R. Stevie Moore on recording 400 albums, homelessness and moving to Nashville; show tonight at the Jackpot
April Fleming
Were musical obsessive-compulsive disorder a condition, R. Stevie Moore might be its poster boy. Over the span of 40-plus years, Moore has somehow managed to find time to eat while recording approximately 400 albums to cassette and CD (albums, not songs) to be released through his DIY home-based distro. Spanning and blending genres from punk rock to power pop, new wave and old-fashioned country music, Moore has attracted rabid fans and collaborators including Ariel Pink, Mike Watt and Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog. Despite such ardor, Moore’s limits have largely been financial as of late. In December of last year, he relocated to Nashville from his longtime home in New Jersey to skirt potential homelessness. Some strength restored, Moore has found a friend in Kickstarter, through which his fans have enabled him to continue recording and to launch his very first world tour at the age of 59. Moore makes a stop tonight at the Jackpot in Lawrence. We caught him mid-tour to answer a few of our questions.
