Alastair Moock and The Rowdy Roots
Medford, Massachusetts, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"Singer Alastair Moock’s live show is half Appalachian hootenanny, half honky-tonk jam session. It’s also totally kid-friendly. Moock’s trio blazed through guitar solos, banjo breakdowns and songs about the ABCs at a Saturday morning show at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. But unlike such insipid mainstream mainstays as Barney and the Wiggles, Moock’s music has an indie sensibility hip parents dig." - The Boston Herald
"A musical descendant of Woody Guthrie, Moock refreshes the classic brand of acoustic folk with a zany sense of humor as seen on songs about a mixed-up alphabet ('CBAs'), being a curious toddler ('Three Like Me') and harvesting your own veggie garden ('Didn’t Know What I Was Missing')." - Time Out New York
"Children's musicians have a tough job: they have to produce songs that can keep kids entertained without putting the parents to sleep or making them run screaming out of the room. Alastair Moock's second family music release strikes the perfect balance. The lyrics are fun for the kids, the music is sophisticated to keep dad engaged, and the combination will get both generations up off the couch and dancing." - Mr.Dad.com
"On These Are My Friends, Alastair Moock provides fresh folk for fresh folk, a worthy 21st-century successor to Woody Guthrie's music. It's a solid album Woody would dig. Recommended." - Stefan Shepherd, Zooglobble
"Alastair Moock's CD is the musical equivalent of a big semi-raucous family reunion — people laughing, singing, and, above all, having fun. The persistent sense of joy can sometimes make it so you don't notice that, musically, it's about as good as family music gets, with killer guest artists and Moock's rich voice as the rock-solid center." - Bill Childs, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
"As welcoming as a big old bear hug, as comfortable as your grandma's hand-me-down quilt, and as memorable as the smell of freshly baked cookies, These Are My Friends is handcrafted American roots music sharply focused on the wonderment of early childhood... I love this album." - Jeff Bogle, Out With the Kids
"These real-life family songs are as sweetly satisfying as a mouthful of caramel, sung in an affable leap-froggy baritone, but they’re not confections. They examine the real struggles of childhood, nighttime fears, drowsy mornings, grown-ups who don’t get it and the quest for who we really are in this world, as crucial at six as it is at sixty." - Scott Alarik, Music Writer, Boston Globe and Sing Out!
"Moock’s wonderful knack for filling catchy ditties with humorous lyrics will bring a smile to your face... His backwards alphabet/nursery rhyme mash-up 'CBAs And A Twinkle Baa' is award-worthy on its own." - NAPPA (National Parenting Publications Awards)
"The seven original tunes and four covers are right up Moock's alley — folksy ditties that tell a story or describe a feeling via his gravelly voice with laid-back accompaniment. The backup band and vocalists add just the right finishing touch, whether in the form of a harmonious chorus, lap steel guitar, harmonica solo, or solo guitar picking... Moock hits the mark every time with this one." - School Library Journal
"An impressive artist who has garnered much praise over the past 15 years playing festivals, concerts and coffeehouses, Alastair found his 'inner child' to put together a total blast of a children's CD, one with groove. It's something the parents will reach for as well, because they'll be craving it for themselves... With lots of humor, conscious intention, and great musicianship and presentation, A Cow Says Moock warrants the respect of anyone who listens to this CD. And it's also just total fun." - Sing Out!
"An ebullient debut children's album from respected folk musician Alastair Moock. Inspired by his toddler twin daughters, Moock offers dad-savvy empathy, humor and warmth delivered in his trademark gravel rasp and foot-stomping, American roots music instrumentation"... A 2010 "Recommended" Award Winner - Parents' Choice Foundation
"A young folkie who sounds just as rough, rootsy, and masculine as the bad boys of the 60s... Moock has become simply one of the top songwriters in the region."
- The Boston Herald
"Moock's songs are simple, built on country-blues structures and free of the convoluted metaphors and self-conscious wordplay that clutter so much modern folk music ... Every one is a gem." - The Washington Post
"Alastair Moock displays the gifts the best folk songwriters have: romantic without seeming mawkish, clever without seeming precious, brooding without seeming self-pitying... This is one of Boston's best and most adventurous songwriters."
- The Boston Globe
"Alastair Moock's debut family album is a classy, stunning work. His gravely voice is the perfect match for this batch of goofball tunes about belly buttons, having spaghetti in your shoe, chickens roosting and animal sounds, yet his best work comes when the material gets slightly more serious but no less fun. Moock's seven original tunes blend effortlessly with four covers to make a very complete and satisfying record. I'm inserting 'A Cow Says Moock' into my running top 10 list for 2010... you should be inserting it into your CD player." - Jeff Bogle, Out With The Kids
"I can't stop singing these songs! This is a CD you're definitely going to want to check out"... A Favorite Album of 2009 - Boston Children's Music.com
"Alastair Moock, now the proud father of twin daughters, presents 'A Cow Says Moock,' his first music album for children. Consisting of four covers (tributes to Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, Mississippi John Hurt, and Taj Mahal) and seven originals, the songs are a blend of silly fun and wholehearted love for America's wondrous musical heritage. A joyful music CD great for car trips, children's parties, or just plain fun, enthusiastically recommended especially for parents, babysitters and day care providers." - Midwest Book Review
"Though it is being promoted as a children's album, Alastair Moock's latest is as fresh and fun and variably appealing as anything he has produced before... One heck of a great album!" - Music Dish
"With each of his five albums, this Boston-based singer-songwriter has honed his signature ability to write songs that sound joyfully homespun and irreverent while also being painstakingly poetic and intricate. He's settled nicely into the role of a folkie raconteur, exploring the American vernacular from swing to blues to Appalachian mountain music and fitting each genre to the timeless themes of his lyrics. Those styles also fit perfectly with Alastair's voice, which is pitched somewhere between a rasp and growl: this is a voice made for vintage-sounding Americana." - Sing Out!
"Moock's rough voice and easy songs are comforting. Listening to or singing along with [him] is like falling asleep in the back of your parents' car, going home." - WBUR.org Boston's NPR News Source
"Alastair is one of the hottest new folk performers on the Boston scene, a very modern songwriter with a wonderfully rootsy American folk sound. I'm convinced that if Woody Guthrie were alive today, he'd just love Alastair's wry wit, gravel'n'honey voice and nervy willingness to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth whenever he sings." - Scott Alarik, Author, Deep Community
"Alastair Moock has a twangy, gruff voice that will make you want to do-si-do and sing along! This is an upbeat and happy album, perfect for bopping around the house or a summer road trip. Moock's band features musicians on banjo, mandolin, and accordion, and the music ranges from rootsy to bluesy to gentle lullabies." - Ladybug Magazine
"Moock has an inimitable sound, based solely on his gravely voice. While some performers seem to only bring out the sugary sweet voice for their kid rock, Moock rocks his voice with pride and has the lively, worthy songs to back it up... It is excellent to see a Boston-based artist making waves in the family music scene, and pushing out a quality album." - Nugget Island
Discography
These Are My Friends (2011)
A Cow Says Moock (2010)
Photos
Bio
Nearly twenty years into his performing career, Alastair Moock has managed to carve out a unique niche for himself: He is a songwriter committed to celebrating the roots of American music while knocking down the walls between different audiences, genres and musical traditions. Today, his audiences range from adults all the way down to preschoolers, and he plays everything from nightclubs to theaters to schoolrooms. Like his boyhood hero, Woody Guthrie, Moock believes in the power of music to reach all people young and old, far and wide, for all occasions.
Moock started performing in 1995, moving from his home outside New York City to the folk haven of Boston, Massachusetts. After honing his skills on Boston's open mike stages and working his way up through the local coffeehouse and club circuit, he began touring around the U.S. By 2002, he had performed at some of the top listening rooms and outdoor events in the country, including the Newport and Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, and The Bluebird Caf in Nashville. In 2003 he made his first trip to Europe, where he performed at the prestigious Bergen Music Fest in Norway. Since then he has made numerous trips across the pond with appearances in Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the UK.
In 2007, on the heels of Fortune Street, his fifth album and second on CoraZong Records, Moock was nominated for a Boston Music Award for Outstanding Singer-Songwriter of the Year. The Boston Globe calls him one of the town's best and most adventurous songwriters and The Washington Post says every song is a gem.
Throughout his career, Moock had worked with and occasionally performed for kids on the side, but it wasnt until his twin daughters were born in 2006 that he was inspired to make his first foray into family music. In 2010, he joined the roster of Young Audiences of Massachusetts to bring his program Music and Social Change to students throughout the state. That same year, he released his first family music album, A Cow Says Moock. Both that album and its follow-up, These Are My Friends, were met with critical acclaim.
But it is Moocks newest album, Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the Worlds Bravest Kids, which is nearest and dearest to his heart. In July of 2012, one of Alastairs daughters was diagnosed with leukemia. The Singing Our Way Through project began when they started writing songs together in the hospital. Over the next several months, Moock continued to write and collect songs that reflected his familys experiences the love, the pride, the surprising amount of joy, and some of the more difficult parts too.
Moock decided he wanted to record an album for other families traveling similar paths. With the help of an amazing fundraising campaign and the musical talents of friends including co-producer Anand Nayak, Chris Smither, Aoife ODonovan, Rani Arbo, Mark Erelli, The Okee Dokee Brothers, and (fellow 2014 Grammy nominee) Elizabeth Mitchell, Moock released Singing Our Way Through in July, 2013. Since then, more than 2,000 albums have been distributed to hospitals, cancer organizations and patient families around the country.
Band Members
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