The Moonlighters

The Moonlighters began playing and performing in New York in March of 1998. The band was born in 1996 when Henry Bogdan, who played bass for eight years with Helmet, and had developed a passion for Hawaiian steel guitar, met Bliss Blood, former vocalist with the awesome Texas avant/noise/rock Pain Teens, who had moved to New York and was playing ukulele and singing around town. Merging their interests in Hawaiian guitar and 1920’s pop & jazz, they recruited jazz bassist Andrew Hall and actress/singer/guitarist Carla Murray on vocals and rhythm guitar (after Henry had quit Helmet). The band quickly became a familiar favorite at lower east side clubs and having been working consistently ever since.

The Moonlighters sound is somewhere between old-timey Hawaiian music, such as the great records of Sol Hoopii and Andy Iona, and pop records from the 1930’s by vocalists like The Boswell Sisters and Annette Hanshaw. But within this sonic context they also write originals such as the darkly poignant “Blue and Black-Eyed” that are very decidedly modern in flavor. One thing is certain– you have never heard a band like the Moonlighters! Come celebrate the release of their new CD, Live in Baden-Baden, recorded during their May 2002 tour of Germany.