State of the Union: moe. 2011

While the old school big guns are still being played, they have taken some-what of a backseat to some of the newer material such as Haze, Billy Goat, Downward Facing Dog, Paper Dragon and Puebla. The band is in essence creating new big guns to be the cornerstone of their sets’ momentum. This is something a lot of the die-hard fan base has said they haven’t been able to do in the past several years, regardless of if it was the band’s intention with their writing or not.

If one was to poll the moe.rons on this subject, the majority’s sentiment would be shared by what Schnier had to say when asked how the band felt the new material was coming along, which was, “Great! There’s been a lot of top notch writing and playing from the band and most of the material has been really well received right out of the gates.”

Other newer songs written specifically for and debuted at moe.’s “late” Halloween show that took place this past December have also been getting played much more frequently in the rotation. These additions to moe.’s song roster include Schnier’s Silver Sun, dual-lead guitarist Chuck Garvey’s Suck A Lemon, drummer Vinnie Amico’s Mar-DeMa, and percussionist / instrumentalist Jim Loughlin’s Chromatic Nightmare.

The most recent entry of Schnier’s Little Miss Half Cup Empty, which had only been previously played by the acoustic trio side project, DiSGRACe, prior to its debut in Aspen, CO was repeated during the recent Japan tour. Several covers have also emerged in the repertoire that were also played last year as DiSGRACe. These new covers included the Rolling Stones’ Dead Flowers and Tom Petty’s Wildflowers. Something else to possibly come out of last year’s side project was the showing of three acoustic shows this year. These performances saw the band mixing a lot of its catalog, old and new, with selections that aren’t traditionally something you would expect to hear moe. play unplugged.

Going a step past the new material, the band has also been greatly appeasing the fan base by busting out some extremely rare, older songs like That Country Tune, Queen Of The Rodeo and Blue-Eyed Son. I asked Schnier if the inspiration for revisiting these moe. gems was from the fans’ constant harassment, to which he replied, “It’s hard to say, it may be a matter of the stars aligning, some things need time, and others have no explanation and simply are”.

With all this well received new material, another question, more so than not given in the form of a demand from the moe.rons is “When will we see the next album?” Schnier’s response to this was, “We’d like to see one (new album) as much as you would.” He then went on to state that the band definitely has its sights set on recording sometime this year.

moe.’s two and a half week tour through the U.S. found the band bringing up some guests to sit in at several shows. Pedal steel master Robert Randolph joined moe. at the Fillmore in San Francisco for the only Brent Black and CalifornIA played in the states so far this year. Then, in Aspen, CO, ’80s R&B legend John Oates joined moe. on guitar and vocals for his own Palette as well as the traditional cover of Sittin’ On Top Of The World. Oates also played guitar with the band on Sticks & Stones and Happy Hour Hero. Immediately following the randomness of Mr. Oates guesting with the band, at their two night run at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, CO, moe. welcomed to the stage longtime friend of the band and frequent guest Ms. Allie Kral of Cornmeal.  Kral sat in with her fiddle on the segue out of Paper Dragon and remained out for the duration of So Long during the first night’s show. The second evening the band occupied the venue, Kral came out again for the segue out of Opium and remained out for the duration of the always rocking 32 Things.

Speaking of collaborations, next up for the band is something that Schnier hinted about during the Q&A portion of the acoustic set at the beginning of the year in the Dominican Republic. moe. has been invited to take part in one of the legendary Midnight Rambles held at Levon Helm’s home and studio in Woodstock, NY. This once in a lifetime event will take place on March 12th. When Schnier was asked his thoughts on being invited to Ramble, he added, “We’re definitely looking forward to it, and have always wanted to attend. The Band has clearly influenced moe. in many ways, and their writing and recording remains some of the best in the American cultural canon.” After the Ramble, the band will host one of their own festivals for the fourth time, snoe.down. This festival will be held for the second year in a row in Killington and Rutland, Vermont at the end of March.

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11 Responses

  1. Great stuff K! I look forward to your continued reporting. Thank you Hidden Track for finding those in the know and spreading the word that about a band that continually kills it and doesn’t necessarily get the attention for doing so!!!

  2. NICE Kahlil! An article about moe. where the name of the band is spelled right & there’s actual information in it. Great start out of the gate, looking forward to reading more. 🙂

  3. Way to go bro! Killer article about akiller band. And yes, nice to see tgem spelled correctly!
    See you at Summoe.camp brother! Your two favorite bands in one place!

  4. great article. informative and on my favorite topic moe. and awesome awesome awesome quote from al. up there when asked about TCT QOTR and BES

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