Moreland and Arbuckle

Last updated
Moreland & Arbuckle
MorelandArbuckle3988 byGavinPeters.jpg
Moreland & Arbuckle (L-R: Dustin Arbuckle, Kendall Newby, Aaron Moreland)
Background information
Genres Blues rock, blues, Delta blues, folk, soul
Instrument(s) Blues harp, guitar, cigar box guitar
Years active2001-2017
Labels Alligator Records, Telarc International
MembersAaron Moreland, Dustin Arbuckle, Kendall Newby
Website www.morelandarbuckle.com
MorelandArbuckle3896 byGavinPeters.jpg
MorelandArbuckle3926 byGavinPeters.jpg
MorelandArbuckle3397 byGavinPeters.jpg
MorelandArbuckle4355 byGavinPeters.jpg
MorelandArbuckle4375 byGavinPeters.jpg

Moreland & Arbuckle (guitarist Aaron Moreland, vocalist/blues harp Dustin Arbuckle, and drummer Kendall Newby) was an American electric blues/roots rock trio. Moreland described their music as "gritty blues and roots rock from the heartland." [1] After six previous releases, the band signed with Alligator Records in 2015. [2] The label debut, Promised Land Or Bust, was released on May 6, 2016, and was produced by Matt Bayles. In April 2017, the band announced their break-up. [3]

Contents

Biography

Aaron Moreland was born December 16, 1974. He played in a number of garage bands while growing up and was influenced by punk, blues, and rock music. He changed course and focused on blues music after hearing "Death Letter Blues" by Son House. [1]

Dustin Arbuckle was born December 25, 1981. He first discovered blues in his mid-teens. "Getting into blues made me want to play music," he says. He played in blues-rock bands while learning to sing with soulful authority. [1]

The two met at an open mic session in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas in 2001 and they quickly bonded and formed an acoustic duo playing traditional and delta blues. The all acoustic duo saw their start after reaching the finals at the 2005 International Blues Competition in Memphis, Tennessee, and followed that success with their first self-produced album, Caney Valley Blues in 2005.

In 2006 the duo added a drummer and evolved into an electric powerhouse trio. Later that year they released a self-produced independent album, Floyd's Market. The trio forged a path combining rural blues, Delta, Mississippi Hill Country, and rock styles.

They followed in 2008 with 1861 (Northern Blues Music). The trio's sound continued to evolve on this recording with Moreland adding a handmade electric cigar box guitar to his arsenal. Blurt Magazine noted that "Moreland & Arbuckle put the edge back in blues-rock with their big league debut album, 1861". [4] Moreland was further named one of the "10 Blues Legends in the Making" along with Otis Taylor and Davy Knowles. The band traveled to Iraq for nearly two weeks in the fall of 2008 to play for the American troops stationed there.

Moreland & Arbuckle released Flood in 2010 (Telarc). No Depression says, "These guys have kegs full of talent. Their songs will keep you driving fast and long." [5] After the release of Flood, Moreland & Arbuckle hit the road supporting acts such as ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Los Lonely Boys and other blues and rock veterans.

In August 2011, they released Just A Dream featuring a guest appearance by Steve Cropper. Upon its release, The New York Post named it Album of the Week, proclaiming it is "the band’s best record to date... there’s a raw, dirt-under-the fingernails garage-band attack in almost every song that flips between Stax-style soul, stinging Chicago Blues and Allman-style Jams." [6] The band logged thousands of road miles playing high energy shows for larger and larger crowds in the United States, Canada, and Europe. European fans embraced the band's gritty American rock blues with enthusiasm.

In 2013, they released 7 Cities (Telarc). It tells the story of Spanish explorer Coronado and his fabled search for the seven cities of gold in the Kansas plains, not far from where the band lived. [7] WNYC's Soundcheck said the band plays "gritty blues with a thoroughly contemporary bite.” [8] American Songwriter stated the group's music is "swampy, sweaty and muggy....mixing a bluesy foundation with bits of country, folk and squawking American rock and roll.” [9] 2013 also includes tours through the United States, Europe, and the UK.

Living Blues said of Moreland & Arbuckle, “Deeply satisfying...gritty soul and blues with garage overtones and fire-and-brimstone vocals." [10]

Their 2016 album, Promised Land Or Bust, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Rock Blues Album category. [11]

In a radio interview [12] in 2018, Aaron Moreland explained that the breakup of the band about a year earlier was caused by his dissatisfaction with life as a touring musician. In the interview, he also talked about his new band The Moreland Contingent, which includes his son Gabe as a bass player. After the dissolution, Dustin Arbuckle formed Dustin Arbuckle and the Damnations, which included Kendall Newby on drums. [13]

Discography

As Moreland & Arbuckle

As Moreland, Arbuckle & Floyd

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Animals</span> English rock band

The Animals are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The Animals are known for their deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon and for their gritty, bluesy sound, exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic number-one hit single "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "I'm Crying", "See See Rider" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". They balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spin Doctors</span> American alternative rock band

Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and No. 17, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Phillips (drummer)</span> English drummer (born 1957)

Simon Phillips is an English jazz, fusion and rock drummer, songwriter, and record producer, based in the United States. He worked with rock bands during the 1970s and 1980s, and was the drummer for the band Toto from 1992 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiromi Uehara</span> Japanese musician and composer

Hiromi Uehara, known professionally as Hiromi, is a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blending of musical genres such as stride, post-bop, progressive rock, classical, nu jazz and fusion in her compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hound Dog Taylor</span> American blues guitarist and singer (1915–1975)

Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Castro</span> American guitarist

Tommy Castro is an American blues, R&B, and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked by his winning the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cotton</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1935–2017)

James Henry Cotton was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Musselwhite</span> American blues musician (born 1944)

Charles Douglas Musselwhite is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader, one who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago Blues movement of the 1960s. He has often been identified as a "white bluesman".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Louis Walker</span> American singer-songwriter

Louis Joseph Walker Jr., known as Joe Louis Walker, is an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his use of older material and playing styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinsley Ellis</span> American blues and rock musician

Tinsley Ellis is an American blues and rock musician, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and grew up in South Florida. According to Billboard, "nobody has released more consistently excellent blues albums than Atlanta's Tinsley Ellis. He sings like a man possessed and wields a mean lead guitar."

<i>Thickfreakness</i> 2003 studio album by The Black Keys

Thickfreakness is the second studio album by American rock duo The Black Keys, released in 2003. It is their debut release for the Fat Possum record label, although in the UK and Europe it was co-released by Epitaph Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Johnson (Guitar Junior)</span> American singer-songwriter (1939–2022)

Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is not to be confused with Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson, Luther "Houserocker" Johnson, or Lonnie "Guitar Junior" Brooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carey Bell</span> American blues musician

Carey Bell Harrington was an American blues musician who played harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass guitar for other blues musicians from the late 1950s to the early 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Besides his own albums, he recorded as an accompanist or duo artist with Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Lowell Fulson, Eddie Taylor, Louisiana Red and Jimmy Dawkins and was a frequent partner with his son, the guitarist Lurrie Bell. Blues Revue called Bell "one of Chicago's finest harpists." The Chicago Tribune said Bell was "a terrific talent in the tradition of Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter." In 2023, he was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corey Harris</span> American blues and reggae musician (born 1969)

Corey Harris is an American blues and reggae musician, currently residing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid-1990s. He was featured on the 2003 PBS television mini-series, The Blues, in an episode directed by Martin Scorsese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Dessner</span> American musician

Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's critically acclaimed studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade; as well as The Tortured Poets Department (2024).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holmes Brothers</span> American musical trio

The Holmes Brothers were an American musical trio originally from Christchurch, Virginia. Mixing sounds from blues, soul, gospel, country, and rhythm & blues, they have released twelve studio albums, with three reaching the top five on the Billboard Blues Albums chart. They have gained a following by playing regularly at summer folk, blues, gospel, and jazz festivals. They have recorded with Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, Odetta, Phoebe Snow, Willie Nelson, Freddie Roulette, Rosanne Cash, Levon Helm and Joan Osborne, and have gigged all over the world—including performing for President Bill Clinton. They won the Blues Music Award from the Memphis-based Blues Foundation for Band of the Year in 2005 and for the Soul Blues Album of the Year in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corky Siegel</span> American musician

Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and classical music. He is best known as the co-leader of the Siegel-Schwall Band, and as the leader of the Chamber Blues group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Mattison</span> American musician and vocalist

Mike Mattison is an American musician and vocalist of the Grammy Award-winning blues rock/soul group, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, as well as lead vocalist and co-founder of the blues rock trio Scrapomatic. Mattison's vocal sound has been described as "strong," with an "expressive blues voice". As lead vocalist of Scrapomatic, he picked up a nomination for Minnesota Music Awards best male vocalist, and both he and co-founder Paul Olsen were also nominated for best R&B Group. Mattison was previously the lead vocalist of the Grammy Award-winning Derek Trucks Band and has been a main songwriter of all three bands. He is also an active essayist who publishes on music and poetry. Since 2013 Mattison and Ernest Suarez have edited “Hot Rocks: Songs and Verse,” an ongoing feature in Five Points: A Journal of Literature and Art. He serves on the Council of the Association of Literary Critics, Scholars, and Writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RavenEye</span> English rock band

RavenEye are an English rock band formed in Milton Keynes in 2014. The band consist of blues guitarist Oli Brown on vocals, bassist Aaron Spiers and drummer Adam Breeze. Their sound is reminiscent of and rooted in modern garage rock and blues rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronzo Cannon</span> American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter

Toronzo Cannon is an American electric blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago near the Robert Taylor Homes and Theresa's Lounge where he heard blues artists including Buddy Guy and Junior Wells.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Moreland & Arbuckle Biography Morelandandarbuckle.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  2. Alligator Records Signs Moreland & Arbuckle. Alligator.com. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  3. Moreland and Arbuckle announce they’re breaking up. The Wichita Eagle , 25 April 2017
  4. Gordon, Rev. Keith. "Album Review: 1861" Blurt Magazine. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  5. Linder, Jason. CD review: Moreland & Arbuckle - Flood. No Depression. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  6. Aquilante, Dan. "Dream Duo Not Just In Kansas Anymore". New York Post. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  7. Jurek, Thom. 7 Cities album review. allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  8. Cohn, Gretta. Check Ahead: Moreland & Arbuckle, '7 Cities'. WNYC Soundcheck. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  9. Leahey, Andrew. Video Premiere: Moreland & Arbuckle, “The Devil and Me”. American Songwriter. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  10. Coltrain, Mark. 7 Cities album review. Living Blues. August 2013. Issue #225, Vol. 44 #3, page 42. Retrieved 17 February 2016
  11. "The Blues Foundation Announces its 2017 Blues Music Awards Nominees". Blues.org. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  12. "Aaron Moreland Finds New Life With The Moreland Contingent". www.kmuw.org. 2 February 2018.
  13. "Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations Issue First Full-Length Album, 'My Getaway'". www.kmuw.org. 24 September 2020.