Dave P. Moore’s Fort Necessity blends classic blues and country influences into an authentic Southern experience. Notes of hellraising irreverence like Willie Nelson, mixed with the musical talent and composition of the Allman Brothers or Widespread Panic, make for a solid country album.

It’s real smokey saloon-type music, and images of aged troubadours in cowboy hats nostalgic for their rough-and-tumble Gunsmoke days come to mind. Like most good blues, Moore sings about experiences with poverty, mortality and seeking an escape from it all. For someone who lived in the country for many years, this album might make you feel at home—like worn dirt roads, smoking weed out the back of your friend’s truck for the first time, or meeting up with family and friends in the country for a seafood boil or barbecue cookout. 

The track “I Oughta Thank You,” highlights some of the highest limits of the album’s musical talent. Playful solos from the harmonica, guitar and organ dot the track. Moore’s gruff vocals would feel as at home in a small country chapel as they would in an old dive bar. There’s a pearl of worn wisdom in his voice that reminds me of Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard. “Welcome Here Always” fills out the aging bluesman persona with lyrics depicting a conflict between being a born loner but still needing the right people to fight off loneliness. 

The album’s production is undoubtedly influenced by Moore’s work in studios with artists like Dr. John and Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones. Moments on the album create grand space, like wide-open pastures of sound. Moore has been drawn to blues since he first started playing harmonica at age 11 and Fort Necessity shows that despite getting older and settling down, Moore’s still got it.