Let’s step into the Houston Music Scene Wayback Machine. And set the dial for the magical decade of 1995-2005.
A time when H-Town (long before it was called that) was filled with local bands playing original rock music to packed crowds at clubs scattered throughout the city.
When the Houston Press held an annual Music Awards ceremony and showcase at more than a dozen venues across downtown. When you could join friends for a multi-act show at Fitzgerald’s, the Engine Room, the Meridian, the Fabulous Satellite Lounge, Walter’s on Washington, and the Bon Ton Room.
All those venues are gone now, as are most of the bands who graced their stages. Their names now lie on the lips of wistful Gen Xers who are currently paying mortgages, watching their kids graduate college, and are in bed by a respectable 10 p.m. (or, uh earlier) on any given weeknight.
One of the biggest bands on the scene, one who seemed poised to break out nationally, was Moses Guest. Named for the fifth-generation grandfather of singer/guitarist Graham Guest, the quartet also included Rick Thompson (keyboards/vocals), Jeremy Horton (bass), and James Edwards (drums/vocals).
And it still does, nearly 30 years later. Moses Guest will return to the city for a rare show opening for Sons of Cream on February 15 at the Heights Theater. But as Guest himself says via Zoom from his current home in Durango, Colorado, the band is priming itself for what could be a successful second act.
“We played pretty intensively in town and outside it until 2004. And the wheels kind of came off,” he says. “We weren’t the worst band in the world as far as beer and intake, but we did drink a lot and got sort of exhausted. And we didn’t get that record deal with Dave Matthews’ ATO Records. So, we had to think about the future a little bit but not break up.”
Guest’s own journey for the past 20+ years found him living in different cities (including two stints in the UK), taking classes at Rice, and finally getting PhDs in English and Philosophy before landing a job teaching the latter at Fort Lewis College in Durango where he lives with his family. The other guys, he said, also got outside jobs while Moses Guest would still gig annually and sometimes release new music.
“We always kept in touch. Houston was obviously the home base. We’d set up a show and it was kind of tough. We’d practice for four or five days before because we were out of sorts. We relied on ancient history and muscle memory!” he says.
“And everyone has cleaned up their act. We would have probably done a little better in the early days if we had focused a bit more on the music and performing. We were pretty happy guys who drank a lot and whooped it up across the country, but we’re all good on that level now. Nobody’s popping a beer at 10 o’clock in the morning anymore.”
To that end, Guest said the band, founded in 1995, is “ramping it up” in 2026. Not just with the upcoming show but playing an Art Car Parade event at Discovery Green in April, and a possible mini tour out west. He says they are also recording another album in May for release next year.
“We said let’s just keep playing, and maybe things will turn around and we can do things with more frequency,” Guest says. “And it has.”
Moses Guest’s discography begins in 1996 with “Geniality of Mortality,” followed the next year by American Trailer Home Blues, Live Stages (1998), double disc (and defining statement) Moses Guest (2002), Guest Motel (2004)—which featured a photo of the lodging place on I-45 with the same name, Best Laid Plans (2008) and Light (2017).
Their most recent effort is 2020’s Live, which featured concert recordings from across the years. Most are available for purchase or streaming on the band’s website, and there was also a live performance DVD, Edit.
“I sat in my studio room in California when I was living there and went through all of this stuff over many years. But it needed to sound frickin’ good—we’ve got a lot of bad live recordings out there. And it had to be a good performance.”
The record did have one new studio tune, one that meant something deeper to the group. “All Night Brother” was their tribute to Jon Sporl (aka “Squid”), who was their tour van driver, merch guy, and—along with his own brother, Jeff—intense supporters of Moses Guest.
“Time to go–nothing’s forever/Hit the road–all things sever/You can drive–there is no other/You can drive–all night brother,” Guest sings.
“We did that at Stormy Cooper’s studio in West Houston. He was a kooky guy who could drive the van endlessly! Plus, he was very genial. Unfortunately, it was alcohol that got to him, and he died [in 2021]. We’ll see how we do now. We’ve never toured without him! He was a fifth member.”
Guest says it’s “crazy” that the current four bandmembers have managed to stay together without a lineup change since 1997 despite the challenges of geography, life plans, and hiatuses.
“We were really close and have a lot of love and respect for one another. We talked to each other a lot and are mutually supportive,” he adds. “It’s a pretty brotherly, fraternal thing.”
For better or worse (and in Guest’s mind, it’s worse), Moses Guest have often been labeled a “jam band,” which he feels is not accurate. But it was something laid on them by former Houston Press Music Editor Hobart Rowland in the group’s early days.
It was a perception likely highlighted by an onstage of tendency of Edwards and Thompson (both graduates of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts) to lean into jazz and improvisation onstage.
“That’s been on my mind recently,” Guest says. “We started out as more of a grunge band. I was never a massive Deadhead, but we just wanted to explore instrumentally. And Hobart picked up on that, but he didn’t really like jam bands.”
Slowly but surely, Guest feels, Moses Guest has morphed into more of what he calls a Southern Rock band. “That’ what we are at heart,” he says. “And I am more into Steely Dan, Little Feat, and the Band. And, of course, Skynyrd. I really loved those guys as an eighth grader and you kind of grow out of their music a bit. But man, they could tear that shit up!” And he says that he wants to add in more acoustic songs to the set.
As for the upcoming gig opening for Sons of Cream, Guest lets out a little secret. They’ll be joined onstage by Houston guitarist James Wilhite. With a possible eye to adding him as a fifth member to give the band some extra firepower.
“If we all like it, and if he likes it, we’ll just continue. We want to increase the guitar attack,” he says. “We’ll be practicing this coming week. But we only have a 40-minute set with six tunes!”
Moses Guest opens for Sons of Cream at 8 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, at the Heights Theater, 339 W. 19th. For more information, call 214-272-8346 or visit TheHeightsTheater.com. $38 or $51.
For more on Moses Guest, visit MosesGuest.com