By Alisha Woolery
Enquirer Contributor
for Cincinnati.Com
Outfitted in a black cowboy hat, thick silver bracelets and dangling hoop
earrings, Dallas Moore casually walks into Habit's Café with an easy smile and
a friendly handshake.
His signature long hair hangs over his shoulders, and his upper arms are
decorated in colorful tattoos.
"I'd have to take my shirt off to show you the rest of them," Moore
jokes, pointing to a tattoo of Hank Williams Sr., a personal idol, on his left
arm.
A local honky-tonk star, Moore's rowdy reputation as an outlaw country singer
who rocks the stage precedes him. He's known for his gruff and gritty songs and
hell-raising performances, where guitars usually end up broken in a musical
frenzy.
But, in the calm of the café, beer in hand, Moore is every bit the polite
gentleman, who speaks fondly of his musician mother and his band and road crew,
who are his extended family. His band, the Snatch Wranglers, toured over 300
dates last year, and have opened for groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman
Brothers. With Bobby Lee on drums, Bob Rutherford on bass guitar and Chuck
Morpurgo on guitar, the foursome will tour the East Coast this summer, solo.
Well loved by a strong local fan base, the group is moving toward national
exposure—and Moore is doing it his way. Refusing to water down to any music
business commercialization, Moore continues to write the kind of songs he wants,
pouring out heart and soul in southern rock and western country sounds.
"We've been true to ourselves and our audience, and they have a way of
finding us," Moore said, adding that the Dallas Moore Band will not
"cut their hair and sing love songs."
Raised in Norwood, a 16-year-old Moore showed up at his first gig at Murray's
Chili with guitar in hand, and no idea how to play. Today, Moore is a local
favorite with several CDs out, and another on the way this year. He has also won
a shower of accolades from the Cammy's.
Despite a regional touring schedule, Moore is still a regular acoustic
performer at places like the Knotty Pine in White Oak. Standing next to Morpurgo,
under one of the bright stage lights, Moore strums his guitar and sings to the
room.
His foot-stomping songs speak to the common man, from dark, moody stories of
love and loss, to light-hearted tunes about frog gigging or whiskey. The group's
style has been described as a medley of country, southern rock, blues, folk,
honky-tonk and western swing.
"It's all the things rolled into one, and we throw it all together and
turn it up real loud and see how it comes together," Moore said.
Even in his acoustic performances the music is throbbing, and Moore's deep
voice rings with the kind of intensity that riles up a crowd. He says his
acoustic concerts may be toned down a bit, but he "still gets the point
across."
When asked to describe what it's like to be him on stage, playing the rough
and rowdy music he loves, Moore just shakes his head and laughs, "It's good
to be Dallas Moore on stage."
