Folk Singer Part of Long Tradition

 

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Folk singer part of long tradition

By David Steinberg
Journal Staff Writer
          Nathan Moore wants to make one thing clear: He’s a folk singer, not a singer/songwriter.
        Moore sees himself as part of the folk-singing tradition going back to Woody Guthrie.
        “I’ve always identified with that identity in the sense that every song I’ve ever written was on my guitar, alone. I’ve always come from that personal place,” he said in a phone interview from his home near Staunton, Va.
        In addition, Moore said, folk singer connotes something more than a singer/songwriter.
        “Guthrie was a modern-day troubadour, singing songs for the people, by the people and of the people, whereas a singer/songwriter doesn’t imply that,” he said.
        Moore and his guitar will be in concert Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Filling Station.
        Back in the day when he was performing regularly with bands, he would break away to do solo gigs. At those shows, Moore said he reinforced his identity as a folk singer on stage.
        “Whenever I would do a solo show I’d joke to the crowd, ‘Hey, you’re listening to a folk singer,’ ” he said.
        So it’s no surprise that Moore’s new eight-song, extended-play CD is titled “Folk Singer.”
        Even when Moore was a core member of the band ThaMuseMeant for 13 years, he felt as if his work as a composer was solitary because he wrote music by himself.
        Moore said ThaMuseMeant, which played high-energy folk-rock, formed when the musicians moved from Austin to Santa Fe. He and the two other core members, plus five dogs, lived in a single-wide trailer in Nambe when they arrived in about 1993.
        “For a long time there we were, living off of chimichangas,” Moore said.
        The band did well by finding jobs two or three days a week plus doing some busking outside a grocery store. The band remained in Santa Fe until 1999. As time permits Moore continues to perform with the electric-folk band Surprise Me Mr. Davis.
        During a two-year period, Moore said, he was on the road so much that “I felt I was a nomad with no permanent address. And yet it was some of the best times of my life.”
        But these days, he thinks he’s achieved something in his life he’s never had before — a balance between the road and home.
        “As I’ve gotten a little older the comforts of home have more meaning for me. I live with my two brothers in the country. There’s a river in the backyard,” he said.
        Nathan Moore
        The Saltine Ramblers open
        WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1
        WHERE: The Filling Station, 1024 Fourth SW
        HOW MUCH: $7 at the door

Order Folk Singer NOW!

 

                           

Pick it up at your local record store or online:
iTunes
Amazon
Village Records

The Royal Potato Family

“Instead of critiquing strike breakers or highlighting civil rights issues, Moore brings balladry into the 21st century with songs calling out insurance giant AIG, for example. It is leathery-voiced contemporary folk at its finest.”

-Verbicide

 “…his songs possess a spirit that can have you smiling and laughing one moment and sitting in silence hanging on each and every word and image the next. Nathan Moore is indeed the real deal.” – The Velvet Rut

“Beautifully crafted, honest tunes” – The Hidden Track

Nathan at Desert Rocks 2009

DR-nathan-1

Originally uploaded by magpie gypsybird

Some great shots from Morgan Corviday!

July 2009–Nathan on Tour with Surprise Me Mr. Davis

July 2009 002

Originally uploaded by Greg Keidan

Surprise Me Mr. Davis with Special Guests!

Tell Your Friends, Get a Free Download

Listen to an mp3 of “Hard Times” off Folk Singer EP

CLICK the Folk Singer  to hear an mp3 of “Hard Times”!

 

Folk Singer Summer Kicks OFF

COMING August 18 from The Royal Potato Family

Brooklyn, NY — Nathan Moore is a folk singer. For that, he makes no apologies. Some would run from the connotations that such a label might convey, but on his forthcoming EP, entitled Folk Singer, Moore quite matter-of-factly calls it as he sees it. 



“When I first began performing alone I would say, ‘Hey, you’re listening to a folk singer,’ sort of marking the contrast in my own light of being without a band, but also teasing the crowd because I know so many of them would never think of themselves as liking folk singers,” explains Moore. “But, the truth be told, if a folk singer is a lone soul pining and rejoicing in the magic of life with his own songs to the beat of his own invisible drummer, then I’m a folk singer sure as I’m here.”



Scheduled for release August 18 on The Royal Potato Family, the eight-song collection was written and recorded by Moore as winter turned to spring at his home in the Shenandoah Valley. Folk Singer features Moore unaccompanied on vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica.



”Every song I’ve ever written started with just me and my guitar. It’s the point of origin and, in that sense, the purest form of my songs.  My reality is, these days, I’m mostly touring alone and it’s great to have an album that represents this side of me,” says Moore, who when not performing as a solo artist can be found fronting the fully electric rock band Surprise Me Mr. Davis. 



Opening with gentle fingerpicked “Tombstone,” Moore’s switched-on spirit shines bright as he gracefully sings his own epitaph. The winsome “Travelin’ On” proves an instant addition to the canon of classic road songs, extolling the virtues of a life spent in motion. “Everybody Dreams,” a minor key lament, was inspired by “a reaction to the tendency to hope something big is gonna swoop down and save us, like the lottery, when would it be simpler to just be satisfied.” And just when the existential weight grows too heavy, Moore spins a magically endearing love song like “I Can Make You Smile.” 



On Folk Singer, Nathan Moore writes songs about everyday people, himself included, trying to find their way through life. His empathy and honesty proving, unmistakably, the value of folk songs in modern times. As he sings on the album’s gritty centerpiece, “Hard Times”: “Hard times ain’t just some old folk song, well no, hard times, they’re still going on.” And with one simple lyric, he goes straight to the heart of the timeless tradition that runs from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to Sam Beam to Conor Oberst. As long as there’s trouble in the world, the world needs folk singers, like Nathan Moore, to sing folks through it. 



For more information on Nathan Moore and/or promo, interview, photo and guest list requests, please contact Kevin Calabro at The Royal Potato Family: 718-369-6567 or CalabroMusic@aol.com

Tour Dates in July & August

July 3-5   High Sierra Music Festival–Quincy, CA

July 23-26  FloydFest–Floyd, VA

July 30  Cowgirl Hall of Fame–Santa Fe, NM

August 1  The Filling Station–Albuquerque, NM

August 2  TBA–Taos, NM

August 3  The Walnut Room–Denver, CO

August 4  b. side lounge–Boulder, CO

August 7  Mountain Town Stages House Concert–Park City, UT

August 8  Miner’s Park–Park City, UT

August 19  The Westcott Theater–Syracuse, NY

August 20  Littlefield–Brooklyn, NY

 August 21  The Colony Cafe–Woodstock, NY

 

Nathan — “Filling the Empty Chair”

Spanning cyberspace for Moore mentions:

READ: “Nathan Moore once dreamed about a space where there was a table with his five song-writing heroes–Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, John Prine and Greg Brown–and one empty seat. His dream was to sit in that empty chair.”  Read the whole article from the Times-Standard, Eureka, CA  June 4, 2009.

LISTEN: Summer of My Fall on Glide’s Hidden Track Blog  Stormy Mondays:  A Farewell to Spring”

WATCH:  Desert Rocks Slideshow by Jared Daley

SING ALONG to “The Hard Way” at the  Starry Plough:

LIVE Webcast–Nathan, Big Light, JUNE 4

http://www.jambase.com/live/index.html

Nathan Works It at Conneticut Yankee, SF

Lauren Siegal on Nathan’s show at the Conneticut Yankee in San Francisco:  ”You would have to be a rock to not be moved by at least one verse in his impressive repertoire. In the span of his set, I fell in love, went through a broke-up, traveled the world, experienced great pain, and finally, experienced pure joy. The energy of the room told me that I wasn’t the only one on this journey with him.”  Read the whole review on LIVE MUSIC BLOG.com.