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Like that pair of shoes you pull on time and time again, because they're made to measure and gloriously comfortable, Abi Moore's music harks back to those times when things were hand-crafted and made to last.
With her foundations rooted in acoustic music, Abi's songs are accessible and full of warmth, reminiscent of the 60's/ 70's songwriters - Elton John, Sting, Lennon & McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel. Add in Abi's modern- day relevance, cynical grit, a few glances to Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow and Karine Polwart and then lace it all up with thought provoking, observational, truthful and socially aware lyrics. If that doesn't get you hooked, her astounding voice certainly will.
So where did it all start?
“I wasn’t brought up in a musical family and the only way I got to do the job I’ve always wanted is to put my nose to the grindstone, work ridiculously hard and teach myself about an industry I knew nothing about. And of course, that has meant that I’ve made mistakes and had to learn from them.”
Abi Moore was born in 1983 and her parents, a Hungarian nurse and a teacher from Yorkshire, moved to the rural county of Lincolnshire when she was two. She spent the majority of her childhood here and showed an early talent for the arts – with singing being her first love. She also played keyboards and learned the violin, playing in the county’s Concert and Symphony Orchestras and string quartets.
By the time she was seventeen, after years of experience singing in choirs, bands, musicals and studios, she had decided singing was to be her career.
“I kept that quiet as I went to a strict grammar school. My place at uni doing an MA in foreign languages kept them happy, and I took a supposed “year out” as a decoy, then cancelled my place so I could be a full time singer!”
In fact, Abi had already secretly signed with numerous agents and was performing cover material professionally all over the country on the notorious pub and club circuit whilst also studying for her A Levels.
Her “cabaret” career earned her good money, but little satisfaction. She became very streetwise and learned early on about dodgy managers and unfair record deals. Having been stung by both, she was getting wise to the showbiz life and although her reputation as an outstanding live performer meant she was sometimes entertaining audiences of up to 15,000 people at venues such as the London Palladium and Huddersfield’s Galpharm Stadium, she was beginning to realise what was wrong.
“I wasn’t being me. And that is so important at the end of the day. There was no challenge in what I was doing. I needed to write. I’m a very quiet and introspective person in real life. I didn’t want to make a show of myself and have to dress in sequinned outfits, plaster makeup all over my face and sing other people’s songs. And there were so many emotional things going on in my life, I was dealing with death and bereavement at every turn, growing up too soon and I had so much responsibility for so many things, that it became laughable pretending to be someone I wasn’t.”
At heart, Abi was a wordsmith. She’d been writing songs since her childhood, and her poetry and short stories had been printed in a number of literary publications. It was now that Abi made a decision to concentrate on songwriting and to continue singing in a way that suited her personality. She bought a guitar and piano and taught herself to play them, sought out backing musicians to gig with and did some research into the folk and acoustic scene. It was a strand of the music world she knew even less about.
In 2002, she hit the acoustic world with her very first show of original material and was surprised at how quickly she was embraced by her new audience. Her live shows “mesmerised her listeners with wise-beyond-her-years lyrics and a voice that oozed honesty and passion” (The Troubadour, London) and her knack for writing “heartrending lyrics wrapped up neatly inside a package that leaves her audiences in awe” (Lincolnshire In Focus) soon became her trademark.
Support slots for other artists beckoned and as Abi was working on her first album she opened for Midge Ure and Jim Moray. She started playing the festival circuit and in 2004, played at the Summer Sundae Weekender with the likes of Nick Harper, James Morrison and Amy Winehouse. Her acoustic set “was the highlight of the Rising Stage” where “she had the audience cheering away” (www.virtualfestivals.com).
On the 16th June, 2006, Abi released her debut album “The Aftermath of ’96.” Chronicling her thoughts on family dysfunction, questioned morals and life experiences since the death of her childhood sweetheart in the summer of 1996, Abi’s album was a success with both fans and critics alike. The Lincoln Chronicle described it as “an impressive and emotionally involving introduction to a bright new talent,” and Abi had not only written and arranged the songs, but also played the majority of the instruments and recorded, edited and mixed the album with “professionally executed production” (Musician’s Union).
BBC radio and T.V soon got word of Abi’s talent and she plays regular slots in between touring throughout the UK and teaching music workshops to children from 3-18 years throughout Lincolnshire.
Through consistent touring, Abi has gathered a whole new army of listeners around the country and a huge following throughout her home county. Lincoln Drill Hall describes her as “fast becoming something of a legend... beautiful and passionate songs, superb arrangements and thought-provoking lyrics. Abi's on stage style and honesty also leave you feeling as though you've actually got to know her during one of her gigs.” She continues to open shows for other artists: more recently she has played with LAU, the Coal Porters, Jonatha Brooke, Dave Swarbrick, Steve Tilston and 10CC.
So it was no surprise that demand for a second album led Abi to release “Things We Should’ve Said” in March 2009. Still running her own career independently, Abi has become a self- assured composer, writer, arranger and sound engineer and the new album collected even higher praise from wider afield in the industry.
Maverick Magazine described it as an “evocative and simply stunning album” and gave it a rare 4.5 out of 5 stars, whilst Real Radio agreed that Abi’s new album “displays a maturity of writing and delivery far beyond her years.” The Standard simply branded it “as near to the perfect album as you're ever likely to hear, and that is no exaggeration.”
Only weeks after releasing the album, the hubbub of excitement around it was such that Caffe Nero invited Abi to become their Artist of The Month during August and September 2009. They played her album daily in all 360 of their stores across the UK and asked her to play some live dates that summer. She embarked on this tour with her usual enthusiasm, taking on a huge 65 dates in 8 weeks all across the country.
It was on this tour that Abi noticed the response to one song in particular.
Says Abi: “When I wrote “Has The Whole World Come Undone?” I was voicing my frustrations about the direction in which the country was heading. There are so many issues that we, as the general public, have to put up with- regardless of whether we like it or not: the huge problems of alcoholism, vandalism and needless violence we can’t do anything about, the over-hyping of celebrity culture and idolisation of fame- over- substance which millions of us are not interested in, the fact that we can’t open our mouths anymore to stand up for ourselves, politicians lying to us, bankers and MPs getting away with financial murder… I find myself watching the news and reading the paper and constantly asking, “has the whole world come undone?”
But the response from my audiences when I played it live was phenomenal. I had people all over the country asking me if they could use the song as theme for their causes and thanking me for not being afraid to sing the truth. To have a song that resonates so well and relates to so many people- well, that makes being a songwriter all the more worthwhile.”
Critics also picked up on the song, with Maverick Magazine hailing it as “a track so good that it should have been released during the Civil Rights Movement and not the financial crisis…this is a protest song to match the best of them; possibly even Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction.”
So what now for Abi Moore?
“I’m lucky that I’m totally in control of all my own work and I have no-one to answer to, so I can continue to write the kind of music I love. I’m already working on ideas for my third album and will be thinking about the arrangements and a new sound for the songs. I also have a live DVD out now and I’m really excited about that. But my ambitions have always been the same- to write and record great music that people relate to and then get out there and play it to as many people as I can!”
Amen to that…
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