Moses Sumney has emerged in the past year as an independent artist to watch, riding a wave of word-of-mouth praise based on hushed recordings and dynamic live performances. Raised between Southern California and Ghana, he was so shy growing up that he would write songs avidly but hide them inside his mattress. After moving to Los Angeles to attend UCLA at age 20, he taught himself to play the guitar and gingerly started performing on campus, writing soul-infused folk tunes using guitar and layered arrangements built on loop pedals.
While Moses was searching to record his music for the first time, Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) lent him his 80s 4-track cassette recorder. With this, he recorded his debut EP, Mid-City Island, in his Los Angeles studio apartment. Since its quiet self-release in 2014, he has gone on to perform around the world alongside forebears like Beck, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and Local Natives.
Moses is steadily working on his debut album. Before that, however, he will release a new 7″ this summer on Terrible Records. The 7″ was recorded to a 4-track cassette recorder in an old cabin in Big Bear over the winter, where Moses spent weeks alone writing in isolation, before being mixed by Chris Taylor.
Check out “Seeds,” the A side of the 7″ below along with all of Moses’ upcoming tour dates and stay tuned for more info soon.
LISTEN: “Seeds” – https://soundcloud.com/mosessumney/seeds
Tour Dates:
05/02 – Brooklyn NY @ Kings Theatre *
05/04 – Boston MA @ Citi Performing Arts Center *
05/05 – Washington DC @ DAR Constitution Hall *
05/06 – Richmond VA @ Altria Theater *
05/07 – Durham NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center *
05/09 – New Orleans E LA Saenger Theatre *
05/10 – Dallas TX @ Majestic Theatre *
05/11 – Houston TX @ Jones Hall for the Performing Arts *
05/12 – Austin TX @ Bass Concert Hall *
05/13 – Austin TX @ Bass Concert Hall *
05/22-05/24 – Acrosanti AZ @ FORM Arcosanti
05/30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Roots Picnic
8/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl ^
* With Sufjan Stevens
^ With Erykah Badu & St. Vincent
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