Abra Moore

This summer, Moore joined “Lilith Fair” for some shows, opened a leg of the Third Eye Blind tour and most recently, hooked up with Collective Soul for a series of theatre dates. She said the Third Eye Blind tour was a lot of fun and she feels quite lucky to open for a nice bunch of guys like the members of Collective Soul in such wonderful theatre facilities. When she mentioned “Lilith Fair,” the word “heavenly” came immediately to her sleepy lips.

“It was a really, really well run event,” Moore said. “The artists were just really supportive and friendly…. They’re just really down to earth, supportive women.”

Moore dug the musical vibe working with women like Sarah McLachlan, Joan Osborne, Emmylou Harris and Jewel. She also appreciated the fact that “Lilith Fair” has a charitable agenda. “It felt really special to be a part of this tour because … Sarah was donating money to charities and shelters in every city. That really felt positive.”

Being asked to participate in such successful tours is an honor for Moore but she’s already faced people saying, “Oh no. Not another girl.” Moore said instead of fighting it when she was trying to land a solo record deal, she made the phrase her own. “That was my whole intro when I made this record,” she said. “My vibe was like, ‘Oh hi. Sorry. Yeah, I’m a girl. Ah shit, but it’s a nice record.'” Moore said the thought doesn’t seem to occur when another male comes on the scene. “We don’t have [people saying] ‘Oh God. Not another dude.'”

Moore views the growth of female artists like a balancing of the scales — not some anomalous music trend. “People are having a hard time adjusting to the concept that it’s balancing because it’s never been that way,” she said. “Everyone wants to tag it, title it, box it and put it on its shelf…. That’s how everyone’s looking at me probably. [Saying], ‘Oh, she’s just another trend that’s going to fizz out.’ It’s a drag man. It’s a drag that it’s got to be that way as opposed to just simply looking at the record and simply looking at me. But a lot of people are getting it. So….”

Moore is right. A lot of people are getting it. You may hear people ask, “Who is Abra Moore?” But with one listen to her first single, “Four Leaf Clover,” there’s already an automatic, “Ahh, that’s who she is. She’s good.”

Despite the fact that Moore is making a name for herself, inevitable comparisons do tend to pop up. “I’m just being myself and a lot of people say I tend to sound like a few singers…. I hear Rickie Lee [Jones] and I hear Edie Brickell…. [People say], ‘I hope you don’t mind.’ I’m like, ‘Wow! I’m flattered. Thank you.’ That’s totally flattering when someone says that I sound like [Edie Brickell]. She’s got a beautiful voice.”

Moore is firm about the fact that neither of those women were influences in her life. “I’ve heard some things [in Brickell’s music] where it’s like, ‘Wow, the tone of the writing is as if I’ve sat around and listened to her, or that [she’s] my influence,’ which is not at all true. The first time I heard her it was like, ‘Wow, we share the same timber and phrasing. We must have listened to the same kind of music growing up.'”

Moore said when she was growing up, she listened to “everything from the Rolling Stones to Tom Petty to the Beatles to Billy Holiday to Stevie Wonder — the whole Motown era — Gladys Knight. I could go on. Bob Dylan….”

As expected, Moore often gets asked what sets her apart from her contemporaries. “My response to that is, ‘It’s all been done and let’s all go out there and have fun and be honest and have a good time.'” Moore said a lot of performers are taking the approach, “I’m more unique than you because (fill in the blank). “There’s like … thousands of really amazing incredibly talented unique wonderful people,” she said. “I can’t sit around and figure out what I have that’s more special than someone else. All I can do is go out and be honest and have a good show and be true to myself and my instincts. That’s what makes us all different because every soul is different. But if you try to look at the concept and stand me side by side, it’s like, man, the bottom line is it’s all been done before.”

Moore doesn’t intend to sound jaded and cold, she’s just keenly aware of the fact that there are only so many notes and chords and what makes a performer different is not the way her guitar is tuned. It’s what’s inside.