Courtesy photo
Dallas Moore, in foreground, and his band tour heavily to promote their
brand of southern and Outlaw Country. Next week, the Ohio native who
studied jazz in college comes to The Empty Glass for an acoustic show.
Charleston Daily Mail
By MONICA OROSZ
DAILY MAIL STAFF
Dallas Moore is a long-haired, hat-wearing, motorcycle-riding musician in the tradition of Outlaw Country, as it's called.
He can throw down the honky-tonk and southern rock in the wildest roadhouses around.
And yet given the opportunity when he's back in his hometown Cincinnati, Moore is sure to invite his 73-year-old mom, Madge Moore, up on stage for a nice rendition of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
"She brings the house down," Moore said from a break in his band's current tour in support of its seventh CD, "Can't Tame A Wildcat," released on SOL Records.
He figures he got his musical bent from his mom, a bluegrass musician with the group Sunset Dawn who plays dulcimer and autoharp.
"She's about as busy as I am right now," he noted.
Moore's father, Dallas senior, loves music, but the closest he gets to playing is to crank up Hank Williams Sr. It was Madge who bought Moore his first guitar at 16 and encouraged him to explore.
"I always played sports before that," he said.
He headed off to Northern Kentucky University as a music major - studying jazz, of all things.
"A lot of it translates into the western swing influences that we do," Moore explained. "I went two years. I didn't take any other classes besides music classes, so I took the whole four years of music in two years.
"I was playing in honky-tonk bars at night. So I'd play jazz in the day and I'd be throwing down these Merle Haggard licks at night."
And though Moore worked a few odd jobs here and there out of school, he's been making his living at music ever since. He spends most of his time on the road with his band, which makes them like family.
"We're all living and breathing together 24/7," he said. He said the newest CD, their first with SOL Records, is the first he produced. "We've been trying to capture our (live) sound and we never quite got it. This has been our most successful one."
The CD is getting heavy rotation on Sirius XM Radio.
"It's been opening up a lot of doors to tour quite a bit," Moore said.
He's already written songs for another CD with Billy Gant and the two are narrowing their selections. Moore said his best writing takes place when he's on his motorcycle.
"Here's the way I do it. I usually ride my motorcycle - that's the only time I don't have something in my head. I figure if it's any good, I'll remember it. If I don't remember it, it probably wasn't any good to start with. If you're traveling somewhere between Kentucky and Florida and you can't get a melody out of your head, it's probably pretty good.
"When I get home, I put it down on a piece of paper and then we go jam to it."
Moore makes a swing through Charleston at The Empty Glass next Thursday without his band. He says he enjoys fitting in acoustic gigs when possible.
"It's up close and personal. I can interact and cut up a bit. And I usually make a whole bunch of new friends," he said.
Contact writer Monica Orosz at mon...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4830.
By MONICA OROSZ
DAILY MAIL STAFF
Dallas Moore is a long-haired, hat-wearing, motorcycle-riding musician in the tradition of Outlaw Country, as it's called.
He can throw down the honky-tonk and southern rock in the wildest roadhouses around.
And yet given the opportunity when he's back in his hometown Cincinnati, Moore is sure to invite his 73-year-old mom, Madge Moore, up on stage for a nice rendition of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
"She brings the house down," Moore said from a break in his band's current tour in support of its seventh CD, "Can't Tame A Wildcat," released on SOL Records.
He figures he got his musical bent from his mom, a bluegrass musician with the group Sunset Dawn who plays dulcimer and autoharp.
"She's about as busy as I am right now," he noted.
Moore's father, Dallas senior, loves music, but the closest he gets to playing is to crank up Hank Williams Sr. It was Madge who bought Moore his first guitar at 16 and encouraged him to explore.
"I always played sports before that," he said.
He headed off to Northern Kentucky University as a music major - studying jazz, of all things.
"A lot of it translates into the western swing influences that we do," Moore explained. "I went two years. I didn't take any other classes besides music classes, so I took the whole four years of music in two years.
"I was playing in honky-tonk bars at night. So I'd play jazz in the day and I'd be throwing down these Merle Haggard licks at night."
And though Moore worked a few odd jobs here and there out of school, he's been making his living at music ever since. He spends most of his time on the road with his band, which makes them like family.
"We're all living and breathing together 24/7," he said. He said the newest CD, their first with SOL Records, is the first he produced. "We've been trying to capture our (live) sound and we never quite got it. This has been our most successful one."
The CD is getting heavy rotation on Sirius XM Radio.
"It's been opening up a lot of doors to tour quite a bit," Moore said.
He's already written songs for another CD with Billy Gant and the two are narrowing their selections. Moore said his best writing takes place when he's on his motorcycle.
"Here's the way I do it. I usually ride my motorcycle - that's the only time I don't have something in my head. I figure if it's any good, I'll remember it. If I don't remember it, it probably wasn't any good to start with. If you're traveling somewhere between Kentucky and Florida and you can't get a melody out of your head, it's probably pretty good.
"When I get home, I put it down on a piece of paper and then we go jam to it."
Moore makes a swing through Charleston at The Empty Glass next Thursday without his band. He says he enjoys fitting in acoustic gigs when possible.
"It's up close and personal. I can interact and cut up a bit. And I usually make a whole bunch of new friends," he said.
Contact writer Monica Orosz at mon...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4830.