If a band is a family, no band is more a family than local band Maxwell Strait. Two of the members, Molly Countermine (vocals/piano) and Rene Witzke (bass) are married, a direct result of getting to know each other in the band.

"I think the band had an 'oh, shit' moment," Countermine said. "But the marriage has had a positive impact. It's made the band even more of a family. He still tells me when I'm messing up (musically) and I tell him. Plus, the crowd really likes it."

The band even played at the couple's reception at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., earlier this fall.

"We rented out the facility and hired a caterer," Countermine said. "We performed at the reception in full bridal gown and tux."

Overall, the band is a unique musical family; the majority of members have played in bands together before Maxwell Strait's formation. The core members, who make up a trio that play more gigs than the rest of the band, are Countermine, singer/guitarist Scott Mangene and guitarist Ted McCloskey.

The trio was formed three years ago while Countermine was bartending at the Rathskeller, 108 S. Pugh St. Mangene and McCloskey were playing in an acoustic duo known as Red Eye Butter, a side project to their band Sideshow Bob. Countermine saw them perform and knew she could contribute to their act.

"I told them, 'What you need is a chick.' Every time they had two-part harmony, I could hear that they could use a third part," Countermine said. "Of course, they were like, 'Oh, here we go, a chick who thinks she can sing.'"

But, Countermine played with them, and right away they clicked. She joined Red Eye Butter at the next gig.

"It was just a matter of me finding the third part, since we all have pretty good ears," Countermine said. "Either you have an ear for harmony or you don't. We didn't have to work at it. They wanted me to play piano, so it was more a matter of me memorizing the chords."

The rest of the band came together because of the break-up of Sideshow Bob and Grammy-nominated Queen Bee and the Blue Hornet Band, another local band.

"The two projects were coming to an end around the same time," Mangene said. "And as musicians, we all knew each other well."

The band changed its name to Maxwell Strait, for Countermine's dog, after the addition of Witzke, Jack Wilkinson (drums) and Terry Owen (saxophone).

Even though the band plays a mixture of covers, it aspires to play more originals in its sets. The band's original material has been put to some tests, and so far it seems to be working out for them.

Red, Blue and Green, the group's debut, was put up against major-label acts in Revolution 101.1's Revolutionary War contest. In the contest, a few songs from two albums were played every night, and listeners could call in and vote for which band they liked more based upon what they had heard.

"Nobody in the band knew we were in the contest," Countermine said. "I made a point to tell our fans not to call in, but the last night, we lost to the Dave Matthews Band."

This past year, McCloskey released a solo project. All the members play on the record, and the band still plays the songs live. Maxwell Strait will soon begin work on its follow-up to Red, Blue, and Green. Countermine is interested to see where the songs will go, especially since her recent marriage.

"What's really funny is that I'm typically described by people as a happy person," she said. "But my songs never seemed to be happy, maybe that's how I worked through things in my life."