Hugh Moffatt: News

Hi, all-

We are in Nashville for good again. Too busy to get out much yet, but we love it here!

I'll write more when I have something to tell.

See you down the road,

- Hugh

Hi everyone-

The shows and vist in the Boston area went great. I saw old friends and made new in Wareham at the C.A.P.E., the Cantab in Cambridge, and at the main show at Nichols College in Dudley, where I was joined by 240 listeners for an hour and a half. Thanks again to Barry Wilson of Nichols College radio, who made the whole tour a reality.

Mary and I also got to join our daughter Corianna for a day of classes at BU. (Whew! they make her work!).

At the end of this month, we'll drive to Nashville to make our new home there. It may be a while before I get a chance to write another update. In the meantime, please leave me a message in my guestbook if you have comments or questions. I check it every couple of weeks.

See you down the road,

---Hugh

I have two shows in the Boston area on Sat. Feb. 23, Mon. Feb. 25, and then in Dudley, MA on Tues. Feb. 26.

See the Calendar page for details.

Hope to see you there!

- Hugh

On January 5, Katy and I will perform in Spokane, WA. Details on the Calendar page.

On January 19, I will perform my Songs From the Back of the Church program in Pullman. See Calendar.

Feb. 23 - 29, I'll be in the Boston area. Those dates also are posted on the Calendar page.

I'll see you in 2008!

--- Hugh

With the help of some old friends, I'm putting together a week of performances in the Boston area the last week of February, 2008.

Stay tuned for details!

------ Hugh

On Sunday, July 29, at 2PM, I'll perform my complete "Songs From the Back of the Church" program at Cordelia Church just east of Moscow, ID. This is a free concert.

Cordelia church is a small historic wooden church. I am part of a summer concert series to help support use of the building in order to preserve it.

Directions to the church from Moscow and from Lewiston are on my Calendar page.

Come on out if you're in the area!

- Hugh

I'm home now. I've added Note #6, to finish the story.
Let me know what you think.

--Hugh

Hi-

I am near the end of the tour with Katy in Europe. I have posted blogs called Notes from the Other Side on my "Lyrics, etc" page and photos in the Photo Gallery. Please check it out. We've had a great, and very interesting time.

----- Hugh

I have a rare chance to do some shows this spring. On March 24, 2007, I'll be in Spokane, Washington.

I'll do a house concert at the home of Dan Gore. I'll be performing several of my familiar songs plus my entire "Songs From the Back of the Church" program.

For information about this please contact Dan at goreandmiller@msn.com.

ALSO from April 22 through May 9 I'll be touring with my sister, Katy Moffatt, in Europe. The complete itinerary is here on my 'Calendar' page.

I hope to see you there!

thanks for visiting!

-Hugh

I wish everyone the best for 2007

- Hugh

My week in Nashville was great. I was part of four performances, including a performance of the SONGS FROM THE BACK OF THE CHURCH program at Bellevue Presbyerian Church (see PHOTOS page) that was a terrific experience and a once-in-a-lifetime songwriters in-the-round at the Bluebird Cafe.

The Bluebird show (see PHOTOS page) included my old friend Bill Haymes, who had just returned from a month in France, John Peppard, who had just arrived from his home in England, and Michael Ching, who drove in just for the show from Memphis on a one day leave from rehearsing Porgy and Bess, which he was conducting for Opera Memphis. I, of course, had flown in from Pullman, WA. It's hard to imagine the four of us ending up on the same stage again, though with Nashville, anything is possible.

There is more information on each of my guests in the previous journal entry below this one. The evening was magic. The Bluebird was filled to the brim with people and we all rocked for two hours.

I was also privileged to be a part of a Service of Music at the 61st Avenue United Methodist Church. An inspiring experience presided over by Rev. Paul Slentz.

Christmas is coming now, and our small family is gathering. All of us total 6 people, but we're dedicated to each other.

I hope all of you have a wonderful season. If you're stuck for a gift for someone, visit the "STORE" page of my site. Maybe I can help you.

Good luck and hope for 2007.

------ Hugh

I'll be in Nashville from Saturday, September 30 to Saturday, October 7. I'm doing several shows. None of these shows have a cover charge. Expect a collection to be taken at the church appearances.

On Saturday, Sept. 30 at 6P, I'll be a guest at an Evening of Music worship service at 61st Ave United Methodist Church at 6018 New York Avenue, in West Nashville.

On Sunday, Oct 1, I'll be the featured writer at the Bluebird Writers Night at the Bluebird Cafe in Green Hills. I'll start about 10P after the signed up writers are done.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, I'll present "Songs From the Back of the Church" starting at 6:30P at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, 100 Crosstimbers (at the corner of Crosstimbers and Hwy 70, across from the Caboose Park).

On Friday, Oct 6, from 6:30P - 8:30P I'll host "Hugh Moffatt and Friends-Reunion" in-the-round at the Bluebird Cafe. My guests will be John Peppard, Michael Ching, and Bill Haymes. My introductions to each of them are below.

If you are in the Nashville area during this week, I hope I will see you at one or more of these performances.

All the best!

--Hugh
*****************
John Peppard – “I've known John for 10 years. We have written together and visited each other at his home in England, in Nashville, and in my home in Pullman, Washington (that's friendship!). Besides being one of the writers of the mega-hit "In Another's Eyes", John is a world class blues-rock guitar player and a world class person. He and his wife, Lizann, have long served in leadership roles with Amnesty International in England, and are among the kindest, most caring people I have ever met.”

Michael Ching - "Michael and I were introduced by a mutual friend when both of us were living in Virginia over 15 years ago. We started writing songs together...then operas. We now have three operas, two one-act and one full length, each of which has had multiple productions. Besides being the most accomplished musician I have ever met, Michael is one of the most gifted and delicately sensitive melodists you will ever hear. He is currently General Director of Opera Memphis. It is my privilege to host his Bluebird debut."

Bill Haymes - "I went to college with Bill. I won’t say how long ago that was. He went into the Navy and afterwards hit the road as a singer-songwriter on the national college circuit. Bill later developed a second career as a teaching artist in music and songwriting working primarily with secondary students during one-week residencies partly funded by the NEA and state arts councils. He moved to Nashville about 10 years ago, not so much to pitch songs and write hits, but more to enjoy the culture of being in a musician's town. He is a heartfelt, unique artist and educator, who never stops growing in depth and dimension

My new CD "Songs From the Back of the Church" is now available. Click on "Buy". That will take you to the CD Baby page with my CDs for sale.

Hugh's "Rose of My Heart" will be on Johnny Cash's new album to be released July 4, 2006.

Here is the text from a recent article in USA TODAY describing the album.

***********************
Johnny Cash's final work yields 2 more albums
Updated 5/1/2006 3:12 AM ET
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

On the day he finished 2002's American IV: The Man Comes Around, an ailing Johnny Cash began recording with longtime producer and friend Rick Rubin. They wrapped up the last of 60 tracks a week before the country giant died at 71 on Sept. 12, 2003.

Now the Man in Black is coming around again on American V: A Hundred Highways, featuring a dozen songs from sessions recorded at Rubin's studio in Los Angeles and Cash's cabin in Nashville.

Their fifth collaboration, due July 4 on American Recordings/Lost Highway Records, holds the final song Cash wrote, The 309, a poignant and amusing train yarn.

It also includes a prayerful version of Larry Gatlin's Help Me, a new take on I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now, Hugh Moffatt's Rose of My Heart, the traditional God's Gonna Cut You Down, Rod McKuen's Love's Been Good to Me and the seemingly incongruous If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot.

"It's an amazingly sad album," Rubin says. "At times, it's hard to get through, but it's really beautiful. It's remarkable to hear an artist of his stature being so vulnerable and open and sounding strong so late in his life. I don't think there's ever been an album like this."

But there might be another one. After ignoring the entire trove initially after Cash died, Rubin recently finished assembling American V and now is compiling tracks for American VI, which could be released within a year.

"I avoided it for a long time, because I didn't want to feel sad and I was concerned from a technical standpoint, because a lot of it was recorded when he wasn't in the best shape," he says. "I was shocked at the volume and quality of the material. Certain songs raised their hands and volunteered for this album. VI is mostly revealed but not completely."

Rubin kept an engineer and guitarist on standby around the clock so Cash could record when his health permitted. Songs were captured in the moment rather than sculpted, Rubin says, and instrumentation was built under the vocal tracks later. When his wife, June Carter, died in May 2003, a sense of urgency seemed to grip Cash.

Rubin recalls, "Once June passed, he had the will to live long enough to record, but that was pretty much all. A day after June passed, he said, 'I need to have something to do every day. Otherwise, there's no reason for me to be here.' "

The result "may be the strongest album we've made together," Rubin says. "It's not leftover scraps. It's the real deal. And it's incredible for his legacy. We live in a youth-oriented culture that throws away the old, yet young people have loved John's later records. And that was a big deal. It touched him. He wasn't doing this for himself."

Producer Paul Smith and I have finished the recording/mixing of "Songs From the Back of the Church". It will still take a while to get it released, but that also is moving forward.

I will let you know.

The University of Idaho ran the two-act version of the opera "Corps of Discovery, a Musical Journey" by Michael Ching and Hugh Moffatt, for six nights in November at the Hartung Theater in Moscow, Idaho. Audiences loved the show. The numbers grew throughout the run and the closing night on Thursday, Nov. 17, was the largest house.

I want to thank Chris Thompson, musical director; David Lee Painter, stage director, and the staff and students of the Hampton School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts for bringing the show so vibrantly to life.

It was a great event and proved that the shortened version is accessible to student performers and satisfying to audiences.

- Hugh

It was a busy July. On July 12,13,14 I recorded "Songs From the Back of the Church" in front of a live audience at Palouse River Studio in Palouse, WA, owned and operated by Paul Smith. The recoding went very well and the tracks sound wonderful.

My sister, Katy Moffat, came through town shortly after. She performed in Pullman on July 27 and added a little "sweetening" to the recorded tracks of my project also.

The weekend of July 21-23, I was in Astoria, Oregon, at the Astoria Music Festival. There a group of professional singers, including Metropolitan Opera Star, Cynthia Lawrence, performed selections from CORPS OF DISCOVERY, the opera written by Michael Ching and me about the journey of Lewis and Clark.

I also gave a pre-concert lecture on the writing of the opera. It was successful and very thrilling. (See MUSIC page for the text of this lecture.)

Coming up this fall, the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID, will present the two act version of CORPS OF DISCOVERY, at their Hartung Theatre on Nov. 11-13 and Nov. 15-17.

Also, the Idaho Washington Chorale will perform the opera's closing choral piece, "Land of Freedom", as part of their opening concert series in Moscow and Lewiston in in Northern Idaho on October 21 and 22.

All in all a lot to look forward to!

-Hugh
August 13, 2005

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Archive

The educational version of the opera that Michael Ching and I wrote about the Lewis and Clark expedition (called CORPS OF DISCOVERY), is being performed throughout the spring by faculty members from the Lional Hampton School of Music of the University of Idaho. There is a link to more information about this on my LINKS page.

On Nov. 14, 2004, I performed for the first time a set of songs I call "Songs from the Back of the Church" at the Presbyterian Church here in Pullman, Washington. For a description, see below.

For lyrics of the songs see Music.

All the best,

-- Hugh
March 4, 2005

Songs from the Back of the Church
Preface


I have written and collected these songs over a couple of decades. They represent the point of view of characters from the fringes of Christian society. These people aren�t theologians. In fact, they are rarely in a church at all, unless they are receiving charity. We usually think of them as people we need to teach rather than people we need to learn from, but they have something to say. Just as no one is ever completely right, so, too, is no one ever completely wrong. Each of us has a unique experience. Therefore, each of us knows things that no one else knows and can share that unique knowledge with the rest of us.

These are fictional characters, but I�ve been around a lot of real people like them, and these songs ring true for me. You will have to decide for yourself where their truth lies for you. That�s all that matters. To quote my favorite theologian, �The truth cannot be said so that it is understood and not believed.� So, if any of this rings true for you, it is true.

Hugh Moffatt
Nov. 14, 2004