Rustic Americana • Veteran voice • Backroad truth

Country songs for the roads that made us.

MyZ Backroads carries real stories, real struggles, and real hope through country, country-soul, gospel, and Americana songs shaped by faith, recovery, service, and hard roads.

Your support on Bandcamp helps fund travel, live performances, and the next chapter of MyZ Backroads.

Support MyZ Backroads on Bandcamp Explore the songs Watch videos
Sound
Country • Americana • Gospel
Roots
U.S. Army veteran storytelling
Message
Faith, recovery, courage, hope
Performing live Saturday, March 13, 2027 • 5–9 p.m. • Bohemia Manor Farm • Chesapeake City, Maryland
Buy tickets →
Operation Covered Arena artwork featuring Michael Maraia with a horse at sunset

Operation Covered Arena

Michael Maraia • MyZ Backroads • Performing Live

Join me Saturday, March 13, 2027, from 5–9 p.m. at Bohemia Manor Farm in Chesapeake City, Maryland. This gala-style fundraiser benefits Reins of Honor and its mission of healing through horses.

Buy tickets Support on Bandcamp
Featured release “A Place Beside Me” — Available now on Bandcamp • Streaming October 30, 2026
Listen now →
A Place Beside Me cover art

Featured song

A Place Beside Me

A soulful country ballad about waiting for the right man—not grand promises, just someone willing to stay, share the quiet moments, and take the place beside you.

Available now on Bandcamp • Streaming everywhere October 30, 2026.

Listen on Bandcamp Read more
Michael Maraia, veteran singer, songwriter, and storyteller behind MyZ Backroads

U.S. Army Veteran
Singer • Songwriter • Storyteller

Real stories. Real struggles.
Real hope.

My Country Story

A life turned into music.

Michael Maraia is a United States Army veteran, singer, and songwriter behind MyZ Backroads. His music is rooted in lived experience—survival, recovery, faith, loneliness, courage, and the choice to keep going.

Every song begins with a real feeling or a real chapter. Some are heavy. Some are hopeful. All of them are honest.

“The backroads are where the noise fades, the truth gets louder, and the next chapter begins.”
Hear the songs Explore the music →

Music

Songs with something to say.

A growing catalog of country, gospel, soul, and Americana built around real stories and emotional truth.

Featured song Veteran stories Recovery songs All listening platforms
Six Days of Grace cover art
Brotherhood and second chances

Six Days of Grace

A true story of arriving with almost nothing and finding shelter, friendship, and six days of unexpected grace.

\n

Streaming everywhere October 16, 2026.

YouTube
Unspoken Battles cover art
Veteran healing and brotherhood

Unspoken Battles

An acoustic country-soul story about PTSD, the battles veterans carry quietly, and the healing found in standing together.

\n

Streaming everywhere October 2, 2026.

YouTube
Thank You, Terry single cover art
Gratitude and survival

Thank You, Terry

The true story of Terry Fisher, the man who found Michael unconscious as a child and rushed him to the hospital—saving his life.

Spotify Apple Music All platforms
Embrace Yourself single cover art
Self-acceptance

Embrace Yourself

A song about self-acceptance, belonging, and standing comfortably in your own life.

Spotify Apple Music YouTube
A Friend I Used to Know single cover art
Friendship and memory

A Friend I Used to Know

A deeply personal reflection on friendship, loss, trust, and the memories that remain.

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp
Along the Way single cover art
Recovery and survival

Along the Way

A raw look at addiction, consequences, survival, and the hard-earned lessons found along the way.

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp
The Lord Kept Me single cover art
Country gospel

The Lord Kept Me

A testimony about surviving the hardest chapters and recognizing the grace that carried you.

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp
Hug a Horse single cover art
Healing and hope

Hug a Horse

A tribute to the quiet healing, trust, and peace found through horses.

Spotify Apple Music YouTube
Men Like Me single cover art
Identity and belonging

Men Like Me

A heartfelt song about honesty, identity, and the courage to be seen.

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp
Leave While You Can single cover art
Awareness and courage

Leave While You Can

A direct, compassionate song about recognizing harm and finding the courage to walk away.

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp

Videos

Watch the stories come alive.

Music videos, lyric videos, shorts, and behind-the-scenes moments.

Hug a Horse cover artwork for the official video

Hug a Horse — Official Video

Watch the song inspired by healing, trust, and horses.

 Embrace Yourself cover artwork for the YouTube Short

Embrace Yourself — MyZ Short

A short message of self-acceptance, courage, and hope.
Red MyZ Backroads truck beside a country road at a railroad crossing
Country roads. Real stories.

Country Life

Stories from the porch, pasture, and road.

Country life is part of the sound: horse-country calm, coffee-shop workdays, road stories, and everyday moments that turn into MyZ Backroads songs.

Horse-country healing Backroad reflections Coffee-shop workdays
Share a story idea

“Some songs entertain you. Others remind you that you made it through.”

Contact

Let’s connect.

For music, interviews, collaborations, appearances, or booking inquiries, contact Michael directly.

Email Michael

MyZ Backroads

Email
mcmaraia@gmail.com

Website
myzbackroads.com