Moors & McCumber have recently released two albums Survival and Companion Vol 1 and will be celebrating them in Minnesota next week with a series of shows: Nov 3 at the Bryant Lake Bowl (with Mother Banjo), Nov 4 at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids and Nov 5 at the Delano Performing Arts Center as part of the Rieder Homestead Concert Series.
We had a great time talking to James Moors and Kort McCumber about their band and their latest releases, especially Survival. It is popular music with an interesting Americana twang and Irish brogue. The two have been playing together for about 10 years, in fact normally they would tour two months of every month. So the pandemic was a game changer for their day to day life. They spent the first few weeks making plans for when they could tour and eventually warmed up to the idea of taking the time to find the songs and half songs that deserved more attention.
They have created albums with songs that were often born before the pandemic but came to age in the last two years. There are themes of assessing life and where “we” are, whether we is a relationship, society or just a person balancing their hopes with real world. They talk about being on stage, playing music as the time that they are most present in life and that wrapped attention calls the listener to focus on the music as well. It not a command to attention but more of an overwhelming curiosity that draws us in. You can hear their Irish roots in a song like The Mess We’re In (note: you can also join them on a trip to Ireland1) and hear the impact of life in a song like I’ve Held on as Long as I Can.
Mostly Minnesota 