Biography
A Life in Music
From South Carolina to Nashville — Five decades of musical excellence
Early Life
Steve W. Mauldin began his formal musical training at a very early age while growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, taking piano lessons from his mother, Joan, and touring with the Mauldin Family Singers. The group consisted of his songwriting father Horace L. Mauldin, his accomplished pianist mother Joan, and equally talented younger brother Russell Mauldin.
Career Timeline
Professional Career Begins
After playing on sixty independent albums, Steve was asked to join the staff at Mark Five Recording Studios as a professional musician, playing for artists, jingles, and television shows.
Furman University
Enrolled at Furman University as he worked at Mark Five, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory.
Nashville Arrival
With nine years of recorded samples, Steve moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Within weeks, was offered a position playing bass for world-renowned guitarist Chet Atkins, replacing Steve Wariner.
Belmont University Teaching
Developed and taught Computer-Assisted Music Notation for the newly formed Commercial Music Department, one of the first of its kind. Steve taught the class for eighteen years.
Hoodwinked
Served as orchestrator and supervising copyist for the #1 top-grossing animated film featuring Glenn Close, Anne Hathaway, and James Belushi.
Grammy Recognition
Recognized for arrangements on "Songs from the Neighborhood," a Grammy Award-winning tribute to Fred Rogers. Also, recognized for his arrangement on the first solo album by Jason Crabb.
Master's Degree
Received a Master of Music Composition degree from Belmont University after writing and conducting a concert of original compositions titled, My Life: A Journey of Musical Experiences. The nine-movement suite was performed with a forty-piece orchestra and a thirty-five voice choir. The professional studio musicians from Nashville volunteered to play the concert for Steve and the group included five principal players from the Nashville Symphony.
The Kansas Suite
Southeast Kansas Symphony commissioned Steve to write and conduct "The Kansas Suite," a three-movement piece combining symphony and bluegrass. The concert featured flat-pick guitarist Tim May and his wife, Gretchen, playing Celtic Fiddle.
Major Film Work
Served as orchestrator and conductor for theatrically released films: Ernest Goes to Jail, Hoodwinked, The Song, Against the Sun, War Room, Woodlawn, Indivisible, Overcomer, Heaven Bound, The Matchmaker, Unsung Hero, The Trump Prophecy, with source music for The Ice Storm. Many went to the #1 position nationally.
Dove Award
The Gospel Music Association awarded the Dove Award for Best Musical/Choral Collection for "For the Sake of Love."
Notable Collaborations
Eventually Steve would work with Ray Price, The Cathedrals, Phil Driscoll, Mosie Lister, Seals and Crofts, Tanya Tucker, Truth, The Drifters, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Kenny Rogers, Floyd Cramer, The Gaither Vocal Band, Pat Boone, and Willie Nelson.
In recent years, Steve has recorded for Richard Marx, David Phelps, Carrie Underwood, Shirley Caesar, Ricky Skaggs, Sheryl Crow, Lynda Carter, Michael Omartian, Vince Gill, Marty Stewart, Martina McBride, Petra, Casting Crowns, Avalon, and Gary Puckett. He was an orchestrator for Dennis DeYoung (from Styx) on his off-Broadway musical adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Film
The growing film industry in Nashville has called on Steve's services for fifteen movies plus others not yet released. Additional films include Heaven Bound, Against the Sun, and Oliver Stone's The Ice Storm, for which Steve recorded source music. He also conducted portions of The Last Witch Hunter and orchestrated portions of The Answer, James Peterson's broadway-style Christian musical performed at Nashville's TPAC Theater.
Steve composed and recorded songs of Christina Grimmie for the film "The Matchbreaker" just weeks before she was shot by a crazed fan. "Christina was a complete joy to work with, a true professional, unassuming and excessively talented. Her death was such a tragic loss for us all."
Chart Success
Steve has been featured in several trade magazines and his work has appeared in the Top Singles charts in Billboard, Cashbox, The Singing News, and others. From all sources he has had twenty-eight #1 singles and remained in the #1 position of The Singing News for a whole year with various artists. Steve has had nine additional nominations for The Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association (GMA).