Artists:Ian Moore

Ian Moore

"The journey is the destination." While this is a good mantra for remembering to live your life in the present moment, it could also go a long way toward explaining the career path of Seattle-based troubadour Ian Moore.

Texas native Moore first made a name for himself in Austin's vibrant roots-rock scene in the early '90s, gaining national attention for his self-titled debut on Capricorn Records. While the album established him as a heavyweight guitar player, Moore eschewed the role of rock guitar hero on his next release, Modernday Folklore, recorded with Mark Howard in Daniel Lanoisí studio. On Modernday Folklore, Moore asserted his growing sensibilites as a singer-songwriter; the album was subsequently chosen as "one of the best moments in contemporary art in 1996" by Dave Hickey in Art America magazine. But Moore's follow-up album so confused Capricorn that the label dropped him. Refusing to see this as a set back, Moore took advantage of his newfound freedom to redefine just who he is and what it is that he does.

And what exactly is 'it'? "I don't know what 'it' is," Moore admitted to one reviewer. "Stevie Wonder encapsulates some of it, but a lot of my music isn't soul-oriented. I consider it Southern Gothic, like Flannery OíConnor; that whole creepy feeling with lots of shades and subtleties. It includes soul, gospel and Appalachian stuff, plus a lot of Celtic and Indian music. I don't fuckin' know, man." Put the question to him these days and he laughingly tosses out the term "Goth-spel." Surprisingly, its fits: Moore's music is passionate and full of yearning; it aches for answers but only finds more questions and, occasionally, some temporary salvation. His songs, like those of similar artists such as Grant Lee Phillips and Wilco, manage to be at once classic and modern. It's not the kind of music, however, that lends itself to easy categorization.

But what ís in a label, anyway? Ask any of Moore's current fans what it is that draws them to him and the response is unilateral: his voice, his songs, his presence. The Seattle weekly 'The Stranger' dubbed Moore "a stellar songwriter blessed with an absolutely stunning voice." Another magazine went so far as to proclaim that "Moore has moved foursquare into the circle of guitarist-songwriters like (Richard) Thompson, Mayfield, Hendrix and Buckley, where pop isn't a dirty word and where music comes straight from the soul." More