Nathan Moomaw: twenty-six

These days it’s hard to find an artist who is as utterly naïve as Nathan Moomaw. A precocious folk artist who sites his father as his biggest musical influence, Moomaw’s latest album is a concept piece celebrating the 26th year of his life. The gimmick is that the artist wrote one song each month — a sort of method to chronicle the year. The songs (appropriately titled “March” through “April”) are mostly melancholic affairs centered around Moomaw’s acoustic guitar and soft, Elliot Smith-like voice. Consistent with his cutesy folk ethos, Moomaw throws in an occasional uke, accordion, and tambourine percussion for good measure. “If you were a color you’d be amber / If you were a liquor you’d be red wine”, Moomaw sings on “September”. “If you were a heartbeat you’d be quicker / If you were a lover you’d be mine”. You can only sit back and smile at the artist’s lack of pretentiousness. Each song is revealing in a way which would make other singer/songwriters blush. They don’t make them like this anymore.