Photo: Kris Payne (from John Morelands webpage)

John Moreland (born June 22, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We saw him supporting Jason Isbell in January, he was fantastic. Intense, personal and with a voice that can make grown men cry.

Moreland sometimes plays solo with an acoustic guitar, but was often accompanied by two different bands: the Black Gold Band (now defunct) or the Dust Bowl Souls. While his earlier music was more rock-based, his more recent releases are characterized as being sparsely acoustic.

He is characterized as a songwriter’s songwriter. We have talked to several singer/songwriters and many times they’ve mentioned Moreland as the best thing happening on the “scene” these days.

Several of John Moreland’s songs have been featured on the TV show, Sons of Anarchy.

Thunder Road was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, and is the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. The song describes a young woman named Mary, her boyfriend, and their “one last chance to make it real.” The song’s title comes from the Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road. Springsteen declared that he was somehow inspired by the movie despite not having seen it. As he says: “I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby of the theater.” I’ve seen the movie, and strangely, I kind of heard Springsteen’s song all through the film.

John Moreland do a great version of this song, he really gets the lyrics through to the listener.

John Moreland – Thunder Road (at 25th Street Studio, Oakland, CA):

– Hallgeir