Video Premiere: "Broken Man" by Josh Moore

I'll never forget the moment I came upon Josh Moore's music. I was in the midst of filming Mandolin Orange's excellent Bottom String Session some years back and as the session was winding down, some bearded troubadour walked into the room, sat down, and stunned me with a cover of 'Long Black Veil.' After a second cover of "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down," I became enamored with this artist. A soothing voice and gently plucked acoustic guitar was truly all Moore needed to leave me transfixed and since then I've been pining to hear a record. I'd heard rumblings and whispers that Moore was diligently working on a full-length, but heard no confirmation. So obviously, once Moore's first track premiered a few weeks back on The Bluegrass Situation, I was beaming with excitement. Even moreso when I was approached to share a video from the album.

For years Moore has been at work with Jeff Crawford on the new album, but it wasn't until 2013 that he and a wide array of locals began recording his forthcoming album Parted Ways. "We broke ground on this album with a successive series of monthly early morning sessions that would wind down in the afternoon," Moore says, and throughout those sessions artists like Ryan Gustafson, James Wallace, Mark Simonson and Carter Gaj were frequent collaborators. Emily Frantz, Jacki Huntington, Heather McEntire, and Skylar Gudasz can be heard contributing vocal harmonies as well, making for an all-star congregation of local musicians for this heavily anticipated album.

For those unfamiliar with Moore's catalogue, he began as the vocalist for hardcore band Beloved, but upon moving to Carrboro became ensconced in the local folk scene. Moore came in around a time where several other heavier artists were turning down and tuning into the simpler sounds, and when you're surrounded by so many talented, like-minded individuals it's a natural progression to turn down that road. Citing artists like The Byrds, Doug Paisley and Gene Clark as musical reference points, Parted Ways finds Moore delving into a sound that's simultaneously classic yet contemporary. After several years without recording or performing, Moore had pent up emotions to work out and Parted Ways runs forth with a defined theme of blazing trails in new directions.

Moore is set to celebrate the release of Parted Ways at what's sure to be a jam-packed show at the Cat's Cradle Backroom on June 12th alongside Jenks Miller & Rose Cross NC. Admission is $8 and you can buy tickets here.

 
Josh Moore- Broken Man from Thrown Stone Films on Vimeo.

Video Premiere: "Sweetheart I've Noticed" by Jackson Honeycutt

Being a part of such an incredible local music scene can be overwhelming at times. There's always something newer or something hipper, always folks in search of an act that's so fresh that their songs haven't even left the dank room they were recorded in. But every now and then it's nice to have musicians fall into your lap so to speak. There's no searching involved, just an instance of being in the right place at the right time, somehow fate decides to align and make these musical findings coalesce perfectly with a particular point in your life. Artists like Jackson Honeycutt are the perfect example of this.

The young songwriter from the Raleigh/Garner region already has a handful of LPs and EPs under his belt, albeit of the lo-fi variety, but nonetheless it's an impressive level of output for such a budding songwriter. Honeycutt blends traditional folk-pop sentiments with melancholy overtones to make for a listening experience as bright and infectious as it is downtrodden and blue. "Sweetheart I've Noticed" is a single that Honeycutt recently released that's been gaining the artist quite a bit of traction. The track's been in rotation at local music powerhouse WKNC as well as WSOE, Elon's college radio station.

Riding that wave of popularity, Honeycutt teamed up with local videographer Evan Kidd (responsible for the excellent Spazzfest documentary a few years back) to film a visual companion for "Sweetheart I've Noticed." Filmed in Garner, N.C., the video switches between scenes of Honeycutt aimlessly roaming around town on a rainy, gray-skied day and jovial, carefree days of youth spent at playgrounds and dance parties. The video perfectly represents the emotional dichotomy of Honeycutt's music and lyricism, leaving fans eager to see what's to come from this promising young songwriter. Check out the video below:



Jackson Honeycutt - "Sweetheart I've Noticed" (Official Music Video) from Evan Kidd on Vimeo.