There’s a new band in town: The Mama’s Boys—a vocalist, two guitarists and a drummer—play classic rock at shows around the lake area. Nothing too special, right? Wrong—this rocking group is made up of Orono Middle School seventh-graders whom you’d expect to be more interested in Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber than Led Zeppelin and Boston.
But the guys are by no means content to play the hipster tunes their friends are listening to. “We play classic rock because it has more meaning and soul than the current stuff on the radio,” says Will Buck, lead guitarist, who started playing in 2012 when his parents gave him a guitar for Christmas.
“Will had never played before, but took to it right away,” says mom Lisa Buck. “He taught himself by watching YouTube videos, and eventually we decided he could probably learn more from a human teacher.” They signed him up for lessons, and the next summer he invited friends Aaron Brekken and Charlie Kotula to go to Rock and Roll Band Camp, a community education offering at their school.
“We could learn to play a bunch of different instruments, and we even got to write our own song,” says Kotula, who’s now the drummer in the band. The summer music camp sparked an interest and the group realized how much they loved playing together. “We started getting together for band practice and decided that we needed a singer, so Nolan started singing with us,” says Kotula.
Nolan Tichy stepped up to the plate—er, mic—and became a vocalist and guitarist. “It’s fun to spend time with my friends and I love singing,” he says. “We’re all involved heavily in sports, so it’s a great change of pace.”
“When [Aaron] asked us for a bass guitar,” says Jenni Brekken, one of the mamas, “I was hoping it wasn’t going to be another fad the boys were into and then dropped, like yo-yo-ing. Hopefully this hobby will stick.” Sure enough, the boys began rehearsing frequently in family basements and garages, united out of summer boredom and a shared interest in throwback rock.
“We all liked the same kind of music, that most kids don’t like,” says Will. Kotula agrees, saying that the kind of music the Mama’s Boys plays “has more meaning than a lot of the songs written today.” As a drummer, Kotula says that Neil Peart and John Bonham—of Rush and Led Zeppelin, respectively—are a source of inspiration.
The guys found their groove and quickly began to develop a following. But their parents—who were actually around when the guys’ favorite bands were popular—are perhaps the proudest of the boys’ dedication and choice in music. And even though the boys are young, their parents are careful not to take over when it comes to making band-related decisions.
“The guys select songs on their own and came up with the idea of starting a band,” says Jenni. “The parents pretty much just coordinate schedules and get the boys to their practices and gigs because, of course, they don’t drive yet.”
The group began playing at local events and has since played the Incredible Festival at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Mound, SummerFest in Long Lake, and at Blackwater Café and Harvest Moon. They hope to play more local gigs, as much as their sports and school schedules—and their parents’ willingness to drive— will allow. Three of the boys play Orono 12AA baseball—on a team that won the state championship this past summer—and all of them juggle extra- curricular activities.
The guys look forward to playing bigger gigs and becoming better known, but for now they’re content to “rock on” and have fun along the way.
