Daniel Martin Moore / In the Cool of the Day - SP860

Daniel Martin Moore is a singer and songwriter from Cold Spring, Kentucky. On the strength of an unsolicited demo he sent us in January of 2007, Sub Pop released Stray Age in October of 2008, a quietly striking album and Daniel’s debut full-length. And, in February of 2010, we released Dear Companion, an album written and performed by Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore together, and produced by Jim James from My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk. Part of the intention with Dear Companion was to draw attention to the problem of Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal mining, but the music stood on its own as well (Filter: “This is one painfully beautiful record”). Between the release of Stray Age and now, Daniel’s been busy, touring with Ben and Jim (including a July ‘10 performance at the Newport Folk Festival), opening for Iron & Wine, The Swell Season and My Morning Jacket, appearing on NPR’s World Cafe, doing the things associated writing, recording and releasing music.

Daniel Martin Moore’s new album, In the Cool of the Day, all started with an old piano, situated in the heart of Cincinnati’s WVXU studios. What had been scheduled to be a routine interview and in-studio performance turned into otherworldly inspiration when Moore sat down and plunked away at the old 9-foot Steinway, once used as the main instrument by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. With the help of longtime friend and drummer Daniel Joseph Dorff, Moore has given us a “spiritual” album of time-tested, family gospel favorites remembered from growing up and reinterpreted here, with a few new tunes of his own in the same vein. And, it’s a sincerely revelatory album, evoking Daniel’s personal history, sense of place, love, faith (in music/art/whatever) that speaks plainly to the heart of any soul.

If you pre-order In the Cool of the Day by January 18th, you’re getting this CD for the wonderfully low pre-order price of just $10! After that, it goes up, so act quickly!

Released: January 18, 2011

Daniel Martin Moore / Stray Age LP - 4076099

Here’s the LP version Daniel Martin Moore’s debut album Stray Age put out by Shake It Records. The vinyl version includes one bonus track, Carby’s Tune, on the LP along with a 4 track 7" ep of alt tracks & demos. The vinyl was remastered by Bob Weston (Shellac/Mission of Burma) and sounds glorious. The 7" eps are sleeved in 1 of 5 different hand screened/colored covers. Each limited to 140.

7" tracklist:
A-sides: Every Color and Kind (band version), Not a Step Behind
B-sides: Flyrock Blues, Tu Dors Bien

Released: February 20, 2009

Daniel Martin Moore / Stray Age - SP760

(Stream Stray Age in full here!)

You’ve never heard of Daniel Martin Moore, from Cold Spring, Kentucky. That’s okay. Before we got his unsolicited demo in January 2007, neither had we. Luckily, he’d heard of us, and contacted us the way people in Cold Spring still do—he sent us a package, just to see what would happen. In all honesty, his odds were quite slim, but occasionally we’ll take down that “no solicitation” sign on our door. Eventually, we opened his package and gave his four songs a listen and decided to contact him—we happened upon Daniel while he was working at a friend’s bed and breakfast in Costa Rica. He’d been a bit of a drifter up until this point, studied photography in college, joined the Peace Corps in 2006, traveling to Cameroon for his service. What was supposed to be a two year commitment was cut short due to illness. So he came back to the states, lived in Minnesota for a while with his brother (who plays piano on several tracks), and began to focus on music.

The first thing you’ll notice about his debut, Stray Age is its simplicity. It’s a folk record, evoking certain feelings (as all good records should), but there’s a gentle approach to its sound and the way Moore’s voice phrases his words. Stray Age was recorded in Los Angeles in three different spurts, the first two sessions taking place in October and December of 2007, then the third in February of 2008. He even got some people you’ve heard of to help him out. Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins, U2, The White Stripes) took on co-production, recording and mixing duties. Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Tori Amos) played upright bass. Jesca Hoop lent her voice to “The Old Measure” and “Restoration Sketches.” And Petra Haden (Bill Frisell, Beck) adds violin to “It’s You,” “The Hour Of Sleep,” and “The Old Measure.”

Those reference points are really just that, though. Moore is most captivating as a singer, one who doesn’t seem concerned with usual folkie fodder. If you ask him what his music’s about—a legitimate question—he just politely shrugs his shoulders in a way that says, “that’s up to you to figure out.” But, the insights in Stray Age are not secrets and would never hope to be. That’s a good thing, as Moore’s much more of an optimist, hopefully anticipating the things that are just around the corner. “That’ll Be The Plan” strums along to a soft drumbeat, a traveling narrative centered around delicate mandolin solos. The one cover on the album, “Who Knows Where The Times Goes,” has Moore slowly, softly singing Sandy Denny, coupling his gentle coaxing with a faint vibraphone.

Yet as simply as Daniel Martin Moore thinks of Stray Age, it’s rich with understated complexities that take you to places that people like Nick Drake and Mojave 3/Slowdive principal Neil Halstead have been cited as doing. There’s a soft swing in the vocals reminiscent of Chet Baker. But the one thing with Moore, that we like to think of as separating him from the pack, is he’s looking forward. He wants to go places, he wants you to come with him, and we’re finding him right in that moment.

Stray Age is a work that welcomes a listener to know it. This is Daniel Martin Moore. He comes from a place both geographically and personally removed from any sense of the independent music scene. Clearly, that’s okay.

Released: October 7, 2008