R. Stevie Moore . Tonic; Sunday, September 6
. Eccentric New Jersey legend R. Stevie
. Moore began making one-man home
. recordings a couple of decades
before . doing so becamse a movement or
. a viable route to underground stardom.
. After
his initial efforts as a teenager in . the
late '60s, Moore quietly churned out . a
prodigious stream of personal gems . that
pre-figured the lo-fi explosion by a . coule
of decades. Since then, he's built a
. remarkably accomplished body of work
. that reveals an idiosyncratic, far-rang-
. ing and wholly unique talent, even if he's
. too much of an individualistic home-
. body to milk his status as a DIY
. innovator into late-blooming fame. .
The son of noted Nashville session bass-
. ist Bob Moore, childhood phenomenon R.
. Stevie
balked at the prospect of a conven- . tional
music career. Instead, he set up . shop in
Jersey and began recording his
. compositions at an impressive pace, .
generally overdubbing all of the vocals and
instruments himself. Since the early '80s,
he has distributed the bulk of his output
via his mail order Cassette Club (14
Evelyn Place #4, Bloomfield NJ 07003),
whose catalog includes literally hundreds
of album-length collections ranging
from quirkily personal, wryly humorous
pop tunes to more esoteric, experimental
and just-plain self-indulgent outings. Over
the years, Moore has released more than a
dozen proper albums (some of them actually
recorded in professional studios) on a
variety of labels here and abroad.
Although his dizzyingly prolific output has
slowed down in recent years, Moore continues
to make music that's as emotionally
affecting as it is technically impressive. A
sensitive soul as well as an omnivorous pop
craftsman, Moore is ripe for discovery by a
new generation of listeners. He rarely
performs in public, so this show is a
special event indeed.
