From the look of them, Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir might appear to be the strangest group of people you’ve ever seen. With long flowing hair from the lead guitar player, a clean-cut and aged appeal from the upright basses and a scuffled yet haggard look from the harmonica and percussion player, this acoustic trio are about as visually interesting as they are musically interesting.
With a name as unique as Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir, however, it really shouldn’t surprise you.
Based in Cherryville, North Carolina, Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir consists of Moses Cherry on tenor guitar and vocals, Johnny Burns on upright string bass and Zac McBee on harmonica and percussion (or as the band likes to call it, “The Apparatus”).
I stumbled across this unique group late last Friday night as they played host to a handful of people in The Smelly Cat, a quant yet progressive coffee shop just off thirty-sixth Street in NoDa.
Sampling from their self-titled debut album “Friday,” Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir released a sound that, in my opinion, encapsulates the essence of southern folk music.
Reminiscent of B.B. King with an indie injection of Eric Clapton, Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir provides scratchy vocal harmonies to their already simplistic, yet bemused sound.
The debut album for Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir is everything that a debut album should be. “T for Texas” the first selection off the album, sets precedent for the rest of the album. In a singer/songwriter storytelling tone, Moses Cherry outlines his traveling experiences, sexual appeal and ever-important chase of women.
As the album progresses, the group’s story continues highlighting “Evil” and their trips “Going Down South”, all of which are songs that are based and centered on their real world experience.
It is an understatement to say that this band is new to the local scene. Having formed just under a year ago, Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir plays as much and as often as they can just to get their name out. The release of their debut album has helped spread their name some, but this acoustic blues band is looking for something more.
If you think you might be interested in Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir’s unique sound, Sunday, Sept. 27 marks the bands next scheduled performance at the Snug Harbor in North Charlotte. I spoke with Moses Cherry following the Friday show, and he wanted to encourage as many people to come out as possible.
“I’m just really glad you guys are interested enough in our music [to want a C.D.”] Moses said following the Friday show. “Our tour is taking us pretty much everywhere,” he concluded.
For more information on Moses Cherry & The Topless Gospel Choir visit their Web site at http://www.mosescherry.com or better yet, check out an upcoming show. Who knows, they might just inspire you to pick the blues.
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