Hugh Moffatt: News

All-

Due to a booking mixup, our show at Kimbros Cafe on Jan 18 has been cancelled. Sorry for that. We had several of you express your intention to see us there.

We have just confirmed a new date at the Listening Room at Cummins Station in Nashville. We'll be there for the early show on February 20, from 6:00P - 7:30P. Another place with great food and a wonderful sound.

More details are on my calendar page.

I hope to see you there!

---Hugh

Welcome again-

Two new upcoming shows for Thin Air are listed on the Calendar page.

See you there!

- Hugh

Hi-

We (Thin Air) are officially a band!

After our debut set at The Listening Room during the Nashville Americana Festival in October, we did some serious woodshedding. Not that we did badly, we just recognized that we're still a new band with some growing to do.

It all came together at Kimbro's Cafe in Franklin, TN, last Wednesday night!

We did a full two hour show, and we rocked. We can still get tighter, but it's clear we're over the hump.

We had old friends, new friends, and strangers-yet-to-become-friends in the audience, and they rocked with us.

We had a great time. Next show (in December) is almost confirmed. Watch the calendar page for updates.

Also - I want to make sure you know that the great young Texas bluegrass (emphasis on blues!) band MILK DRIVE has recorded my song "Last Night I Dreamed of Loving You". It's on their newest album "ROAD FROM HOME" produced by legendary studio wizard, Bil Vorndick. It's a great and surprising interpretation of the song, completely original, very beautiful.

If you don't get a chance to catch them live, they have taped a show this weekend on Bluegrass Underground, which will air on radio and possibly later on TV, since Bluegrass Underground is sometimes on PBS.

Till later...see you down the road!

--------- Hugh

Hi all-

As some of you know, I am now playing with a full band: "Hugh Moffatt and Thin Air". Thin Air is made up of old friend, Wade McCurdy on bass and vocals, and new(er) friends, Don Wirth on lead guitar and vocals, and Doug Frame on drums (and anything else he can think of to shake, rattle, or roll).

This is really a fun band with elements of Flying Burrito Brothers and Byrds in the sound. The song list is new, including a lot of songs I've had for a long time that have needed a band, and of course, many of the old songs.

Our next show is Friday, October 14, at The Listening Room at Cummins Station in Nashville as part of Nashville's annual Americana Festival. After that, we are at Kimbro's Cafe in Franklin, TN, on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Please check the Calendar regularly.

Here's a little about Wade, Don and Doug:

Growing up in East Tennessee, WADE McCURDY loved to sing and play music with his family and friends. Mountain harmonies were always in the air, and Wade eventually turned his natural ear for tenor harmonies into a specialty craft in Nashville recording studios. Wade has played bass in many folk, country and singer-songwriter bands over the years, and toured with the great Vern Gosdin in the mid-1980s.

A while back DON WIRTH suggested to Hugh Moffatt, “You need to start a band!” Now he’s playing 6- and 12-string electric guitar in Thin Air. Don has extensive Music Row production experience and enjoys “messing with Hugh’s mind by rearranging his songs.” Wirth also plays bass with the popular Nashville classic rock band Boomerang.

DOUG FRAME moved to Nashville in 1999 after a recording deal produced by Alabama’s Teddy Gentry hit a brick wall. Despite the CD’s short-lived success, Doug admits it was the best thing that ever happened to his musical career as it brought him to Music City. Since then, he has played drums with the best pickers Nashville has to offer and currently splits his time between Thin Air and Boomerang.

****SOON APPEARING AT A VENUE NEAR YOU!!! - THIN AIR!!!********

See you down the road!

--- Hugh

Nashville
October 1, 2011

Hi all-

Sorry it's been so long. A lot happening here and there.

Mostly though, some old friends and I have started rehearsing a band!

Wade McCurdy on bass and Don Wirth on Strat and Rickenbacker 12-string-it's a smooth sound and a new song list. So many songs I've never really been able to do solo, and others that now sound brand new.

Stay tuned for our first gig, and for the official announcement of our band name. It's still under wraps, but won't be long.

Hope everyone is well.

See you down the road!

- Hugh

Hi-

The main news is that old friend and great country artist, Alan West, has recorded a new song of mine called "Whiskey Up". Not much detail on the release yet but I'll keep you posted! (Oh yes, I forgot to mention he's from England.)

Last week I spent a day writing with Tore Anderson, an award winning artist from Norway who sings in English. A very rewarding time. I think we got a keeper. Time will tell.

I have updated my bio and added a fairly complete discography - all on the bio page.

Also - I've been working for over a year on a country musical play. I'd tell you the title, but I don't know it yet. I thought I did, but that one won't work anymore, and the correct title hasn't manifested. I just call it "The Show Formerly Known As Bartender's Blues". It's based around some old and some new songs and the characters from them. It's been really fun to work on. I'm just finishing the 2nd round of soliciting comments and suggestions from writer friends. Maybe sometime next year I'll be ready to do a reading and see what it actually sounds like.

This time last year I was just getting back from my tour in England. Great time, great memories.

Hope you are all well and keeping the wolf away from the door. Not always easy these days, I know.

I'm very grateful for my day job!

See you down the road,

-Hugh

Nashville
November 14, 2010

Hi everyone,

I've just added a show at Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville. Details are on the calendar page. It's an early evening one hour show starting at 6:00PM on Friday, August 6.

Then I head to the Boston area.

Hope to see you somewhere!

----- Hugh

Hi all-

I've got a couple of shows coming up this summer. I'll do a happy hour at Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville, about a 70 minute set, either Aug 6 or Aug 13, hasn't been decided yet.

Then I'll do a similar set in a House Concert setting in Woburn, MA on Thursday, August 26. The information is on my calendar page.

Some other things may be in the works. Hope to see you!

- Hugh

Hi all-

Katy and I have two shows together in Ohio at the end of May.

They are May 28 in Columbus and May 29 in Cleveland.

Also I am doing a benefit songwriter's concert in Franklin, TN. It benefits the Montessori School of Franklin. Three other writers (all great!) there also.

You will find all the details on the calendar page.

---------

Also to note a sad and significant transition. Kelvin Henderson, British country music singer, bandleader, promoter, radio personality, and one of the major forces in bringing American songs and songwriters into Britain for the last 30 years, died recently after a long illness. I'm proud that Kelvin was a friend of mine.

He will be missed by everyone who knew him. All my best thoughts, wishes, and prayers to his family and friends across the pond.

------- Hugh

Hi everyone-

Once again I'll be the featured writer for the Bluebird Writers Night on Sunday, March 28.

Details are on my Calendar page. Hope I can see you there!

- Hugh

The story of Orpheus has always made me hopeful. Not because of his (temporary) victory over death, but because the beauty of his music was able to calm the Furies and tame the ferocious three-headed dog, Cerberus. Maybe music can do that in this world too, if we can just make it beautiful enough...

Last Fall, just before my trip to England, Michael Ching and I collaborated on a new English translation of Gluck's classic opera, Orpheus and Euridice.

Opera Memphis will present this (a premier of sorts) January 22-24 and 29-31 at the Opera Memphis headquarters. It is a novel presentation, not just because of our new translation of the libretto, but also because there will be three versions each weekend. Each Friday, Orpheus will be sung by a countertenor. On Saturdays, it will be a tenor, and on Sundays, a mezzo-soprano dressed as a man. All three are common options for the role, since we no longer have Castrato tenors for which the role was originally written, but this may be the first time a production has been done with all three alternating. There has been some international attention because of this.

If you will be in the area, call Opera Memphis (901) 257-3100 or visit their website for more information. I will attend the performances on Jan 22 and 23. If you are there, please say hello.

Happy New Year to all!

- Hugh

Nashville, TN

About halfway through my tour in England in November, I found myself on a local train from Exeter to Torquay, running by the rocky shore of the English Channel in a full out gale. The waves breaking on the rocks only a few yards from the tracks occasionally sent spray crashing against the railcar windows and OVER the train.

One of the other passengers commented, "I'm glad I'm not getting off here". I agreed, but from the security of the train it was great!

Four dates shared with my sister, Katy, one shared with British Country Music legend, Tony Goodacre, one shared with my old friend Alan West and band, one special performance of "Songs From the Back of the Church" at the All Hallows church in London, and the train ride through Devon---highlights of a great and memorable two weeks.

It had been almost 15 years since my last time in England, so thank you to all my friends who remembered and came out. I hope it is not so long till I am back again, and I can also hope that you will welcome me then as warmly as you did this time.

Thanks also to the promoters and stage managers who made each performance a simple task for me of plugging in and singing.

If I missed you this time, see you down the road!

-Hugh

Just a note. I'll be the featured guest at the Bluebird Cafe Writer's Night in Nashville on Sunday evening, Nov. 1. Check out the Calendar page for more details. Then I leave for England on Nov. 6.

Hope to see you if you're in the area,

- Hugh

Hello, all-

The dates for my November tour in England are now set. I start on November 9 in Yorkshire and finish on November 17 in London.

The shows include several with my sister, Katy Moffatt, a shared performance with English country music legend, Tony Goodacre (perhaps his last professional show before retiring!), and the first ever performance outside of the US of "Songs From the Back of the Church".

The latter will be my last performance of the tour and will take place at the All Hallows by the Tower church, by the Tower of London, on the Thames River in London. This famous old church is rich with history, including Samuel Pepys viewing the London fire from the church tower in 1666.

Please view my Calendar page for all the details.

As always, if you can't make it to one of these shows, please send someone in your place!

See you down the road,

-Hugh
Nashville
September 19, 2009

Hi everyone-

New upcoming dates are on the Calendar page. They include most of the details of my November tour of England (many dates with my sister, Katy Moffatt). I also have the featured writer's spot on Sunday, July 26, at the Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville.

Hope to see you down the road,

- Hugh

Hi-

The show at the Bluebird with Hunter Moore, Brent Moyer, and Tom Kimmel was great.

My good friend and co-writer, John Peppard, was in town from England. I asked him to join me to do our song, "Give Them Wings". It was the one song we didn't get to when we did my last Bluebird show a couple of years ago, so it felt like completing that show.

I introduced him as a Grammy Award Winning writer, so of course he had to stick around and do "In Another's Eyes", which he wrote with Garth Brooks and Bobby Wood. What isn't so well known about that song is that he got the idea from Shakespeare. It comes from a line in As You Like It. "Oh! how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes."

The bard lives on in country music!

See you down the road! (Maybe in England this fall. I've added some show dates to my calendar. Only preliminary information. I'll add more details later)

- Hugh

Hi-

I've restocked my CDs at CD Baby. I had a delay getting a couple of titles, but they are there now.

- Hugh

Hi everyone-

I've got four performances coming up in Nashville, including Songs From the Back of the Church on Feb. 22. The other dates are in March and in April and are with friends and associates sharing songs.

Please check the details on my calendar page.

Hope to see you!

(There are beginning plans for a short tour in England in November. Please watch for updates)

-Hugh

Hi everyone!

I'm really looking forward to the new year. After the move from Pullman, Washington back to Nashville in April, Mary and I have spent most of our time between day jobs and working to get our new home settled.

Although-- I've been writing again. I hope I'll have something significant to report about that in the new year!

I am also planning to start performing again. My first show will be in February in Nashville. It will be a performance of Songs From the Back of the Church. Details to come later.

I'm sorry that I'm currently out of stock of my 1st CD, "Loving You". I expect to have some available in a month or so.

Thanks to all of you who have left me notes in my guestbook in the past year. During this time when I'm not getting around the country (or the world!) that much, it really warms my heart to feel a little connected. Please keep it up. I hope I can continue to reply to everyone, even if I'm not very quick about it.

I wish everyone the best for 2009.

Hugh
Nashville, January 1, 2009

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