JAIMIE MUEHLHAUSEN • MUSIC BIO

JAIMIE MUEHLHAUSEN DIDN'T EVEN PICK UP A GUITAR FOR THE FIRST TIME UNTIL HE WAS HALFWAY THROUGH COLLEGE. HE NEVER REALLY WANTED TO BE EDDIE VAN HALEN ON GUITAR...HE JUST WANTED TO BE ABLE TO WRITE SONGS. SO, WHEN HIS FRIEND TIM WASN'T BUSY PLAYING HIS GUITAR, JAIMIE WAS BUGGING HIM TO WRITE DOWN MORE CHORDS AND LET HIM BORROW HIS OLD GIBSON J-45 FOR A LITTLE WHILE TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY. IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE HE WAS WRITING HIS OWN STUFF AND PLAYING IN FRONT OF A HANDFUL PEOPLE AT THE COLLEGE COFFEE HOUSE OPEN MIC NIGHT.

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JAIMIE GREW UP IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA, A GREAT LIVE MUSIC CITY WITH A DIVERSE VARIETY OF SOUNDS COMING OUT. IN FACT, IT'S ACTUALLY KNOWN AS "THE TULSA SOUND." IT'S A UNIQUE BLEND OF BLUES AND ROCK AND COUNTRY THAT HAS PRODUCED EVERYONE FROM LEON RUSSELL TO HANSON.  AND THESE DAYS THERE IS A NEW SONGWRITER MOVEMENT IN THE TULSA AREA, WITH JOHN MORELAND AND JOHN FULLBRIGHT AND PARKER MILSAP AND JESSE AYCOCK LEADING THE WAY. WHEN YOU ADD IT ALL UP, IT'S NOT ONE THING OR ANOTHER...IT'S JUST PLAIN GOOD MUSIC. AND THAT'S THE BASIS FOR JAIMIE'S MUSIC.

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AFTER TOO MANY YEARS OF NOT QUITE GETTING A DEGREE IN COLLEGE, JAIMIE MOVED TO THE WEST COAST TO PURSUE A GRAPHIC DESIGN CAREER, BUT ALSO TO SEE WHAT HE COULD DO IN THE MUSIC WORLD. HE HADN'T GROWN UP PLAYING IN BANDS, SO HE FIGURED HE SHOULD START OFF PLAYING SOLO AND BUILD FROM THERE. HE SUBMITTED A TAPE TO A LOCAL BAR OWNER FOR A GIG AND WAS TOLD THEY ONLY HIRED DUOS. SO JAIMIE FIBBED A LITTLE AND SAID HE ALSO HAD A DUO AND TOOK THE GIG...A FOUR-HOUR GIG THE VERY NEXT NIGHT. HE DROVE TO THE HOUSE OF A GUITARIST HE HAD MET ONCE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES AND ASKED IF HE WANTED TO MAKE $62.50 THE NEXT NIGHT. AND "THE PRIMATES" WERE BORN. IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE THEY WERE OPENING UP FOR LEON RUSSELL IN CONCERT AND PLAYING ON LOCAL SAN DIEGO TELEVISION.

THE PRIMATES EVOLVED INTO A FULL BAND...VOODOO CHILI, A COVER BAND PLAYING ALL THE LOCAL BEACH BARS IN NORTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY. BUT PLAYING COVERS OF EVERYTHING FROM CHRIS ISAAK TO METALLICA JUST WASN'T AS SATISFYING AS PLAYING ORIGINAL MUSIC, AND EVENTUALLY VOODOO CHILI FLAMED OUT. BUT IT WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN A "BAND" THAT WAS THE GOAL, AND THE GOAL WAS MET.

NOT LONG AFTER, JAIMIE AND A COUPLE OF THE VOODOO CHILI GUYS STARTED AN ORIGINAL PROJECT, NAMED BY JAIMIE'S 3-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AT THE TIME: "ANGEL.HOUSE." THEY CLICKED IMMEDIATELY AND AFTER ONLY THEIR SECOND GIG, FOUND THEMSELVES OPENING UP FOR ROCK LEGENDS CHEAP TRICK. THE BAND CONTINUED TO OPEN UP FOR MUSICIANS LIKE THE PLIMSOULS, THE BEAT FARMERS, JOE BONAMASSA AND FLAT DUO JETS. THEY BOUGHT A BUS AND TOURED THE USA. EVENTUALLY THEY CHANGED THE NAME OF THE BAND TO "THE DEADLITES" AND RECORDED AN ALBUM ON THE SAME ANALOG 24-TRACK RECORDER THAT NIRVANA'S NEVERMIND AND SMASHING PUMPKIN'S SIAMESE DREAM AND THE FIRST GARBAGE ALBUM WERE RECORDED ON. BUT THE LUCK RAN DRY AND, AFTER SEVEN YEARS, THE BAND CALLED IT QUITS. 

FOR AWHILE, JAIMIE FOCUSED ON HIS GRAPHIC DESIGN CAREER AND RAISING A DAUGHTER. BUT HE ALWAYS WROTE SONGS. HE PUT TOGETHER A LITTLE HOME RECORDING SET-UP AND PUT OUT AN ALBUM CALLED "BEST OF SORT OF: 2007-2010."  HE OPENED UP FOR THE FOO FIGHTERS' CHRIS SHIFLETT'S SIDE BAND AND PLAYED A LOT OF ACOUSTIC SHOWS, BOTH SOLO AND WITH MUSICIANS SUCH AS MATT HENSLEY (FLOGGING MOLLY) AND HIS OLD BANDMATES AND FELLOW MUSICIANS OVER THE YEARS.

IN 2013 JAIMIE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ADULT ONSET SEVERE ASTHMA. IT'S A RARE TYPE OF ASTHMA THAT AFFECTS YOU ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. SINCE SINGING REQUIRES A LOT OF OXYGEN, JAIMIE HAD TO TAKE SOME TIME TO RELEARN HOW TO DO WHAT HE LOVED. IT TOOK AWHILE TO GET BACK IN THE GROOVE, BUT IN 2016, WITH A NEW BATCH OF SONGS READY TO GO AND A BIGGER DESIRE THAN EVER TO CONTINUE MAKING MUSIC, A NEW PROJECT WAS IN THE WORKS. AND BY OCTOBER 2017, THE NEW ALBUM, THE MURDERERS OF LOVE, WAS RELEASED AND AVAILABLE ON iTUNES, APPLE MUSIC, SPOTIFY, GOOGLE PLAY, AMAZON MUSIC, PANDORA, AND EVERYWHERE ELSE YOU NORMALLY FIND OR BUY MUSIC.

THEN CAME 2019 AND THE BEST ALBUM OF HIS LIFE. AFTER READING “WILD PUNCH,” A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES BY CRESTON LEA (WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO MAKE AMAZING GUITARS FOR A LIVING), JAIMIE WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE FIVE SONGS BASED ON THOSE SHORT STORIES. WITH CRESTON’S BLESSING, THE ALBUM STARTED TO TAKE SHAPE. JAIMIE APPROACHED PRODUCER/MUSICIAN ALAN DEREMO (JOHN DENVER, DAVE ALVIN, BELINDA CARLISLE, COLIN HAY) WITH HIS IDEA AND THEY GOT TOGETHER TO LISTEN TO THE SONGS. ALAN JUMPED ON BOARD FOR THE FULL FIVE SONGS AND STARTED RECRUITING MUSICIANS HE HAD PREVIOUSLY WORKED WITH TO PLAY ON THE ALBUM. STEVE DISTANISLAO (DAVID GILMOUR, DAVID CROSBY, CSN) RECORDED THE DRUMS. KEYBOARDS BY STEVE WOODS (KENNY LOGGINS) AND SCOTT MONAHAN (SPIRIT). GUITAR WORK BY TIM GODWIN (HEAD OF A&R AT TAYLOR GUITARS). THEN JAIMIE RECRUITED ONE OF HIS FAVORITES, MICHAEL RAMOS, TO PLAY ACCORDION. MICHAEL RECORDS AND TOURS WITH THE BODEANS, JOHN MELLENCAMP, ROBERT PLANT, SHAWN COLVIN, PATTY GRIFFIN, AND ON AND ON. AND, OF COURSE, ALAN DEREMO WAS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE PROJECT, PLAYING BASS, GUITAR, LAP STEEL, KEYBOARDS, PERCUSSION AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE. HIS WIFE, PAT HAWK, HAS TOURED WITH COUNTLESS STARS LIKE MICHAEL BOLTON, JOHN DENVER, THE PET SHOP BOYS, KENNY ROGERS, ELTON JOHN, AND MORE. SHE CONTRIBUTED BACKGROUND VOCALS ON A FEW OF THE SONGS. THE ALBUM IS “MOTEL” AND NOW OUT AND AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE YOU GET YOUR MUSIC.

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