Moses Atwood
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Moses Atwood

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Band Americana Blues

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Press


"Moses on the Radio"

Moses Atwood's song Octavio was recently aured on Portland based radio station, 98.9 WCLZ.

www.989wclz.com - WCLZ


"A fresh, riveting new take on Americana"

"Moses Atwood is more than simply a great guitar player. He posesses what so many purely technical players so often lack: genuine heart and soul. His music is a fresh, riveting new take on classic Americana."

- Steven Williams, Cat & Mouse Records - Steven Williams


"Unadulterated talent"


“Those of you searching for the heir apparent to Micah Blue Smaldone and Ray LaMontagne need look no further than Moses Atwood, Portland’s latest pure, unadulterated talent.”
- Sam Pfeifle, The Portland Phoenix

- The Portland Phoenix


"Press Herald Headline"

“Words cannot describe how much I like Atwood’s CD.”
- (headline) Ben Monaghan, The Portland Press Herald

- The Portland Press Herald


"Bridging the gap"


“The most striking aspect of Atwood’s performance is the sheer amount of heart he pours into each song. While many talented vocalists get the job done and do it well, Atwood brings more of himself to the table, an investment which seems to bridge the gap between him and the audience.”

- Matt Desenberg, The Wire

- The Wire


"Roots"

“Moses Atwood’s intent on keeping the roots of music alive.”

- Ray Routhier, The Portland Press Herald

- The Portland Press Herald


"Cat & Mouse Records 2006 Artist Compilation review"

"Atwood's fingerpicking on both "Seventh Sin" and "Ovtavio" is impressive, showing off his classical training but not going all high and mighty on us."
-Sam Pfeifle - The Portland Phoenix


"Nomination for Portland’s Best Singer-Songwriter"

The Portland Phoenix recently nominated Moses Atwood as one of five canditates for "Portland's Best Songwriter of the Year." - The Portland Phoenix


"Moses Atwood. . .the Bastard Son of Tom Waits"

"MOSES ATWOOD sings with a century-old soul and writes songs like hes the bastard son of Tom Waits. Lets just say Atwood is a musical force exploding in the local scene. Listen to Killin on myspace.com/mosesatwood. With lyrics like

My mother raised me right / and my father raised me strong / but when theres nothin in your stomach / youre bound to do somethin wrong,

its easily one of the best dark folk songs weve heard in awhile. Youll understand we why nominated Atwood for Best Singer/Songwriter Act. " - The Portland Phoenix


Discography

Moses just released his debut self-titled record at a standing room only crowd of 325 at the SPACE Gallery of Portland, Maine.

The album was produced by David Goodrich (Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, Jefferey Foucault) and recorded at the Signature Sounds studio in Pomfret, CT.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Moses Atwood was born in 1980 and grew up in Damariscotta, Maine, the son of two ceramic artists. The wheels of his creative musical journey were jilted into motion at a live performance of John Popper and Blues Traveler, after which Moses bought his first harmonica. Almost immediately after, he fell under the spell of Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and as a result bought his first guitar, and wrote his very first songs.

College

In the fall of that same year, Moses enrolled at Boston University and eventually met up with like-minded musicians and started The Bay State Love Machine, a 7-piece funk band. Matt initially thought only to play his harmonica in the band, but when he sang some blues into a microphone for fun, his bandmates, who were equally disturbed and fascinated, insisted that he be lead singer. Two years, dozens of gigs, and hundreds of fans later, they headlined and sold out reputable Boston venues like the House of Blues.

Meanwhile, Moses knew something was missing. School did not seem to excite him. And being a lead singer just wasn’t enough. The guitar itself had also made inroads into his dreams, and the call became so deafening that he left Boston to attend Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona where he learned how to build and maintain custom guitars.

Upon completion of the luthiery course, Moses returned to Boston now a freshman at Berklee College of Music. Immediately, his original composition "Wounded Soldier" was selected for a "Best of Berklee" compilation CD. That same year he was selected to sing as Bob Marley for the Bob Marley Ensemble, a prestigious 16-piece group, directed by Matt Jenson, which performed regularly throughout New England.

But again, Moses needed to rekindle his relationship to the guitar. This time, he traveled to India where he studied in Rajistan with a group of local folk musicians of the Bopha caste. Here he learned to play the ravanhatha, a traditional horsehair fiddle, with sympathetic strings, carved out of bamboo. He also witnessed a very different way of life and a more gristling type of poverty than he had ever imagined.

Classical Guitar

Moses returned to America, and narrowed his energies. He quit Berklee. A year later, he quit The Bay State Love Machine. Classical guitar would now be his polishing stone. He began study under Greek composer and guitarist Apostolos Paraskevas, practiced rigorously, and prepared for conservatory auditions. Moses was accepted to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied classical guitar under Yugoslavian guitarist and composer Dusan Bogdanovic. About a year in, however, he hesitated. The school was expensive, and he began to realize that, though he loved the guitar, something was missing.

Returning to the Roots

Moses flew back to Maine, and reassessed. He realized that he ventured into music because of songwriting. This is how he began his musical journey. It was not possible to isolate just the guitar, or just the voice; he needed both. With this realization, he dug back into his original passion for songwriting and combined it with a study of the history of American roots music. He began to read and imitate everything he could about the music of blues masters, folk musicians, songwriters, balladeers.

It was during this time that he developed the bulk of his current repertoire and contacted producer/guitarist and Young/Hunter artist, David Goody Goodrich (Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, Jeffrey Foucault) and started talking about the possibilities of producing a solo record. In May 2006 Moses recorded his self-titled CD at Goody’s Signature Sounds recording studio. Although the recording process was a brand new experience for him, it had surprisingly taken only two days to complete. Most of the tracks were first takes.

Exploding Forth

The Portland Phoenix reviewed the album and in an article entitled, "The Incredible Moses Atwood," named Moses the heir apparent to Ray LaMontagne. Then, he unleashed it on October 21, 2006 at SPACE Gallery in Portland to a sold-out crowd of 325 people. The event was a resounding success. While Moses sold nearly 100 CDs, the gallery completely sold out of beer and wine.

Moses currently resides in Portland, Maine. Since the release of his CD, he has been on an aggressive self-promotion campaign, enlisting new fans with every stop on his New England circuit. Meanwhile, he is writing new material for a 2008 follow-up album.