Dave Moore

Dave Moore

Dave Moore is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Iowa, known for blues guitar, button accordion and harmonica. He comes to prominence through a mix of blues, Americana and roots music, and his work draws on American regional traditions, especially blues and conjunto.

Early life and travels

He comes of age in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He enrols in college, then leaves to follow a girlfriend to Guadalajara, Mexico. That first stay lasts only a few months, but it begins a long pattern of travel in Latin America that shapes his outlook. After returning to the United States for the holidays in 1971, he receives a harmonica in his Christmas stocking and becomes committed to the instrument.

He spends the next few years travelling through the Southwest and Northwest, taking jobs including work in a lumberyard, fruit picking and assisting a plumber. He later travels again in Latin America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. During this period, he also spends time in San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico, where he studies guitar on a simple Harmony six-string, works from blues recordings and takes occasional lessons from a Chiapas guitarist with an interest in American ragtime.

Iowa City, Greg Brown and early recording

He returns to Iowa City in 1980 and works with the songwriter Greg Brown, who is beginning to build a national profile. For several years he backs Brown on recordings, on extensive tours and on appearances on A Prairie Home Companion on NPR. Around this time he also begins to focus on accordion, inspired by an album by Fred Zimmerle’s Trio San Antonio. He travels to Texas to learn from Fred Zimmerle, Johnny Degallado and Santiago Jimenez, Sr., all of whom give him lessons and encouragement on the three-row button accordion.

In 1984 he wins a contest at a folk festival, with studio recording time as the prize. He uses it to record Jukejoints and Cantinas, a debut album of 14 blues and conjunto tracks. Bob Feldman of Red House Records offers to release it. The album also leads to a National Endowment for the Arts grant, which supports three months of study in Texas with Fred Zimmerle. He spends time sitting in with Zimmerle’s band in dance halls and develops a close friendship with him.

Radio work and songwriting

In 1986 Garrison Keillor invites him to perform on A Prairie Home Companion, and after repeated appearances he becomes the programme’s band leader on tours to Alaska and Hawaii. He starts writing his own songs in the early 1980s and releases Over My Shoulder in 1990, an 11-song album that becomes a cult favourite.

Later recording

In 1994 he is preparing a third album when his wife loses a daughter in infancy. He stops playing for a time and later stays closer to home and family. After several years, during which songs accumulate, he returns to recording and touring. In 1998 he announces that he is ready to record again and asks Iowa City roots-rock musician Bo Ramsey to co-produce the project. Ramsey has worked with Greg Brown and has toured with Lucinda Williams. The resulting album, Breaking Down to 3, is recorded with an all-Iowa band and is regarded as Moore’s strongest release.

Musical style

Moore’s writing and playing combine blues, Americana and broader American roots music. His songs and instrumental work reflect his travels through the United States and Latin America, as well as his study of blues, ragtime and conjunto traditions.