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Texas-Based Road Warriors Kolton Moore & The Clever Few Stop In At Songbirds

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There was a time when Kolton Moore didn't spend much time at home.

“In the early days, we were road dogging it," he says, thinking back to his band's steady rise from Texas' best-kept secret to national headliner status. “We were playing 250 shows a year — whenever we could, wherever we could, sometimes just for a case of beer."

The pace was relentless, but it sharpened Kolton Moore & The Clever Few's mix of American rock & roll, blue-collar storytelling, and Texas-sized country hooks. They became tried-and-true road warriors, so comfortable onstage that they recorded their albums during a handful of live-in-the-studio takes.

That sound — raw, real, and rooted in the shared instincts of four longtime friends — reaches a new peak with their sixth album, A Place That I Call Home. Tracked in Memphis with Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang, it's the sound of a veteran band taking stock of the present while still pushing forward.

“I call it my 'growing up' record," says Moore, who did much of his own growing up in East Texas. Raised by a Southern Baptist preacher in a household filled with country music and gospel classics, he launched The Clever Few in 2012, back when he was barely old enough to order his own drinks.

More than a decade later, he's grown into a contented family man with a wife, daughter, and responsibilities not only on the road, but back at home, too. A Place That I Call Home finds him reflecting on the path that's brought him there, from wild teenage nights (the anthemic “When We Were Young") to mental health journeys (“Brave the Weather") to the joys of fatherhood (“Strawberry Thief").

“These songs are stories about me: my family, my trials, my experiences," he adds. “It's about life. It's about being an adult. I hope they're universal stories, and it doesn't even matter who the singer is."

When the singer is as versatile as Moore, though, it does matter. He's a rock & roll frontman on “The Flood," a soul singer on “Self-Destruct," and a bluesy balladeer on “White Bird," backed by four bandmates — lead guitarist Ryan Wilcox, bassist Matt Gumley, keys player Sam Jones and drummer Aaron Dowd — who veer between amplified arrangements and scaled-back simplicity.

Those contrasts have always been part of The Clever Few's DNA. “Whether we're onstage or in the studio, we like to offer big highs and big lows," Moore explains. “We do electric songs and acoustic songs. We play countrified music that still rocks. It's easy on the ears and heavy on the heart."

That heaviness thrives on tracks like “The Flood," a larger-than-life rocker inspired by Moore's time guiding fishing trips on the White River. Drawing parallels between mental wellness and Mother Nature, the song makes room for overdriven guitar, organ, and an explosive, all-hands-on-deck outro geared toward the band's live show.

“The White River is unpredictable," Moore says. "It can go from a trickle to a raging river, and that's kind of like life, too. You never know what you're gonna wake up to. It can be good or bad, but it's always something — and when the flood comes, you better know how to swim."

Balancing the album's sonic scales is “Just Like That," a simple, stunning tribute to Moore's growing family. “These are the days; we can't get any of 'em back," he sings during the chorus, backed by little more than his acoustic guitar. A decade earlier, he might not have been able to deliver a song that so convincingly reflected upon the passage of time.

That's what makes A Place That I Call Home so compelling, though: it finds the right balance between melody, muscle, and maturity, shining light on the band's evolution without pulling any of the punches that landed their music on TV shows like Yellowstone (whose Season 4 finale featured the track “Peace in the Pines") and American Idol (whose 2021 winner, Chayce Beckham, performed “What Brings Life Also Kills").

For years, Kolton Moore & The Clever Few either produced their own records or teamed up with local friends. A Place That I Call Home marks their first time working with an industry icon like Matt Ross-Spang, whose contributions to albums like Jason Isbell's Something More Than Free and Margo Price's Midwest Farmer's Daughter helped shape the sound of modern-day Americana.

At Ross-Spang's studio in Memphis, the band recorded the album in less than five days, playing together in real time, tracking everything simultaneously. Arriving on the heels of three records that explored the far corners of The Clever Few's sound — Everything Has Changed, with its left-field synthesizers and drum loops; Kolton Moore & The Clever Few, with its drop D guitar tunings and hard-hitting heft; and Bare-bones, with its acoustic performances — A Place That I Call Home marks a return to the band's musical foundation.

Even so, their version of roadhouse roots-rock has never sounded more grounded. Moore might reminisce about the golden days of youth with “When We Were Young," but he's just as happy singing about the present as he is waxing nostalgic about the past.

“I'm reflecting on the things that make me feel comfortable," he says. “I'm singing about the places that feel like home to me. The road has always been my home, but so is my daughter. So is my wife. Whenever they're with me, wherever we are, I'm home. And when I sing about driving my first truck or smoking my first joint in 'When We Were Young,' that feels like home, too. I'm lucky; I have home all around me."

Who says you can never go home again? Kolton Moore & The Clever Few don't believe that. With A Place That I Call Home, they don't just stake their claim as road-running lifers, joining the ranks of grassroots heroes like Lucero and Drive-By Truckers. They also plant their flag in the sand, building their home on the borderlines of sharp songwriting and a sound of their own making.

Kolton Moore & The Clever Few