cancel. As most of you know, this is a shoestring-budget operation, with a lot of volunteer labor. Right now the bunks are up but need some finish work on the ends/supports, and the appliances are just sitting on the floor and there are no cabinets of any sort. We do, however, have a beautiful pile of donated lumber that could turn into cabinets with the help of some talented hands. If you are a carpenter with free time and this sounds like fun, we want to talk to you. Part of your pay might include Laurah’s famous chocolate chip cookies, yes, the ones made famous at the Orrington Grange Hall shows. Having said all that, we might just throw the bunk mattresses in, crank up the bus and take it to Perkinstock this weekend, with coolers and flashlights it will be home sweet home!
In other business, we are cleaning house and you can click here to see the list of instruments we have for sale.
Our MasterShield Records debut CD, “Branching Out’ is available now both here at the website and at our shows. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, of course we encourage you to take care of that right now! Very soon we’ll have t-shirts available as well.
New appearances on the schedule~ the Museum of Appalachia’s Tennessee Fall Homecoming, in Norris, Tennessee. We’ll be playing on Wednesday, October 10, which is Heritage Day, and also on the main stage on Thursday, October 11.
Take care, all, and as always, we hope to play and sing for you soon!
7.25.07 - Annah: Attention Central Maine bluegrass fans... we're on the menu for the Taste of Greater Waterville on August 1st! Come see our hour-long show at 4:00 p.m. on the Waterville City Hall steps, and bring us some delicious food eat some delicious food! Read more about it here (PDF).
6.14.07 - Annah: Even though it wasn't really on our schedule in time, we'll be performing at a benefit concert for Brooks Skinner at the Oakfield Community Center at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 16. Hope to see you there!
1.19.07 - Karen: Howdy! Time for an update, and we've got some news! This summer we'll be getting a new band member. Our son Tom will be joining us after he graduates from Notre Dame as a Master of Sacred Music. Besides playing the pipe organ and piano, he's an accomplished guitar and mandolin player and will add lead vocals, too.
We're presently hunkered down for a little Maine winter before we head off to the SPBGMA National Convention in Nashville in early February. Hope to see you there! Don't forget to check our schedule page for new dates, and visit again soon for SPBGMA news!
12.22.06 - Hope you're all having a great holiday season! If you have a minute, please read our christmas letter!
12.8.06 - Annah: Check out new dates and information on our freshly updated schedule! I've also added some downloadable posters to our promo section.
11.19.06 - Karen: Exciting new changes to our website...check out the new dates added to the schedule page, spiffed-up bios, and boy-oh-boy has our webgirl been busy revamping the photo gallery. And we've recently added a myspace page, complete with video clips, songs, and a blog by the Momma.
And while we're on hot Mueller topics, have you heard about the new bus?
Now before you conjure up notions of a brand new Prevost, click here to see a photo of the bus. Oh yes, the Muellers have an exciting winter ahead, working on our next CD and getting the bus ready to roll! So far we have a floor plan, some volunteer carpenter/plumber/electrician action, some donated lumber and ...maybe this is where you come in. Do you have a few spare greenbacks lying around? We would love to put a gold "Your Name Here Memorial Diesel Generator" placard or "Your Name Here Memorial On-Demand Water Pump" placard or "Your Name Here Memorial On-Demand Water Heater" placard on our bus!
As always, we thank you for supporting our music. We couldn't do this without you.
7.13.06 - Karen: Hey y'all! Check out the photo from one of our favorite festivals, Blistered Fingers, just down the road from us in Sidney, Maine. That was June and here it is July--we're catching our breath for a minute, after May and June shows in Missouri, New Jersey, Canada and our home state of Maine. Upon our return from the Woolastook Park Festival in New Brunswick (fun!) we headed pretty much straight into the studio at Sundown Records to finish our second CD, "Silver Dollar." The title cut is an instrumental written by Sarah, and here's a surprise for you all...another song on the cd, "Ridin' High and Feelin' Low," was written by none other than our eldest son, Tom. He's that seventh Mueller child that everyone is always wondering about. Not really a child these days, he's on his own now, a professional musician (what else!) and bluegrass songwriter.
Thanks everyone for your support of "Cabin Of My Memories"...also featured on our CD and released as a single in May. Thank you fans for requesting it, and thank you bluegrass DJs everywhere for playing it...
Hope to see you very soon on the bluegrass trail, and as always, check our schedule page for new dates and coming soon, the release date of the new CD!
5.15.06 - Annah: Just a quick update before we leave on our giant Missouri tour... scroll down a little and check out our sponsors! You can also view a few pictures in the new 2006 photo gallery.
3.25.06 - Karen: Hi to all our friends and fans, old and new! There's all sorts of things new with the Muellers...we're puttin' in a lot of studio time right now, working on our second project entitled "Silver Dollar." We're proud to say that the title cut of the CD is a fiddle tune written by our 10-year-old fiddlin' whiz, Sarah. We'll have some audio clips for you to sample on the CD page very soon, but in the meantime, give an ear to "Cabin Of My Memories," available for download right here. And we look forward to seeing you at one of our shows soon, because even though MP3s are cool, our favorite way to deliver this music is in person!
2.3.06 - Annah: New site up, with different and cooler layout. Mom and I are leaving for SPBGMA in Nashville, TN early today and we'll be hanging around all weekend. So if you spot us there, make sure to come over and say hi!
