Check Out Eli Moore’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Moore.

Hi Eli, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I guess everyone feels like they have a unique childhood. But I was raised by a mathematician who liked to farm in the Texas Panhandle. There’s something about that dichotomous upbringing that shapes everything I do. The opposites of my life have bewildered people – maybe I struggle to find my own identity.

Hell, maybe that is my identity. I grew up wandering fields on the high plains and playing music. Like a lot of us from small towns, I couldn’t wait to leave. Yet, that place shaped me in ways that I’ll never escape.

I first got into playing music in the 4th grade when I got a bass guitar for Christmas. I started playing at church, then started a Christian band in junior high called Calling Ephraim. By high school, we were anything but typical 90s teens. While other kids were partying or playing sports, we were in a wood-paneled basement lit by Christmas lights recording an album. When I got to college, I left that band and joined another band.

Soon, we were picking up gigs left and right and the frontman wanted us all to drop out of school and hit the road in a van. It was my dream. But I knew what awaited me if I failed… working cattle or a low-paying job in a small West Texas town. I was too afraid, too risk-averse, and too calculated.

After a decade of building my career, COVID-19 shook me to my core. I think a lot of us refocused our priorities during that time. And while I was locked indoors, I began playing guitar a lot more, writing songs again, and I decided to produce a country-western album. I started by connecting with Ben Reno in Nashville, who produced a single for me, “I Didn’t Lose You.”

I drove from Houston listening to Charley Crockett the whole way. While in Memphis, I wrote “Fix” which made it onto my album. The experience was amazing. Ben is an incredible producer, has an incredible studio, and is a great guy all around. I came in with these super simple recordings that I made in a hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico while on a solo road trip and he took those and hooked me up with the kind of band you can only find in Nashville to produce my first single.

When I got home to Houston, I kept writing and recording in my home studio. I work from home. So, on lunch breaks, before the kids got home, and after my wife and I got them to bed, I’d be writing songs, recording, and working on music. After about 6 months, I finished my debut album “From the Dusty Shelf.” It’s an ode to a traditional country.

The album is a time capsule filled with stories of love and loss delivered through the traditional country, folk, and bluegrass-inspired tunes. From heartbreak to laughter, the album captures life in Texas from the dusty high plains atop the Texas Caprock (the dusty shelf) where I grew up to the sweltering heat of Houston suburbs where I live now. The songs tell stories of what it’s like to be a traditional kind of a man in the modern world.

Supporting and following a woman’s dream over his own. Being a good man and marriage material in a world where many women want a flash in the pan. Fighting for a family in a world of broken marriages. And longing for adventure amidst the concrete jungle of monotony.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My parent’s house was at the end of a long caliche road. Was it smooth? Not really. But did we ever want anything different? No way. I’m grateful for the way my life has turned out. While I’m not playing big stages as I dreamed of as a kid, I have an incredible family, a wonderful job I love, and the freedom to create the art that I want to make.

That being said, it didn’t come without its share of struggles. For starters, recording is expensive. And making money with music is damn near impossible. I quickly realized that if I wanted to share my heart and my art, I had to have the means to produce it myself. Fortunately, I’m a quick study. That gave me the ability to achieve my goals: get my art out to people.

Another struggle I had was first crafting my sound. For about a year, I really wanted to sound like Willie Nelson. I would record myself singing songs, trying to figure out these things he did that I loved so much – but I couldn’t. I’m not Willie Nelson. Also, I’m a baritone and that man can hit some high notes! One day, I was playing a song by Johnny Cash and I was like, “Man, that is so much easier to sing!”

This really pushed me toward trying to make the most of my natural vocal range to create something authentic, something that doesn’t sound like everyone else – something that’s just me. I know most singers are tenors and can hit high notes – those things I literally struggle to do. So instead, I just do me.

I write lyrics that are poetic, have multiple interpretations and hidden meanings, and I create musical tunes that make you bob your head.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an artist, the most common thing I hear is “Wow, you can sing really low!” This is funny to me because most of my songs are actually in the middle or upper-middle of my range. I’m no JD Sumner – but the fact that I know who he is probably telling you something. My focus is on creating a traditional country music and that’s what folks know about my music.

It doesn’t sound like the country music most folks hear on the radio – because a lot of what they listen to, well it ain’t traditional country. I bring my own spin to traditional country. Lyrics inspired by my love of poetry. The incorporation of mandolin, and violin drove my love of bluegrass and inspiration from Nickel Creek.

From the Dusty Shelf is a record produced, mixed, and mastered by me. I played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, harmonica, and sang lead and background vocals. I worked closely with Bruce Hoffman who played mandolin, violin, and steel guitar on the album. Together, we crafted a sound that I think doesn’t sound quite like anything else in country music.

So, am I proud of that? Heck yeah! I don’t need fame and notoriety. I was doing this for me all along. I hope that when others hear my story, they’ll be inspired. I hope others will see that you don’t have to tell yourself that “one day, you’ll quit your job and be a full-time [insert artist career here].”

Being an artist doesn’t have to be a career. Being an artist is about how you choose to express yourself. I was terrified to record and share my art. But I’ve overcome that fear – and if you’re reading this, you can too!

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Here’s what I’ve learned over the past few years. If you want to make it big, you have to play the music that sounds a lot like other musicians who are already big.

If you want to be a career musician, be prepared to travel 200+ days a year playing small shows and trying to make money off selling t-shirts and merchandise – because most people won’t pay for music when they have millions of high-quality songs at the touch of their finger on their phone. If you want to perform – put on a damn good show! Create an escape. Make people smile, make people laugh, and maybe just once, make them cry.

If you’re still crafting your sound, start recording. Buy a mic, buy an apollo twin or a Focusrite and record yourself. There is nothing that makes you improve like hearing for yourself just how bad you sound. Focus on finding your fans. Most people won’t like your music.

You don’t need everyone to like you, just you need some people to like you. You have to decide what you care about most – the art of making money as a career musician. If it’s the art, then find a job you love and create the art you love. If it’s the money, then be ok with making the art that sells.

Most importantly, write songs for you. Write songs that make you remember. Write songs that help you get through hard times. Write songs that make you laugh. Write songs that will make you smile when they come on. Write songs about the people and things you love.

Creating – this is the most human thing there is. Never stop creating!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elimooreband.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/elimooreband
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elimooreband
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/elimooreband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSf9h4fNwQtKMpNvmW3hLg

Image Credits
AJ Santana https://www.instagram.com/ajsantanamusic/