Bruce Moore, a talented, veteran musician who’s played music for more than 40 years, laughed about a little “brain fart” he went through Wednesday morning as he thought of all of the artists he and his friend and bandmate Mark Bowman love to cover.
The duo, who make up The Catahoula Hounds, will play Red Cedar Beer Bar — 1941 Riverside Ave., Hoquiam — on Saturday night at 6 p.m. They mostly play cover songs and Moore just couldn’t think of every band that inspires them and every band who has songs in which Moore and Bowman play. The list includes Tom Petty, Bob Seger, “a couple Stones tunes,” The Band, Alabama, work from John Fogerty and many more.
“We have a pretty vast list,” Moore said. “I can’t think of them all right now. We have three sets of the older stuff, mostly late ‘80s, ‘90s, some ‘60s because we have a couple of Beatles songs, Kinks songs. Just the stuff that was played by so many bands then.”
Moore said people won’t see them tackle Chuck Berry’s “Johnny Be Good,” like what many bands cover.
“We kind of get out there a little bit …” Moore said. “We go from The Rolling Stones to Gordon Lightfoot.”
The music
“Mark and I have both been playing for 40 years-plus,” Moore said. “He’s written a couple hundred songs. They’re all really good. They’re kind of folksy, they talk about the neighborhood and Grays Harbor.”
Moore said a unique thing about their band is it’s just himself playing the bass and Bowman playing the guitar.
“Fortunately you can listen to us and pick us out individually,” Moore said. “There’s no drum. We don’t play with a drummer.”
Moore said drums can make a kind of “cacophony,” where it doesn’t really meld together.
There isn’t that sort of issue with The Catahoula Hounds. When they played in November at Hoquiam Brewing Company, which saw a large crowd for the benefit concert for Dawn Keogh, a cancer survivor, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as they watched, listened and sipped cold beer.
On Wednesday, when they played along Bowman’s dogs Annie and Oakley inside Bowman’s studio, they sounded tight, which should bode well for Saturday night.
The venue
Both guys like Red Cedar. They especially like the large, fenced-in lawn where people can lounge and sip on beer and wine, and dogs can play outside in the grass.
“We played a benefit there for Mark’s daughter, who had cancer,” Moore said about the duo’s last show at Red Cedar. “It was kind of a cool afternoon. It was in September. But there were probably 30-35 people there.”
Moore said this is their first paying gig at Red Cedar Beer Bar, which is owned by Nancy Dudley, and Moore’s excited to play there.
“On a sunny afternoon, or early evening, what could be a better place to be out in Nancy’s garden?” Moore said. “We’re playing there Saturday night and the forecast is for about 60-62 degrees. Hopefully we’ll be able to play outside. We’re gonna play rain or shine, so if we have to go inside … there’s room for 25, or maybe 30?”
But, for now it seems luck is on their side as the forecast calls for more sunny days. It’s almost as if Sesame Streets’ Elmo wrote the forecast for the weekend.
Bowman gave his thoughts about playing this weekend at Red Cedar.
“We love to play there,” Bowman said. “She’s got a great venue, if the weather’s good. If it’s inside, it’s kind of small. But it looks to us like it’s gonna be decent weather, so we’ll be outside. As long as it’s not rainy we’ll be out there and I hope people want to come, have fun and drink a beer, because we like that place.”
A few of the music events happening this weekend across Grays Harbor County, according to venues, Facebook and people in the know:
Saturday, May 18
6 p.m. — The Catahoula Hounds — Red Cedar Beer Bar — 1941 Riverside Ave., in Hoquiam
7 p.m. — Caveman Dave — Mount Olympus Brewing — 105 W. Heron St., in Aberdeen
8 p.m. — The Swaggerlies, Gonzos Attic, Atrocity Girl, Rock Tough — Messy Jessy’s Bar and Grill — 212 S. I St., in Aberdeen
Sunday, May 19
6 p.m. — Colin Gage (Acoustic) — The Sand Dollar — 2858 S. Forrest St., in Westport
Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World Bruce Moore, who slaps the bass in a rehearsal for The Catahoula Hounds’ Saturday night show at Red Cedar — 1941 Riverside Ave., — spoke about what he and his bandmate Mark Bowman play, which is a variety of covers of classic songs from world-renowned artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Band, Gordon Lightfoot, and many, many more.
Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World This is a preview of what music listeners have to look forward to when they see The Catahoula Hounds on Saturday night at 6 p.m., at Red Cedar Beer Bar — 1941 Riverside Ave., in Hoquiam. As of now, the forecast calls for sunny skies, which is exactly what Bruce Moore and Mark Bowman, the duo who make up The Catahoula Hounds, hope to play under.
