“On a new album, "Fortune Street," he sings about urban isolation, a land of plenty rotting on the vine, and love's many moods with insight, defiant idealism, and a survivor's hard humor. If Woody Guthrie grew up in 21st-century Boston, he'd sound a lot like Moock. “ --Scott Alarik, Boston Globe Correspondent
Spring 2007 CoraZong released Fortune Street, Moock's latest effort, in Europe. It quickly went to #2 on the EuroAmericana Chart! Now releasing in the USA, the album, which includes nine new original tunes and one traditional cover, is Moock's most intimate and mature to date. Two of the tracks were recorded solo; the other eight feature the stripped down roots ensemble of David Goodrich, Lou Ulrich, and Mike Piehl (all former members of the seminal Boston rock band Groovasaurus), joined by guests Kris Delmhorst, Michael Dinallo (The Mercy Brothers), and Sean Staples (The Resophonics).
“Overall, Fortune Street is a very satisfying album that ranges in tone and emotion from clever and fun to deep and sympathetic and that keeps a musical foot in the tradition while keeping an eye to the future (or, as Moock puts it ,“star in the sky; ass on the ground”).” --Matt Robinson, boston.going.com
There was a time in America when folk music was relevant, edgy, even dangerous — a tool of personal and political expression, at once raw and beautiful. That spirit lives on in the music of Alastair Moock.
Moock started performing in 1995, moving from his home outside New York City to the folk haven of Boston, Massachusetts. After honing his skills on Boston's innumerable open mike stages and working his way up through the local coffeehouse and club circuit, he began touring around the U.S. By 2002, he had already traveled extensively throughout the East and Midwest, performing at many of the top listening rooms and outdoor events in the country, including the Newport and Boston Folk Festivals, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, The Birchmere in Washington D.C., and The Bluebird Café in Nashville. In 2003 he made his first trip to Europe, where he performed at the prestigious Bergen Music Fest in Norway. Since then he has made numerous trips across the pond with appearances in the UK, France, Netherlands, and Scandinavia.
It seems no young musicians want to be labeled “folk” anymore. Everyone's passing through on their way to somewhere else — alt-rock, alt-pop, alt-country. Alastair Moock plays folk music. Old-school, powerful, intimate folk music. You may be surprised to hear what it sounds like.
