Matthew Moran

How about, "Coffee, Kids, and Rock & Roll!"

During a recent chat with my friend, Marc, a consultant in Salt Lake City, I was excited about our show the night prior and said, "I’m a Rock Star!"

He responded with, "I thought you were a crossover star?"

Which brought up a bit of a dilemma with the issue of genre and musical classification.

It is one I am unsure how to solve or answer. The long answer I provide when someone ask, "What kind of music do you play?" is..

"Modern Americana – acoustically driven rock and country crossover with pop sensibilities."

??????????? I really don’t understand it so I can’t expect someone else to.

Sometimes I say, "think John Mellencamp meets James Taylor meets ??"

That isn’t really it. I am thinking it is rock and roll – with an acoustic base.. or contemporary country pop?

If I say "rock & roll", people assume the current, two screaming guitars and a bit of anger. If I say "pop" they are thinking auto-tuned hip/rap. If I say "country", they think we sing about tractors and jacked-up tailgates and "pretty thangs" in Daisy Duke shorts. Americana? – it is a catch all and the people playing it know that but now even country artist hoping to appeal to a larger base use it.

In any case, the verdict remains out. When asked the question I think I’ll say, "Mighty Fine Music!"