Today we’d like to introduce you to Graham Guest.
Graham, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Piano lessons age 8 – 12. Started guitar at 12, took a few lessons, then learned independently for a long time. Played in an original band called Graham & Pat Live! In high school, St. John’s School – Houston (1982-1986): all original songs; I played guitar and sang, Pat Murray (male) played bass, and we used a drum machine. Took classical and jazz guitar in college (Wesleyan University, CT) but did not play in a band.
Started a band, Moses Guest, in earnest, in 1995 in Houston.
First line-up was me, Sean Simon on bass, and John Chupin on drums. We put out an album called Geniality of Morality in 1996. It was sort of a grunge-jam band hybrid (which Jennifer, my wife, really likes). Current line-up came together in 1997: me, James Edwards on drums, Rick Thompson on keys, and Jeremy Horton on bass. We put out two albums: American Trailer Home Blues and a live one called Live Stages in 1997 and 1998 respectively. We won a battle of the bands contest in early 1998 that earned us spot on a HORDE Tour date in 1998 (in Antioch, TN). That was a big moment, and we started touring a lot after that: southern and southeastern states and the mountain states, especially Colorado.
In 2001 we were voted Best Rock/Pop Band in the Houston Press Music Awards. In 2002, we put out our self-titled double-cd album. It was really well-received, written up a couple times in Relix, featured in Texas Music Magazine, etc. It was nominated Best CD in the 2003 Houston Press Music Awards. We toured a lot. We got a showcase with ATO records (in maybe 2003 or so) up in Charlottesville, VA, at the Star Hill Music Hall (opening for the Jayhawks), but nothing came of it. We put out Guest Motel in 2004. It was full of short, poppy tunes we hoped would get us more radio play. It did okay, if I recall, but no big hit. We also put out a DVD called Edit around that time. We toured in the summer of 2004, and then we took a break. We didn’t break up, just hung it up for a while. I wanted to go back to school, but before I did, we squeezed out another album called Best Laid Plans (2007). In 2006-7.
Jen and I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area so I could go back to graduate school, first in philosophy (UC Davis), then in writing (California College of the Arts). We had a daughter, Edie, in 2008 in SF then moved to Glasgow, Scotland, from 2009 – 2011, where I got my PhD in English (literature and writing emphases) at Glasgow University. We moved back to California (Mill Valley) in 2011, and I now teach at Dominican University of California in nearby San Rafael and try to write novels and music. I published one novel called Winter Park in 2016. Moses Guest started playing again in earnest in 2012.
Nowadays, I’ll fly down every 3-4 months to do an MG show in Houston. We started working on a new album, Light, about two years ago (2015), and now it’s finally out (released June 2017). It’s a polished effort and we are proud of it. It was mastered at Abbey Rd Studios in London by Sean Magee. The album was on the Relix/Jambands.com Radio Chart during the months of June, July, August, and September 2017, and it held the #4 spot on that chart in July and August 2017; and the album has been reviewed favorably in dozens of periodicals, including two reviews in No Depression. Moses Guest has shared the stage with many great acts over the years, including Moe., Steve Miller Band, JGB, Willie Nelson, Los Lobos, Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, David Nelson Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Jayhawks, Lisa Loeb, Colonel Bruce Hampton & the Fiji Mariners.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a relatively smooth road vis a vis of band membership. We’ve been the same four guys – me (guitar, lead vocals), Jeremy Horton (bass), James Edwards (drums, backing vocals), and Rick Thompson (keys, backing vocals) – for twenty years, and we get along well. We enjoy a solid brotherhood.
It’s been a rough road in the typical ways: common rock ‘n’ roll band pitfalls, like too much drinking, and disillusionment due to lack of projected/hoped for massive success. We are clear of those two pitfalls now, though: some of us don’t drink at all; none of us drinks to the extreme; and we record and play music for ourselves and our friends and fans, regardless of commercial success.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Moses Guest story. Tell us more about the business.
Moses Guest is a rock band. We were founded in the bars and clubs of Houston: Dan Electro’s, Last Concert Cafe, Rudyard’s, and Continental Club. We started our own records label and publishing company, Aufheben Records and Sclanard Publishing, respectively, and have done it all on our own, the grassroots way. Houston was a great town to start a band in. There were tons of great players, tons of great open mic nights, and clubs would actually pay you, even as you were just cutting your teeth. We are known for our original music, and it is our original music that we are most proud of.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The music business has gone largely online, obviously, where there is an infinite number of bands trying to get noticed in an infinite pond. This creates a sad situation where all these bands are in a kind of death-scramble to get their 15 milliseconds of virtual “fame” via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We have to play this game to some extent, but going forward, our focus will be on the “ground”: on playing live shows for live people and recording real albums for real people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mosesguest.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosesguest1997/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosesguest/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/moses_guest
Image Credit:
Karolyn Veselka , Steve Harris
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
