It is November and I have finally caught back up with my work for my real job after all of the CMJ/presidental madness. Once again during CMJ i lended a hand to the ever so wonderful people over at KEXP during their in studio sessions that they hold all week long at Gibson Studios(formerly known as the Hit Factory). Being amongst some of the most knowledgeable music lovers this country has to offer is always the best week of my year. Hands down. Nothing else can even come close to comparing being in a room with people you respect who are all banning together to broadcast non-profit programming that they so dearly believe in. It is as close to the music as you can get. You also get to find out about new music coming out of Portland and Seattle, two cities that seem to just be bursting with creative talent these days, especially when it comes to Americana/Folk/Alt-Country/Bluegrass/Wonderfulness. The Moondoggies hail from Seattle, Washington and are supported by Sub Pop's sister label (and home to our beloved Le Loup): Hardly Art.
"There is a popular chapter of American mythology that pertains to The Highway. It tells of a two-way ribbon of blacktop running endlessly through our past to our future, linking city to country, offering escape and motion and freedom to travel anywhere the imagination might wander. In this chapter, The Highway is both means and end, metaphor and reality.
And down that mythical Highway there is a Bar. Inside that Bar is a Stage. On that Stage is a Band. That Band is the Moondoggies."
Kevin Murphy (vocalist), Robert Terreberry (bass), Carl Dahlen (drums), and Caleb Quick (keys) have been playing together since they were teenagers and after the band took up residence at a local dive bar, Blue Moon Tavern (a 70 year old haunt in the University District) the equation for moody blues and raucous live shows was complete. Don't Be A Stranger is their debut album and has led them to tour dates in and around their hometown with the equally talented The Maldives. Layers of blues, rock, folk, country and gospel radiate with sunshine and love-soaked days making the record hard to put down and impossible to forget. With all of the albums floating around this year that draw upon music of the 60's and 70's what makes The Moondoggies separate themselves from bands like Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes is that vein of pure indulgence and outright joy. You get a sense that the boys are swaying back and forth clutching their beloved instruments and enjoying their music as much as you are as you stroll down the street, falling in love with their album with every step you take. I have my eye out for tour dates like a hawk circling for that stray rabbit...so be aware kids.
The Moondoggies-Black Shoe.mp3
The Moondoggies-Ol' Blackbird.mp3
The Moondoggies-Changing.mp3
The Moondoggies-Undertaker.mp3
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