Alligator Records recording artists Moreland & Arbuckle, whose latest album Promised Land Or Bust recently received a 2016 Blues Music Award nomination for Rock Blues Album Of The Year, have decided to amicably dissolve the band. They will play the remaining booked dates on their tour calendar. Guitarist Aaron Moreland plans to spend more time at home with his family. Vocalist, harmonicist and songwriter Dustin Arbuckle plans to continue making music and touring. Drummer Kendall Newby, who joined the band in 2012, also intends to keep playing professionally.
Over the course of their 15-year career, Moreland and Arbuckle have played hundreds of shows, performing in the United States, Canada, across Europe and in Australia, Iraq and Kuwait. They’ve shared stages with ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Los Lonely Boys. No Depression said, “These guys have kegs full of talent. Their songs will keep you driving fast and long.”
According to Moreland, “I’ve had extraordinary opportunities playing music my entire life. The best shows have been the highest of highs. After 15 years on the road, it’s time for me to focus on what’s most important — my family.”
Arbuckle says,”The last 15 years have been an incredible ride. I especially want to thank Aaron for being my partner in this endeavor. Creating and playing music with him has been one of the greatest parts of my life. I wish him nothing but happiness in the future. Playing and touring afforded us the opportunity to have so many great experiences and meet even more wonderful people. I want to express my tremendous gratitude to all the friends and fans who have supported us over the years. I plan to continue my career as a touring musician, so hopefully I will see all of them again in the future. In addition, I have to give my most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been a part of this band and to all those who have helped build it. It’s been great and I will always cherish the memories of the good times we’ve had.”
Moreland & Arbuckle brought fierce electric fury and unrelenting punk rock energy to their original songs, inspired by raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues. With each of their six releases, the band grew musically and lyrically, creating a signature sound while earning a large and loyal worldwide fan base. Their legendary raw and raucous live shows were played with wild abandon. The New York Post said, “Moreland & Arbuckle have a raw juke joint exuberance with a dirt-under-the fingernails garage band attack.”
From their 2005 self-released Caney Valley Blues to 2016’s Promised Land Or Bust, Moreland & Arbuckle grew from a fiery, crowd-pleasing duo to a genre-smashing three-piece band. Together, Moreland’s simultaneous bass, rhythm and lead guitar work and Arbuckle’s emotionally charged harmonica and edgy vocals — driven by Newby’s propulsive drumming —c reated a sound forceful enough to grab a listener’s attention and nuanced enough to hold it. American Songwriter said the group’s music was “swampy, sweaty and muggy…mixing a bluesy foundation with bits of country, folk and squawking American rock and roll.” WNYC’s Soundcheck said the band played “gritty blues with a thoroughly contemporary bite.”
-Alligator Records
