Ian Moore

Ian Moore has been slowing the tempo since his early "Texas blues whiz kid" days curved out of his rearview mirror in the late '90s. He's gone through an acoustic stage and a lamented "Eddie Vedder jams with Chris Whitley in the Big Easy" phase, periods that helped him discover his soulful inner falsetto. Since then, he's moved to Seattle and begun writing long, atmospheric pop songs, the kind that would make Nick Drake, Roger Waters or John Lennon proud. His latest, Luminaria (you know, those little paper bags with candles), gives him a chance to release all the melodic '60s flourishes -- huge harmonies, horn fanfares, songs about Antarctic explorers -- that a bluesman simply cannot pursue.