Key to the Highway: Ian Moore

Ian Moore (at left) with the Texas Headhunters, photo by Daniel Sanda

Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road for music. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from Ian Moore of the Texas Headhunters.

Americana Highways: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

Ian Moore: I will drive out of my way to have a good cup of coffee in the morning. The reality of touring is much more similar to long haul trucking than artistic expression, so anything to add a little more of that sparkle is paramount to kicking off a great day.

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road?)

IM: Its a long story, but the short version was that we stayed in a hotel where I’m pretty sure someone had been murdered recently. There was literally a blood stain on the other side of the mattress and the walls had been spot repainted. It was no accident that it was in the town “AP Hill” which was the name of the general who was part of the confederacy falling apart at the battle of Gettysburg

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

IM: Soul Stirrers. It is just a magical piece of work. It is in chronological order. You can hear Sam Cooke join (replacing Jerry Butler) and each song is a battle for who would be the primary lead. By song 6 it is all Sam. The rumor is that Sam would have panties thrown at him at tent revivals!

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip? IM: Outside of a guitar, it would be running shoes. Being able to go for a run can be a life saver.

AH: What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there)?

IM: I love food, and probably my favorite non musical part of touring is the ability to eat all over the world! I generally go to what a town or region is known for (hello St. Louis and breaded ravioli). I love it all but I would day my default would be migas for breakfast (somewhere in texas) and some type of Vietnamese for lunch or dinner.

AH: If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?

IM: That’s hard because you kind of fall in love with everywhere you go. I do love Sicily quite a bit, but also love so many spots in Mexico. I really love the place I live (Vashon island) which has an amazing balance of beautiful nature and beautiful humans!

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

IM: When I was young I got compared to Stevie Vaughn a lot. I’m from Austin and despite my best attempts to play another guitar, still play a strat. I was sitting backstage with him telling him this and he looked at me and said. “Man, don’t worry about that..I used to always get compared to my big brother, and then to Jimi Hendrix.. There will always be people that want to put you in a box , but you just do what feels right to you.” It is really the only way to be. You have your own ballast, and if you ever stop following that, you are truly lost. Those words and the ethic are key to what I believe, and that has been my gut check throughout my whole career.

Find more information about their new album, and tour dates for the Texas Headhunters: https://txhh.live

Enjoy our previous interview here: Interview: Ian Moore Talks New Release “Toronto,” “Sling Blade,” and SMASH Musicians Healthcare

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Todd Park Mohr Jim Lauderdale Vince Herman Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Sadler Vaden )