Mobile singer-songwriter Kurt Wielkens is back on record after a decade away from band life, releasing a self-titled debut for the Kurt Wielkens Band this month — an album born in a drummer’s home studio and staffed by familiar faces from Mobile’s 1990s rock scene.
From Haere Marue to the Day Job
Wielkens started playing solo acoustic in the late 1980s while in high school, then cut his teeth in bars and parties during his years at the University of South Alabama. The project that stuck was Haere Marue, one of Mobile’s defining 1990s bands, where he sang and wrote the bulk of the material from 1992 until dissolving the group in 2001.
He stepped into the insurance business afterward to raise a family, but never stopped writing songs — stockpiling material through the years with the stated goal of returning to the studio.
A Homecoming Album
The return came last year over a conversation with former Haere Marue drummer John Milham, who mentioned he had built a home studio. The two recorded the songbook Wielkens had accumulated, finishing the album in November 2010.
Then the old band’s orbit pulled tighter: bassist Dave Smithweck, who played on the record, connected Wielkens with players looking for a new project. With Johnny Gwin on bass, Joey Waits on drums and Dan Nobles on keys, the Kurt Wielkens Band was complete.
Live Dates Ahead
The band is rehearsing now and expects to be stage-ready by early spring, with hometown shows planned once the set list is fully broken in. The new album is available online, including through Amazon.