Moot Davis & “Goin’ In Hot” Are Worth A Good Listen
Now this is what I’m talking about.
I’ve been wanting to tug on the sainted Saving Country Music reader’s ear about Moot Davis for years, and who knows what all kinds of dumb excuses have conspired up to this point to not allow that to happen. But the release of his latest Goin’ In Hot is just about the perfect damn opportunity if there ever was one to stop everything else down and sing the praises of this man’s superlative country music contributions.
Despite his name lending naturally to that “I’ve heard that name before” cliché, it’s confounding why Moot isn’t much better known within the ranks of classic country and neotraditional fans. Maybe it’s because he’s terrible at promoting himself or playing that whole social network game, or because he’s nestled way up there in New Jersey these days, out of the earshot of country music’s well-established shipping channels. But I’ll be damned if this guy can’t go hard on the twang as much as anyone, and gets the true spirit behind country songwriting better than most.
Moot has put out one good country music project after another, but we better count ourselves lucky as hell we even get to listen to Goin’ In Hot. In June of 2013 the studio in Nashville where the album was recorded went up in flames, and the fear was everything was lost. The whole thing was already in the can, mixed, and ready to go when a blaze gutted the control room of guitarist Joe McMahan’s home studio. Miraculously, the hard drive from McMahan’s scoarched and water-soaked computer was salvaged and somehow the master files for Goin’ In Hot survived. Now if that isn’t one hell of a baptismal for your record, I don’t know what is.
What got me especially worked up about this release was the Gram Parsons-esque cover and the communication ahead of the album that it had some inspiration from the Stones’ Keith Richards. That whole needle & spoon era and the sweat captured on those recordings is something many bands strive for and very few perfect, and that dirty, loose sound is something missing in country today. With songs like “Just Left Home” and “Made For Blood”, Moot does his best to recapture that magic while not just trying to be interpretive, but let the inspirations flow through his own music and style.
Still at its heart Goin’ In Hot is a country music record and covers tremendous ground in both style and influence. From shit kickers like the rousing “Midnight Train” or the Yoakam-like “Love Hangover”, to more somber, singer-songwriter tracks like “The Reason” that very easily could have been written by Merle Haggard, Moot grabs the country-leaning listener by the scruff right off the bat and pulls you into this album; steel guitar moaning and squalling high in the mix like Ralph Mooney, “Cousin” Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart’s guitar player) playing producer and putting his proven country music touch all over this record, and the sweet and talented Nikki Lane lending her voice to the effort in spots. Along with Moot’s backing band, “The Good Americans” that includes Michael Massimino, drummer Joe Mekler and guitarist Bill Corvino, they make a record that is both timeless and relevant, and satiates all sectors of your salivating country music palette.
The way the tracks are ordered on Goin’ In Hot could have been handled a little better. After the first couple of songs, the whole Gram/Richards-inspired tracks are a little too front loaded, and if they’re not your speed, may act as a wormhole for your attention span. But the country tracks come hard and heavy later in the album, and the country/drug rock influences blend quite well in the album’s final offering, the fun and freaky “25 Lights”.
Moot Davis was once called “thinking man’s country” by NPR, and maybe because he’s known as a world traveler and runs in different circles than most independent country artists, he’s seen as some sort of upper crust crooner as opposed to an authentic country soul. But what Moot gets more than most is the simplicity of perspective inherent in good country music. Maybe that perspective is bred more from an intelligent ear than authentic personal experiences, or maybe it comes from both. Either way, Moot is able to communicate those depths of human emotion in a way that doesn’t usurp the joy from the music, making for an approach that feels fresh, yet familiar, and making it worthy of a wide audience.
Two guns up.
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April 16, 2014 @ 11:49 am
Been a Moot fan and follower since the first album. Trigger you might have been there the night I saw him open for Dale around 2007.
April 16, 2014 @ 12:21 pm
Thanks for bringing Moot Davis to my attention, Trigger! Listened to “Midnight Train” above and I loved it. Will definitely be checking out all of Moot’s work.
April 16, 2014 @ 12:30 pm
Dude, this is awesome. I love this.
April 16, 2014 @ 1:29 pm
Embarrassed to say I’ve never heard of the guy. It’s been a while since you gave a 2 guns up. After listening quickly on Spotify, I can’t say I disagree. Will dig in deeper starting now.
April 16, 2014 @ 1:35 pm
Great review, thanks!
March 1, 2020 @ 12:23 pm
I’ve never heard of Moot but heard him first on Justified- 2 songs I absolutely love- The Reason & I Wanna Go Back. I’m 72 and play piano- all country- is there any place to buy sheet music for these two songs. Moot has an incredible voice- please advise.: Thanks.
Judy Ann Niedens
Wichita Ks
April 16, 2014 @ 2:05 pm
Your kind words are really appreciated and I offer my heartfelt thanks. I am Moots drummer and had a blast creating these songs with Moot and the rest of the Good Americans as well as playing on this album and with the band everywhere we play.
April 16, 2014 @ 3:56 pm
Thanks – glad to see a fell “Joisian” do good. I can see he plays in the area regularly so I look forward to catching him in the neighborhood soon. Looks like he will be in Texas and Tennessee in the next couple months so y’all down there can check him out too.
April 18, 2014 @ 4:15 pm
I am thinking of visiting Tennessee in the near future. Do you know when and where in Tennessee he will be playing?
April 20, 2014 @ 6:07 am
Hi Sonas, here is the link to Moot’s Show page
http://www.mootdavis.com/shows
looks like shows in knoxville, nashville and maryville.
April 21, 2014 @ 9:44 pm
Thanks! I really would like to see this guy perform. His voice is awesome!
April 16, 2014 @ 4:57 pm
Wow, I will order this now.
As soon as I saw the Nudie suit, Gramm came to mind.
I plan to get one someday, although I will probably forego having the pot leaf on it.
April 16, 2014 @ 6:41 pm
Never heard of this guy. Thanks Trig for bringing this to our attention.
April 16, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
I’ve been accused of being a purist all my life. I prefer bourbon from Kentucky or Tennessee, salsa from the southwest, football from the SEC, and country artists the hail from south of the Mason. However, there are exceptions to the rule and Moot appears to be one.
I’m still working my way through the album, but loving what I hear. I hate comparing artists to others, but I kept getting a Jim Lauderdale vibe (post Buddy Miller sedatives).
April 17, 2014 @ 12:25 am
I’m so sick of these posers.
April 17, 2014 @ 7:45 am
Please explain….how is this guy a poser?
April 18, 2014 @ 12:33 am
He’s a city slicker from New Jersey who grew up on Rock’N Roll, but sings with a fake drawl. It’s sad to me that traditional Country fans are so starved for real Country music that they’ll cling to anything that’s not the crap on the radio. To me, this guy is just as silly as that stuff.
April 18, 2014 @ 7:57 am
You ever been to New Jersey? You do realize that state is not just one giant city right? It has got some incredible countryside. As for being a poser are you trying to say that since he isn’t from the South he can’t sing country music?? I guess that makes Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, David Allen Coe, Hank Snow all fucking posers…. And who said people who are fans of traditional country music are starved?…there is so much good country music going on right now from all over the country I would say I’m far from starved. Just cause it doesn’t get played on the radio doesn’t mean it isn’t there. This guy has been making music for awhile, touring his ass off and I’m pretty sure with the way the music industry is these days not making a whole lot of money from it. Kinda seems like a good amount of dedication just trying to be a poser. But hey no need for hostility maybe just relax and go throw on Nebraska since guys from Jersey who grew up on rock n’ roll can’t make country music…..
April 19, 2014 @ 12:36 am
I don’t need to go to New Jersey to know this guy’s background. His bio is online. Is it not completely corny to you that these guys like this (there are plenty of others like him) come from somewhere like New Jersey, but wear cowboy hats and sing with a Southern accent? It makes me laugh; and feel sad at the same time. I’m starved half to death for some good real Country Music from a current singer. I’d love to be able to hear good new music on the radio that I really like. You see, Country Music was born out of a specific culture: the rural South, and to some degree, the Southwest. When people outside of those cultures sing Country Music, to me, it’s like they are role playing; like an actor in a play. They get their best retro western clothes and cowboy hat, and their best Southern accent, and they try to be Country singers. It makes me laugh because it’s so cheesy. It makes me sad because it’s a reminder that real Country Music is dead because the culture that created it is dead. Progress and mass communication has homogenized this country to the point that it’s difficult to find distinctly different cultures anymore. Everybody talks the same almost anywhere you go, except in the most remote of rural areas; and those are getting fewer and farther between. And please, don’t compare this dork to Merle Haggard or Johnny Paycheck.
April 19, 2014 @ 8:07 am
Clint first of all you’re ignorance is astounding judging by you’re contradictions in your last comment: (“Is it not completely corny to you that these guys like this (there are plenty of others like him) come from somewhere like New Jersey, but wear cowboy hats and sing with a Southern accent?”) and then you said: (“And please, don”™t compare this dork to Merle Haggard or Johnny Paycheck”) MERLE WAS FROM CALIFORNIA AND PAYCHECK OHIO. And if you had any reading comprehension you would of noticed that there was no comparison aside from the fact that you don’t have to be from the rural south to make country music. And don’t try to educate me on country music cause it’s apparent you don’t know shit. So, I leave you with this HANK SNOW WAS FROM CANADA HANK SNOW WAS FROM CANADA HANK SNOW WAS FROM CANADA and please god I dare you to look Whitey Morgan in the face and call that man a poser cause he is from Michigan. (sorry yall I’m still a little drunk from last night)
April 19, 2014 @ 8:24 am
Okay folks, let’s try to keep this about Moot’s music! Thanks!
April 19, 2014 @ 8:36 am
You’re right and that’s what i was meaning to do. I got off base but I was just trying to get across that Moot makes really good music and there is no need to judge a man by where he happened to be born because to me country music got its sound from all over the world really.
April 19, 2014 @ 9:48 pm
You seem like a very emotionally unstable person. I wasted a significant part of my lunch break yesterday to give you a thoughtful answer; just so you could cuss and insult me? Please don’t speak to me anymore, and I won’t speak to you.
And Trigger, sorry man, if I’d have known this guy was trying to start shit, I wouldn’t have replied.
April 18, 2014 @ 12:56 pm
So do Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Jeff Walker, Marty Robbins, Leroy Virgil, Bobby Bare, Austin Lucas, Reckless Kelly, Rachel Brooke, or Tom Vandenavond not make country music? I suppose I was unaware that you had to be from the south to be considered a true country artist.
April 19, 2014 @ 2:11 pm
For your information Moot has roots from WV and KY. We have country in our family and not ashamed of it one bit. We love our Western boots, Hats, Country Music and moon shine. We have large gatherings were we have country music, big feast, and sang songs that have meaning. Moot’s great, great grandmother was a McCoy who married a Hatfield.
April 20, 2014 @ 9:56 am
sorry you got called out…never once insulted you but I did insult your ignorant comment. Secondly how can you be so upset about that when your original comment and the ones after that were insulting a mans actual character you never met! you right though I’m done shoulda never acknowledged a troll from the get go.
April 21, 2014 @ 1:15 am
You’re sorry I got called out? When did I get called out? All you did was ask me a stupid question that you should’ve already known the answer to, then when I respectfully answered it, you acted like a baby crying because I don’t like fake country singers. Oh by the way, I’ve coined a new term. So the crap on the radio is Bro-Country, right? Well, then guys like Moot Davis are Faux-Country. Do you like it?
April 21, 2014 @ 6:42 am
Clint not once were you respectful of thoughtful in any of your comments…. you started off by calling a man you know nothing about a poser and preceded to bash him through out. I could careless who listen to but you just come on to a message board to bash somebody and you’re talking about respect?? I have fun with the rest of you’re life as an internet troll…it must be very fulfilling.
April 21, 2014 @ 6:44 am
Exclude that ‘I’ sorry at the end sorry
April 18, 2014 @ 7:25 am
yessir, don’t waste your time arguing with Clint. He doesn’t understand that all human beings experience life’s travails and joys and that some are gifted enough to express their feelings in music. Furthermore, he fails to understand that most people have freedom of choice and certain people develop a fond appreciation for country music regardless of their birthplace.
April 19, 2014 @ 8:09 am
Sorry Mrs. Bettina i should of listened to you, but I just couldn’t help myself.
April 18, 2014 @ 4:17 pm
Clint, you’re so negative.
April 17, 2014 @ 2:37 am
Yeah, excellent new album – and I can recommend any of his three previous releases! I love the duet “Hurtin’ For Real” with Nikki Lane on this one.
April 17, 2014 @ 9:55 am
This review hits some very interesting points, the lyrics on Moots songs are usually full of his life experience’s with a twist of fun to get us through. The musicians are all top notch. The Band and Moot are better heard live than on CD, that’s, how good they are. While I’m not new to Moot and the Band or to their reviews, this review like so many others could have gone into like the origins of “Midnight Train” go back to before his first album “Moot Davis” along with “The Reason” written for his mother as a Christmas gift the first year he was in Nashville and broke and is now a favorite song played at weddings. The electrifying mournful, soul tearing sentiment’s captured in “Wanna Go Back”. Well, I could get carried away and go on, but there’s more here than meets the eye, but let the ear take you there.
April 17, 2014 @ 12:13 pm
This guy reminds me of Gary Stewart a whole lot and I’m saying that with the absolute utmost respect!
April 18, 2014 @ 12:35 am
LOL!!!!!!
April 21, 2014 @ 11:57 am
Even a bit like Raul Malo too (though not quite the range). Even the produciton is more 1990s Mavericks to my ear than Parsons\Richards thing (that honestly I just don’t hear).
April 17, 2014 @ 5:35 pm
“From shit kickers like the rousing “Midnight Train” or the Yoakam-like “Love Hangover”,..”
I hear a bit of Yoakam but the guitar in Love Hangover screams Cousin Kenny and Marty.
Love this album.
April 19, 2014 @ 2:20 pm
Really Love your album Moot! Touches my sole and heart!!!! Congratulations!!!! Great band!!!!!