R. Stevie Moore, with Newly Discovered Fan Base, To Play Benefit
(Nashville – April 1, 2011) The (first ever) R. Stevie Moore tour, unimaginable til now, is in the works. Not that R. Stevie has ever been lost, he just had a slow rate of discovery that took over 35 years to fully realize. He’s never bottomed out creatively but came pretty close personally, recently relocating to his hometown of East Nashville, after living in suburban New Jersey since 1978.
Just last year, his debut album Phonography was finally restored and re-released on vinyl and CD now almost 35 years young next month. Having exhausted all possible means of DIY recording and promotion, 400+ albums, 100’s of homemade YouTube clips, 30+ albums on iTunes, he’s further proving the ethic that he practically invented, while still continuing to reinvent. His longtime friend Ariel Pink, who he’s mentored for years, has his own lo-fi stylings turning to gold. Maybe its finally Stevie’s turn with his new Kickstarter-funded album “Advanced” which is due out real soon.
Earlier in 2010 the year, Sickoftheradio.com, a cool indy music blog, completed a 6 month campaign for a completely free R. Stevie Moore Tribute project which blew up not only in terms of actual submissions, but at a high level of execution by many familiar players from some notable international bands. After Moore curated and posted the series (total 8 all double length) albums for free (download) over the course of 6 months, pleasing his loyal fans but also reaching new fans through his admiring collaborators who re-recorded over 250 of his many gems, now rediscovered. Now that’s Social Media.
While things slowed a bit at the end of 2010, while Stevie encountered some personal set-backs before relocating to Nashville (with the help of friends who) along with Stevie conspired to try the online crowd funding site Kickstarter to remedy his stress and get back to making music. By the time the Kickstarter album project launched, Stevie was up for anything and had nothing to lose, everything to gain. The financial goal, set of $10,000, was easily met in 30 days and now a next album “Advance” is nearly completed.
The rest of the year sees Moore entering the live arena on a relatively grand scale, way beyond the occasional prime opening slot or tiny club show he’s periodically played in and around New York for years. In fact most of his followers are now worldwide, and he’s found a whole new generation of fans. The story about the story has triggered a wave of live opportunities, even a documentary film, Phonography, The R. Stevie Moore Story. An eBook is also being discussed. There’s even a new Kickstarter campaign to help fund a World Tour that is slowly evolving, with dates planned this Summer. What the future holds is hard to predict, in keeping with the way things have always gone in true DIY fashion, be it ol’ school or with a little help from the social strata.
R. Stevie Moore will be headlining with local musicians Dan Burns and Adam Kiefer backing him up at THE MUSE on Sunday April 3rd.
