Spring/Summer 2012 Part 2

Have you ever been in the middle of telling someone a story when you suddenly got distracted by something shiny?  I mean like completely lost your train of thought, started telling different stories about things that don’t even matter kind of distracted?  Then after an extended off topic session you return to your original conversation, trying to pick up exactly where you left off?  Come on, I can’t be the only one right?  Well consider this blog my return to the conversation we started several weeks ago.

So last we left off I was telling you all about my new album.  How we released it in July, and how it’s available all over the place and how you should all go out and buy it right now.  And I’m sure you all did go buy it online, which is mighty awesome of you.  Now I’ll just sit back and wait for that check from iTunes to come rolling in so I can put milk in my kids cereal (using your kids to guilt people into supporting you is a great example of both parenting and marketing, or as I like to call it parketing!).  So let’s quickly knock out a few of the other things that happened this summer so we can get to all the cool things going on right now!

After releasing “Give It All Away” (which did I mention is available now on iTunes, Google Play, etc…?) we pretty much hit the road for a month!  Our tour started in Michigan at the first annual Rock The Island Festival in Saginaw, MI.  We got to share the stage with some amazing artists including Scarlet White, Grits, Press Play and the incredible Thousand Foot Krutch!  After the show we packed up the van and headed west.  Our tour would take us through Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Iowa and back to the fabulous Mitten State known as Michigan.  We got to play at some awesome churches, festivals, youth events, and one of our very favorite summer camps nestled in the foothills of Rapid City, SD.  The tour went really well, we made a lot of new friends, got to see some new places and learned a lot of new things!  Important things like driving through the Rocky Mountain National Park is really hard on your fully loaded with equipment little minivan!!  We made it home safe and sound, and even took a nice little vacation with our families to reconnect.

Over the course of the summer we had a couple of changes with our live band members.  Our longtime drummer and close friend Josh Minor got accepted to Bible College in Redding, CA.  Even though we are all bummed to see Josh go and miss him like crazy, it is very obvious to all of us that God is doing some seriously cool things in his life and really opened the doors for him and his wife to move across the country.  But I can promise you this isn’t the last you will be seeing or hearing from Josh as the drummer of this band though, as we intend to keep him involved as much as possible.  We have been very blessed to have some new folks come in and jam with us recently, and we are very excited to be taking some fresh new faces on the road with us this fall.  Among these new rockers are Mr. Don Zuker on lead guitar, and the fabulous Brian Histed (drummer for A King At Heart).  You may even see our good buddy Evan Profant playing drums on some upcoming dates.  Some of the names might be different, but these guys are amazing musicians and we are stoked to have them on board!

So what’s on the horizon here at Matt Moore Industries you might ask.  Lots of stuff!!  Here is a list of just a few of the things you can expect this fall/winter.

* Lots of new tour dates!
* A new radio single
* An official music video or two
* A new cover song series on YouTube
* Lots of new contests, merchandise, and other goodies
* A new remix project featuring a number of Christian rappers/DJs/and other artists
* And of course plenty of shenanigans along the way!

So that’s a bit of what’s going on here.  Thank you all so much for your love and support.  I know I don’t tell you all enough how much I really appreciate you guys.  Please help spread the word and we hope to see you all at a gig real soon!  God bless.

Spring/Summer 2012 Part 1

There is no denying it, I am an old man.  “But Matt…” you might interject, “How can that be?  You look so youthful and hunky!”  That’s very nice of you to say, but the truth is I’m getting older, and there seems to be nothing I can do about it.  I have apparently reached the age where I can hurt myself simply by sleeping wrong.  I have reached the age where youthful phrases like “YOLO” spin me into a fit of disdain for popular culture.  I have reached the age where I enjoy eating dinner around 4:30PM, and I find comfort in a nice cup of Ensure while watching Murder She Wrote.  Ok, so that last one isn’t true, but I have reached the age where not even a paragraph into this blog I have already been interrupted twice by my children coming down from their bedrooms and asking for a drink of water.  It’s tough getting old!  I find myself making old man noises when I sit down in a chair, and even more terrible noises when I try to get up.  I’m noticing aches and pains from old injuries, and more cracking and popping sensations when I walk around in the morning.  I’ll give you a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

Last weekend I was playing out in the backyard with my three children.  We were wrestling around in the grass, chasing after one another and playing tackle football (I guess they were inspired by the Lions last second victory or something).  Now my children are seven, five and three years old respectively, and they never seem to run out of energy.  Even when their elderly father is about to die from being run all over the place they just keep on coming!  No mercy!!  So after about an hour of nonstop running, jumping, tackling, etc… I decided to gracefully walk away from the game while I was still able to walk.  As I settled onto the couch to rest my weary bones I noticed a tightness starting to develop in my back.  Within about an hour I was barely able to move, lying motionless on the floor with terrible back spasms.  My kids thought this was hilarious, and took turns seeing how far they could jump over me.  Talk about feeling like an old man!!  And the worst thing about it all was that I didn’t do any one thing to hurt myself.  It’s not like I pulled something in my back while throwing a football over a nearby mountain, or possibly slipped a disc in my back while uprooting a mighty oak tree.  Nope, instead it was just another example of old age catching up with me.

Another fine example of old age catching up with me is when I tell pointless stories like the one you just read (or maybe just skimmed over, it’s alright.  I found myself checking out while reading it too).  So let me reclaim my youth one last time and get right to the point.  A lot of stuff has happened since my last blog post…way too much to mention everything in depth.  It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie The Princess Bride.  The swashbuckling Spaniard Ingo Montoya is trying to recap the story for our paralyzed hero Wesley when he says “Lemme splain.  No, there is too much.  Lemme sum up.”  Man I love that movie…wait, that’s yet another old man distraction isn’t it?!?  Sorry, on to the good stuff!!

The last time I blogged it was the middle of winter and we were just heading into the studio to begin work on a new album, so let’s start there.  We wrapped up recording for the new album entitled “Give It All Away” sometime around the middle of March.  Once again I recorded with world class producer Jake Rye (Newsboys/Shine Bright Baby) at the newly revamped Sonus Clarus Studios in Adrian, MI.  This time around I had the opportunity to bring in both Josh THO and Josh Minor from the live band to put their mark on the new songs, as well as some amazing studio musicians (Scott Gentry, Seth Huff, Jeremy Blaska, and Jake Rye).  I’m really excited with the way the new songs turned out, and thrilled to finally have some new music to share with you guys (can you believe it’s been three years since “No Place Left to Hide”?!?).  We released the first single “Fading” to radio in May of 2012 and we have been very blessed by its success so far.  To date the song can be heard on over 140 radio stations around the USA and Canada, as well as numerous online stations on podcasts.  Check out www.MattMooreMusic.com/Radio to see where you can hear the song in your area.  And as of this writing the song is currently #2 on the Christianrock.net charts.  Needless to say it is very exciting and humbling to see your name listed with musical legends such as Project 86, POD, Thousand Foot Krutch, etc… 

After several minor delays we released “Give It All Away” on July 17^th, does everyone have their copy?  I see some hands raised, that’s good.  For those of you who don’t have it yet what are you waiting for?!?  You can find just about anywhere you purchase music.  It is of course available for download on iTunes, Google Play, Rhapsody, Amazon, Spotify, etc…  Or for those of you who prefer the feel of a real CD in your hand you can pick up a copy either at a live show or from our online merch store www.MattMooreMusic.com/Store, where you can also find a whole bunch of spiffy new Matt Moore shirts, guaranteed to make you look absolutely fabulous and help you make new friends (not that you have a hard time making friends or anything, but these rad threads certainly won’t hurt your chances!).  Or you can simply follow me on Twitter @MattMooreMusic to be automatically entered in our weekly “Free Autographed CD” giveaway.  With so many ways to get your hands on the new tunes you really don’t have a good excuse not to own it now do you mister?!?

Well this blog is getting pretty crazy long and we’ve barely scratched the surface.  How about next week we dive into part 2 of our Summer 2012 wrap up?  Crazy stories from the road, new band members and a look at what’s to come…you’re not going to want to miss it!!  Now, it’s time for me to retire to the couch with my cup of Ensure in hand.  Maybe getting old isn’t so bad after all.

Long time no......blog!

So it turns out, I’m that guy.  You know the type.  The guy who says things like “we just hung out with Dan and Tracey a few weeks ago”.  Only to be corrected by my wife that it was more like 2 years ago.  That guy who has such a loose grasp on time that things begin to fall through the cracks.  For example, when I told my percussionist Josh THO that I hadn’t blogged in a few months he was quick to point out that it’s been almost a full year since my last electronic journal posting.  Yeah, my bad folks!!  So let’s recap a handful of things that have happened over the past year and take a quick peak about what’s to come.

Things have been busier than ever round these parts.  Since my last post we have played almost 200 more shows, landed a handful of nice endorsement deals, embarked on several national tours, and opened for some seriously awesome bands including Stellar Kart, John Rueben, Me In Motion, The Afters, Everyday Sunday, Remedy Drive, Newworldson, Hello Kelly, Manic Drive, Beckah Shae, Michelle Bonilla, Icon for Hire, Nine Lashes, Heath McNease, etc….  Lots of different venues too ranging from your large music festivals all the way to the depths of a cave in South Dakota!!  Still rocking out with the full band, and I love making music with these crazy guys.  At the end of August our brother and bass player Derek Turcsanyi accepted a three month internship at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO.  Even though we all miss DT like crazy we are super excited for him.  It’s clear that God is doing some pretty cool things in his life and we definitely wish him the best, please keep him in your prayers.  In the meantime our good friend Austin Lutzke has been filling in on bass guitar.  Austin is a seriously talented musician, and also the only guy in the group over 6 feet tall!  Be sure to tell him how awesome he is next time you see the full band live……he’s pretty easy to pick out.

I could go on and on telling you all kinds of stories about our travels, creepy hotel rooms, interesting people, etc…  So much fun stuff in the past 12 months that there is really no way I can do it all justice……..and no way you are going to sit there and read my ramblings for that long!  So let’s look ahead to the future shall we?!?  Lots of fun stuff in the works!

First of all, we are currently working on material for the next album!!  It’s been over two years since I first released “No Place Left to Hide”, and I figure it’s about time we get some new music in your ears.  So I have been writing and demoing out a bunch of new stuff over the past few months, and the studio has been booked for January 2012.  Once again I will be working with producer extraordinaire Jake Rye for this project, only this time I plan to bring the full band into the studio with me to let the boys do work their magic.  It’s my goal to have a new EP finished up and in your hands by the spring of 2012.  And the way these new songs are turning out, it’s gonna rock!!

Another new development, and something that I think will be a lot of fun, is a new micro blog I’ve recently started entitled “A Little Moore” (haha, get it?  What I’m the only one who can’t make fun of my name?!?).  The idea of a micro blog is that its quick little pieces of media that we are going to update daily.  No long form journal style entries like a normal blog.  This is going to be a spot online where Josh THO and I will be posting various pictures from the road, videos, quotes, etc…  Some new stuff, some old stuff, some seriously random stuff, anything goes.  If you ever wanted to get a little sneak peak at what goes on behind the scenes here in Matt Moore land this is your place!!  This is also the spot where I will be posting video clips and pictures from inside the studio while we work on the new album, so ya’ll will be the first to know what’s going on with that.  Go check it out now at www.mattmooremusic.tumblr.com, or go to www.mattmooremusic.com and click on “A LITTLE MOORE” under the BLOG button (its kinda hidden there since I have not officially launched it yet…..you guys get the inside track). 

There are lots of other super rad awesome good fun things in the works, but if I share them all with you now what will I blog about next year?!?  Hmmmmmmmm…..

Blogtoberfest!!

Have you ever had that friend that you wanted to call on the phone, but you knew that if you did you would end up being on the phone a really long time? You have so much cool stuff you want to talk about with them but you're kinda busy right now, there's a lot going on, and you know that if you call now it's going to be a long conversation. So you decide to wait until later when you can give your friend the proper amount of time they deserve! And basically you just end up not calling them at all. My friends, consider this blog the call I should have placed to you a long time ago! Or just consider me an absolute failure when it comes to my communication skills.

So much cool stuff has happened since my last "web log" I'm not quite sure how to include it all. Ya know, stuff like summer, and autumn!! Ok you get it; it's been a long time. But seriously, these past few months have been packed with some really cool developments. My long time percussionist Josh and I have been all over the country sharing our music and making new friends. We have even started performing with a full rock band, which is something that came about in a very interesting way.

Basically I had a couple bigger shows lined up for the summer including the Big Ticket Festival in Gaylord, MI, and I thought it would be really cool to put together a full band to try to recreate the sound on the CD. So I asked my buddy Derek Turcsanyi if his new group would be interested in backing me up just for this show….no long term commitment, no strings attached. One thing I didn't know until just before the show is that the "Indie Stage" at Big Ticket Festival is basically a big battle of the bands, where one winner is selected each day to perform on one of the main stages at next year's festival. Now, if you know me at all you will know that I am not a big fan of battle of the bands. It's just not my style. I get kinda competitive about stuff and I let it rob some of the fun of playing music from me. So we decided that we didn't care about the competition, we just wanted to play for a bunch of people at a rad festival and do our thing. Besides, this was going to be the very first show this band had ever played together, so we really had no big expectations for the event. Well much to my surprise we ended up actually winning the indie stage and got invited back to perform on one of the main stages at Big Ticket Festival 2011! It's pretty awesome how God opens doors!! There was no intention of this group being a full time band, but since we figured we had something good going here, and since I'm pretty sure the guys want to play at next year's festival, we decided to book some more shows together. So it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the new members of the band. Swing over to their Facebook pages and say hi!!

Derek Turcsanyi – Bass and Vocals (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=729978941)
Caleb Gates – Lead Guitar (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1278414652)
Josh Minor – Drums (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1197000752)

These guys are some absolutely amazing musicians, and it has been some of the most fun ever making music with them. If you get a chance to see a full band show sometime you gotta check it out!! But that's just a couple of the fun things from this past summer. Here are a few quick highlights off the top of my head to give you an idea of some of the musical adventures Josh and I have had these past few months.

*Performed at and won the indie stage at Big Ticket Festival 2010.
*Lead worship on a mountain top in South Dakota. (how awesome is that?!?!?)
*Invented several new games after riding in the car too long on tour, most of them incredibly stupid.
*Performed at Carpenter's Way Church in Lufkin, TX with my good friend Steve Glass.
*Reached #1 on the Reverbnation.com "hot" charts for rock artists.
*Performed at the first Christian Comedy Blast in Milwaukee, WI with our good friends Fish Sticks Comedy.
*Had coffee and cookies with Dave Ramsey in Nashville, TN.
*Shared the stage with some AMAZING artists!! (Paupers Field, Nevercast, At the Onset, The Legend of Xero, Nate Fueurstein, Take the City, Sound of Reign, etc…)
*Went rock climbing with the Peak Experience crew in South Dakota. (some of my new favorite people)
*Performed right next to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
*Went canoeing with the Impact crew from Coleman Wesleyan Church (amazing youth group!!)
*Stayed in some of the seediest hotels/motels in the entire country!! (stories………so many stories!!)

Way too much stuff to actually list in one blog, which I guess is what happens when you wait half a year to write a new one. Plus there is a lot of cool new stuff in the works (ie, new shows, new website, new street team, new songs, maybe even a new album in the works??). So I will work a lot harder to try and make this blog a more consistent thing, that way I can actually get into the details of some of these great stories. Although, technically once every six months would could still be considered consistent. Something to think about!

Matt

We gotta get out of this place!!

Ok, so when I said I would be updating this baby more often I meant preferably more than once a month!! But hey, even once a month is more often than I was updating it, so I guess technically I'm still living up to my promise! February was a pretty intense month both at home and on the road. In between playing a whole bunch of shows around the state my wife and I have been working on some long overdue home improvement projects. And when we start into a project, no matter how big or small it is originally intended to be, it's gonna be a PROJECT!! Meaning that the simple repainting of one little bedroom has thrown the rest of the house into complete disarray for weeks! I can't tell you how many "weekend projects" have turned into major life events in the Moore house, but let's face it....that's not really why you take the time to read this blog. So let's talk about some music stuff!

Since February was just packed full of cool gigs, eleven in the past ten days alone, I'll forgo lengthy details of each and every show and instead give you some juicy highlights. One of those super sweet shows took place at the YMCA in Traverse City, MI. Josh and I traveled North after performing an awesome afternoon gig at MMCC here in Clare. Several Northern Michigan youth groups had gathered at the "Y" for an evening of games, food and live music. We got a chance to lead worship for the group which was an incredible experience, then the teens absolutely tore the roof off the place while Josh and I rocked out. To give you an idea of who great these guys were, there was actually a "worm contest" in the middle of the set! That's right, there was a showdown to find who could dance the worm best!! This was easily one of the best crowds I have ever played for! I can promise that we are coming back to the Traverse City area again soon! Definitely a special night!

A couple days, and a couple gigs later, I got the opportunity to visit my buddy Chris Freeman down at his new church in Northville, MI. By the way, you have got to check Freeman's music out!! Not only is he a sick guitar player (GS Megaphone, Poor Man's Riches, etc...), but he is an incredible sitar player as well! Anyway, Josh and I got to lead worship there at The Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and what an amazing group of people they have there!! We also had the chance to perform a couple of my original songs for the congregation, and everyone was super supportive. In fact, we set up our merch table just outside the sanctuary where we played and sold every last CD that we had brought, which was literally all of them!! I completely did not expect that kind of response, but it was such a blessing getting a chance to connect with people and share my music. We're already making plans to return this spring to put on a full blown rock concert, including the one and only Mr. Freeman on electric guitar. Ya'll might wanna make the drive for that one!! I promise I'll have more CDs by then too!!

There were so many other cool shows this month that it would take a mighty long blog to share all the stories with you. But I want to make sure to direct you to some of the amazing artists that I had the pleasure to jam with this month. Visit their websites, become fans, buy their stuff, etc... These are some mighty rad artists, and well worth supporting!!

Chris Freeman - www.myspace.com/christopherleefreeman
The Confidence - www.myspace.com/theconfidence
I Am the Branch - www.myspace.com/iamthebranch
Mighty Medicine - www.myspace.com/mightymedicine
Artificial Heroes - www.myspace.com/artificialheroesbaycity
Jessi Carrick - www.myspace.com/jessicarrickmusic
Finding Clyde - www.myspace.com/findingclyde
Derek Winter - www.myspace.com/derekwinter
Central Harmony - www.myspace.com/chacappella

Lots of good stuff coming up for March and beyond.......stay tuned!!

I blame the government!!

Once upon a time, on a computer far far away I used to update my blog on a weekly basis. Usually I would share stories about my musical adventures, and occasionally I would just tell stupid stories about places I had been or people I had met. Then somewhere along the line I just sorta stopped. I'm not totally sure why this happened, though I think it may have been some sort of government conspiracy.........I'm working on some theories, it goes pretty deep. Well I figure that it is once again time to cast off the shackles of my oppressors and violently rise up against "The Man". I shall overcome!!! So what has been going on in my crazy world you ask?!? That is a fair question, and I will try to give you a fair answer.

So last weekend my longtime percussionist and friend Josh Thompson (aka THO or Tivio) took a little road trip to the cheese filled state of Wisconsin. Now I hear you asking your computer monitor out loud "who would choose to drive to Milwaukee Wisconsin in the middle of January?!?" To which I would respond "how did YOU know I went to Milwaukee? Do you work for the government?!?" (I told you my conspiracy theory ran deep, but I digress) I was invited to be the musical guest on an improv comedy TV show called "Fishsticks.TV". The show went great, the Fishsticks crew was not only hilarious but incredibly kind (check them out at www.fishsticks.tv), and I got to meet another amazing musical guest from Sweden named Jonathan Thulin. Definitely check out this cat, he is super rad!!! (www.myspace.com/jonathanthulin) I was also introduced to "Milwaukee Style" pizza on this day, which to my understanding is flat, huge and delicious!! I learned so many new things on this trip, far too many to share in a blog that any of you would take the time to read. I will however make note of a few things I learned on this trip, you are all welcome to ask me about another time if you would like to hear the hilarious back stories.

- Josh Thompson is apparently Seth Rogan's younger brother. Did not know that.
- The waitresses in Milwaukee will rap for you once you have finished your meal.
- Lawyers are hilarious!!
- A bottle of water in your hotel room will cost you $5, or the machine right outside your hotel room door has them for $1.50.
- Some people move to Wisconsin because there is so much more to do than in Alabama. In Alabama people just spontaneously start jogging because they are so bored.
- A mouth guard worn by a certain percussionist I know to stop snoring can mysteriously fly across the room in the night and land on YOUR double bed. Either that or some strange things were afoot at the Best Western that night!
- There is a place in Wisconsin called the Cheese Castle! I really wish I would have had more time to investigate this one further!!
- Tollbooth operators in Illinois are legally allowed to screw with you if you happen to pick the unlucky booth. They will also throw your lousy Canadian quarters right back in your face.
- Etc...

This last Friday I had the opportunity to be the special guest on "Fuse FM's BIG Morning Show" with my friends Sara "The Intern" and JohnnyBIG. They were running a special contest this day called "The Avalanche of Goodness", which is the best name for a contest ever!! Better yet, the grand prize of this contest was...............ME!! The lucky winner gets to host a private house concert featuring yours truly. I mean, how many radio stations are actually giving away people these days?!? I also launched my brand new career as a country music singer on the show, which I figure should either make me exceedingly wealthy or kill any musical credibility that I once had. Either way, you can't beat live radio!!

And finally I got to close out the weekend playing a special birthday show in Saginaw with my good friend Jayson Simonson. Basically the entire evening consisted of Josh, Jayson and myself completely slaughtering all your favorite pop hits from the 80s, 90s and now!! What better way to end a great week of musical adventures!!

I'm planning to keep this baby updated on a more regular basis to keep you all informed, so be sure to stay tuned for more ridiculous tales and silly stories. And if any of you have any more information to share about that government thing I'm looking into, might wanna speak in code....they might be listening! Just walk up and say "The grey hawk flies at night!" I'll know what it means!

You pay what you want!!!

Hey guys and gals, I know the economy is tough right now, and most of my friends don't have a bunch of extra money to spend on things like CDs. So I want to do what I can to help ease the financial burden and still give you a chance to own your very own copy of my new album. So here is the deal, you can now download "No Place Left to Hide" and support me by paying whatever you want for it, or if you are willing to spread the word to a few of your friends you can download it absolutely free. Just check out the widget below or go to www.noisetrade.com/MattMoore.

I just think this new album is the best material I have put out so far, and I want as many people as possible to get a chance to hear it. Its not about making money, its about spreading the love. You get some awesome free music, and I get a chance to help out share my passion with you guys. Everybody wins!!! And hey, if you really wanna help spread the word you can even post the widget on your own MySpace or Facebook site. Happy downloading!!