Should we just get it out of the way? What’s the deal with the band called moe.?
Bassist / vocalist Rob Derhak is happy to provide answers. Speaking from his home in Freeport, Maine, Derhak explains that the name is a reference to the 1943 Louis Jordan song “Five Guys Named Moe.” Fair enough. But why no capitalization? And what’s with the period? Even as I type this, Microsoft Word keeps trying to autocorrect the band’s name.
“When we first started as a band, we tried to do everything we possibly could do to not succeed,” Derhak says. “Like throwing a period at the end of our name. We decided to make it nearly impossible for journalists to write about us without getting mad at us.”
Yet here we are, writing about moe. and their upcoming appearance at the Heights Theater on Tuesday, May 12, part of a tour supporting moe.’s latest album, Circle of Giants.
The band was founded in 1989 when its members were students at the University at Buffalo. Derhak and guitarist Chuck Garvey are the only original members still in band, though guitarist Al Schnier (joined in in 1992), drummer Vinnie Amico (joined in 1996) and percussionist / jack of all trades Jim Loughlin (1992 – 1995, 1999 – present) all have lengthy tenures. The new guy is keyboardist Nate Wilson, who began playing with moe. in 2021.
Leaders in the jam band movement of the early ‘90s, moe. was part of the scene that included Phish, Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler and Widespread Panic. So, about that term “jam band,” does Derhak view it as a positive or a negative?
“It fits, I guess. I prefer ‘psychedelic rock band.’ That seems more like what we are. But ‘jamming’ is just another way to talk about improvising, and that’s what we do. There are so many different styles of music that fit into that [category]. Like, if somebody told me, ‘I’m in a jam band,’ I still really don’t know much about them. Except that they’re going to stretch songs out,” Derhak explains.
“There was no plan,” Derhak says of moe.’s early years. “When we first started, we were just fans of music. There really wasn’t a scene for jamming. There was the Grateful Dead. There were the Allman Brothers. And they weren’t called jam bands. We just found that we liked certain types of music and good songs. And we would end up getting gigs where you had a lot of space to fill, a lot of time to fill. And that’s what the bar owner wants. He wants you playing for a long time. [Jamming] came from necessity, I think. That’s when people started to notice us, and they liked the way we were changing songs and messing around.”
Derhak says that the band’s longevity has translated into a deep relationship among its members. “We know each other way more than you know your siblings, at this point. We’re very close, but we can also be OK with not talking to each other for months, after being on the road. And as soon as we get back together, it’s like nothing has changed.”
Over the years, moe. has created a sense of community for its fans, organizing an annual festival (“moe. down”) including likeminded bands, Caribbean cruises featuring live music, and “snoe.down,” winter performances adjacent to the ski slopes at Olympic Center in White Plains, New York. It the latter instance, the shows were scheduled in March, which meant that band members and fans had to endure temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees during performances. According to reports, the upside was that fans got to ice skate and band members were able to ski right up to the stage.
Being a bass player who also sings lead vocals on a number of songs puts Derhak in the same company as heavyweights like Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee and Sting. Does the layman realize just how tough an assignment that is, fronting the band while holding down the bottom end? “It’s not easy, that’s for sure,” Derhak allows. “The hardest thing for me is keeping time and singing at the same time. Because I’m not just keeping time, I’m also dealing with the melody of the song. So I find myself messing that up a lot. More than I’d like!
“When I’m writing, I try to write stuff that work with the bass line. So it’s hard for me to be the singer on a lot of covers, because most of [the songs] aren’t written by bass players. Honestly, I’m not sure how Geddy Lee… Geddy Lee is a freak of nature, so I don’t know how he does it. Paul McCartney’s bass lines always work with his vocals. But I can’t sing like Paul McCartney, so that’s moot!”
moe. will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, at the Heights Theater, 339 W. 19th. For more information, call 214-272-8346 or visit TheHeightsTheater.com. $48 – $83.
$1 from every ticket sold will benefit Eddie’s Hugs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness, reducing stigma, and supporting those affected by mental illness. Inspired by the life of Rob’s son Eddie Derhak, the organization strives to offer connection, compassion and hope to individuals of all ages – particularly young adults – through advocacy, education and community outreach.
For more on moe., visit moe.org. In this instance, the “dot” in the URL serves as the period in moe.’s name. Just in case you were wondering.
