It’s not quite country, not quite blues, and not quite rock. That’s the essence of the genre termed “Americana,” and John Moreland epitomizes the sound.
The opening riff of Moreland’s newest album, Big Bad Luv, is just a lone acoustic guitar picked by the singer/songwriter himself. The sound is dissonant and dirty, like a blues song, but within moments the band kicks in and we learn it’s much more than that.
The song is called “Sallisaw Blue,” and gives the title to the album with the lyric, “There’s a neon sign that says ‘Big Bad Luv’/And a noose hangin’ down from the heavens above.” It’s one of several tunes that Moreland is sure to play when he performs at Standing Sun Wines in Buellton on Oct. 25.
Standing Sun is North County’s most dependable haunt for Americana artists. It attracts big names in the genre who make the stop while touring between LA and the Bay Area, and Moreland is certainly a welcome guest.
The hirsute singer songwriter is known for his honest and poetic songwriting, his flawless downhome fingerpicking on guitar, and his brusk, smoky voice. Those three elements together reveal a character, loving and cynical at the same time, thoughtful and candid about his transgressions and failings, someone who will open some “Old Wounds” with a slide guitar at their side.
The fourth track on Big Bad Luv—which came out in May—is called “Love Is Not an Answer,” and dances on the line between ballad and dance tune. It’s got everything you want: country licks on an upright piano, organ riffs in the background, and brushes on the snare drum. But then you get lyrics like, “And I thought I was an actor/I let my colors show/What if I’m just a bastard/Laying low inside your radio,” before he gets to the chorus line of, “Oh but love is not an answer/Oh I don’t need an answer, I need you.”
This is songwriting.
Moreland sings with an ambiguous Southern accent—you don’t know where he’s from, and he’s OK with that. And it’s not like everyone knew who Moreland was in the music industry either, that is until the last couple of years. The artist’s music is undeniable, and he’s been everywhere from a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to the pages of Rolling Stone.
“I knew I was an outsider. I didn’t have a lot of faith in the music industry to let me in,” Moreland said in the bio on his website. “But I guess they have, to some extent. That’s what I hoped for, but I wasn’t sure that would be how it worked.”
The songs on Big Bad Luv hop around, from bluesy rockers like “Ain’t We Gold” to ballads like “Latchkey Kid.” He explores real life, from mishandled relationships to struggles with faith; it’s all there.
Sure, you could call Moreland’s work country, but that’s just part of the picture. He’s a lot more than a country singer. He’s a bluesman. He’s a rocker. He’s a poet, unafraid to stain his hands in the soil of the American experience, the one most of us share.
Managing Editor Joe Payne just wants to sit down with his guitar. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 19-26, 2017.