The dynamic folk duo Moors and McCumber will feel right at home when playing at Star Hall on Friday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m.
They’ve performed at the historic venue before, and this will be their fourth performance in Moab. Their previous shows included a couple of performances at the Moab Folk Festival, and even a live show at Moab resident Mike Duncan’s home.
The Moab Arts and Recreation Center (MARC) is organizing their latest show. MARC Director Meg Stewart said she originally planned to hold the performance at the MARC, and then realized they could move it to Star Hall, which is located at 159 E. Center St.
The duo are touring in support of their new album “Live from Blue Rock” which takes its name from a world-class studio space in Wimberly, Texas. For their fifth record together, James Moors and Kort McCumber decided to record a live performance with about 100 people in the audience.
“Our second-favorite venue is a house concert,” Moors said. “It’s like an unplugged show. It kind of breaks down the barriers and allows the audience to become part of the show.”
That’s exactly what they captured with “Live from Blue Rock.”
“Given how dynamic our live performances are, we thought it would be nice to have a live record, so we decided to record a show and see what happened,” Moors said.
McCumber said they were originally planning to pick only 10 tracks from that night.
“But everything sounded so good, we decided to use all 22 songs from the show,” he said.
Moors and McCumber met over 10 years ago at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival Song School in Lyons, Colorado.
“It’s an inspirational place that’s all about developing your songwriting,” McCumber said in a statement. “People were swapping songs, and when it came around to James, he played one of his original songs. It was amazing, so partway through, I joined in on bouzouki and harmony vocals. Afterwards, we introduced ourselves, and not long after that, we decided to try performing together.”
Moors is from Minnesota and lives in Wisconsin, and McCumber is from Florida and lives in Colorado. The duo tour together about half the year, and they get to practice and collaborate during that time.
“It’s like sibling harmony, which you rarely find outside of family,” McCumber said.
They play around 120 shows a year, so along with travel, that brings them together about 180 days, touring throughout the United States and often in Ireland.
Moors said he and McCumber are excited to play Star Hall again.
“We really like those kind of old-school theaters,” he said. “We’ve played those all over the country.”
According to Moors, the instruments they’ll be featuring at Star Hall include guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, fiddle, ukulele and maybe even some keyboards.
When asked what they will be doing in Moab when not performing, Moors said, “Sleeping.”
A busy tour schedule doesn’t always allow for the many recreational opportunities Moab has to offer. Moors said he loves Fisher Towers and the whole area, but unfortunately, he said, they’re only going to be here for the one day.
Moors & McCumber to perform at Star Hall on Aug. 12
What: Moors & McCumber in concert
When: Friday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m.
Where: Star Hall, 159 E. Center St.
Cost: $12 in advance, or $15 at the door
Information: 435-259-6272
For more information about the duo, go to www.moorsandmccumber.com, or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MoorsandMcCumber/?ref=hl.
