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It had been six years since Fort Worth, Texas, native Hudson Moore released his debut full-length, Fireworks, which made 2016 all the more important for the budding country star.
Moore, a talented multi-instrumentalist, dropped his long-awaited sophomore LP, Getaway, in June and had the pleasure of sharing a bill with the likes of Martina McBride, Brothers Osborne, the Eli Young Band and Pat Green.
Music entered Moore’s life at a young age, as he got his start around the age of 10 and never looked back.
Fender got the chance to catch up with Moore on the heels of his most ambitious album, a country gem with soul and rock influences that he recorded “off the grid” in his home state. In his own words, Moore shares some of the lessons he’s learned in his young career.
“I have no formal training, so to speak. I’m a very raw musician. I picked up the guitar around 10. My dad played a little bit and I started with his acoustic. When I was 11 years old, I got a Mexican Strat for Christmas and also picked up the drums. The guitar was at the forefront of everything, though. I just learned through listening to my favorite records and picking things out by ear.”
“Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, the Allman Brothers. Those guys had a big influence on me. But I also really take a lot from modern players, like John Mayer and Keith Urban. I think those two guys are carrying the torch these days. If you study their playing, you’re going to get Freddie King, Clapton, B.B., all those guys they studied.”
“There are different styles of playing guitar. Some people are a little bit more flashy, but I’m more simplistic and melodic. I like my solos to have melodies that you can memorize and sing back to. That’s what I love about John Mayer. He has the ability to go off and blow your mind, but a lot of times on his records he’ll just play solos that are singable. It’s almost like an extension of the chorus.”
“I love the guitar because I feel like it’s the most expressive instrument out there. I’m not hating on any other instrument, but when you hit a note on piano, there’s only so many ways you can finesse it. On the guitar, you can bend a string, you can add tonalities. I think the fact that strings bend makes them more vocal than any other instrument, and that adds feel. I just love the fact that you can get different emotions out of guitars. You can play something beautiful on acoustic, play something bluesy on electric. It’s always been the most expressive instrument.”
“My go-to guitar is this Seafoam Green Tele. One time, we were playing at Stubbs when I was 20. I was still finding my tone, and at the time my Strat was my main guitar. My amp crapped out on me, so my buddy Cale had this vintage ‘60s Deluxe, and he let me bring it out. I used his Tele through that Deluxe, and I felt like I was Springsteen or something. I finally found that rocking tone and knew I needed to get a Tele. A few weeks later, I went to Gruhn Guitars and got a Custom Shop Seafoam Green Tele that became my signature guitar.”
“On the album, we used a blend of my ’64 Bassman with a ‘60s Princeton and a Blues Junior. So we had three different amps dialed up in his live room, and we would just sit there and adjust the faders. We wanted to come up with a unique sound, to really showcase my style and personality on the guitar. We were really thoughtful about the tones and adamant about getting a live feel.”
“Being a professional musician just comes down to passion. If you want to make money and go the safe route, you should not pursue music as a career. I wouldn’t recommend that to anybody. But I’m a firm believer that you have to do what you love. If you’re good enough at it, the money will come at the right time. I’m all in. I love writing songs, playing live for fans, being in the studio. I honestly can’t imagine myself doing anything else, even if that sounds cliché. When I made my first record, it was a gamble. But I thought, ‘If I don’t do this now, will I look back and say I never tried?’ We hit the road and gathered some momentum, and I dove in headfirst.”
“I’m always writing, whether I like to or not. I’ve got my notebook and my notes app on my phone. I’m always recording audio snippets. The schedule is typically you write, you record, you tour. You can’t really turn off the creative juices.”
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