Bio
For the past few years, The Maverick Stanzas have established themselves as purveyors of American roots music, resurrecting old-time tunes that were given up for lost long ago. Ambassadors of a bygone era, the Texas guitar-harmonica duo is quietly unearthing the time capsule of country folk and blues sounds buried by a century of pop culture sediment, playing music that once emanated from the back porches, street corners, chapels and penitentiaries across America.
They are the direct descendants of Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt and Merle Travis, borrowing from early Texas blues, East Coast-Piedmont folk, ragtime and jazz, creating their own hybrid preservationist style.
The stripped down old-timey sound is brought together with Wes Creech on vintage guitar with his fluid, orchestral flatpicking technique. Wes sings in a voice that’s warm and expressive that perfectly emotes a century-old music. Casey Walther on acoustic and amped harmonica, vocal harmonies and occasional mandolin fills out the duo, working his charm to make the pair sound bigger than they are. If Sonny Terry sat on the front porch with Doc Watson and Townes Van Zandt, then The Maverick Stanzas is what they’d sound like.
There’s no hidden agenda—just two musicians with a knack for capturing the zeitgeist of early American blues and folk eras and giving voice to songs that should be timeless and heroes that are often unsung. Their goal is always to showcase the richness inherent in roots music and inspire people to explore their own relationship with the music.
On their debut live album, “New Vintage Folk,” the Maverick Stanzas look back to house frolics, juke joints, and roots revivals, and bring them all forward for a new generation to enjoy. There you’ll find songs of universal resonance that are accessible, yet never dumbed down.
Meet the Maverick Stanzas
WES CREECH
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Creech grew up with the sounds of classic country and old cowboy tunes filling the airwaves of the house he grew up in located in the Hill Country. “I remember saving my money as a kid and purchasing a Sons of the Pioneers record. That was the first record I ever purchased and I listened to it countless times as if it was the only record in existence.” He purchased his first guitar in his teens and started mixing in 90’s rock with his best Willie Nelson and Tom T. Hall impressions.
It wasn’t until his involvement with the Kerrville folk scene when he’d discover the music that would light the fire within. In 2011-12, he did a short stint with a Kerrville-based psychedelic folk band called The Stacks who specialized in rocking jazzy versions of songs by various artists including Harry Nilsson, Son House, The Squirrel Nut Zippers, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Georgia Sea Island Singers, Talking Heads, etc.
“What sparked my interest in Folk, Jug Band Music and Blues was the fact that this music wasn’t being heard by the masses on the radio but nevertheless, this was where most of the music I enjoy is from and for some reason I thought it would be a travesty if I didn’t learn or educate myself on the history of this music”. That led Creech to learning a new styles of guitar playing including fingerpicking Piedmont, Travis style and slide guitar in various types of tunings. In 2013, he moved to New Braunfels where he joined the like-minded harp player, Casey Walther where they studied and obsessed over Big Bill Broonzy, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry tunes.
CASEY WALTHER
Walther is predominantly an acoustic harp player known for his free-form approach and fluid low-note bending. He mixes single-note melodic improvisation and chordal rhythm accompaniment, suited to both solo and band situations. He knows how to listen and when to lay back, weaving in and out of the vocal-guitar lines. Spaces and volume dynamics are as important as any other effect in his repertoire, which includes prewar Delta and Piedmont blues, postwar amplified Chicago style blues, country, folk, funk and jazz, and an occasional train imitation.
Born in Houston, Texas, Walther was raised with music around him. His grandfather played accordion to old folk tunes around the cotton fields of the Texas Blacklands. His brother is blues rocker Zack Walther, a veteran on the Americana circuit. But it was his grandfather’s old Hohner harmonica that piqued Walther’s interest. He picked up harmonica during a stint in Iraq, learning a wide variety of stylistic rudiments of great harp players like Sonny Terry, Phil Wiggins, Charlie Musselwhite, Mickey Raphael and Adam Gussow, thus beginning a decade-long fascination with the raw earthy sounds of the Delta, Chicago and Texas. In 2013 he moved to New Braunfels, Texas, an area fertile for roots music, where he collaborated with artists in the central Texas scene, including an occasional tour with the Zack Walther Band. In 2017, Walther teamed with singer/guitarist, Wes Creech, and the two have been showcasing their vintage style music at folk festivals, listening rooms and campfire jam sessions ever since.
Walther’s session work on Zack Walther’s critically acclaimed LP “The Westerner” (2019) was described by Rock and Blues Muse as “a short but sweet harp riff enters the mix.” Americana Highways quipped: “But what I want to know is, who’s bringin’ that mean harmonica with the bullet mic? Unless they’re faking it with a synth, somebody deserves some cred!”
About Our Name
