In 1956 or ’57, finger-style guitarist Rich Moore saw and heard a guitar for the first time, somewhere on a tourist boat, maybe near Bermuda. And, as fate would have it, that guitar player with the big archtop, a broad smile and a big hat, was also wearing a thumb pick, something that would later come to play a prominent role in Rich’s musical life. “I can clearly remember seeing that pick on that man’s thumb, wondering if it was part of him, and why was it there. It kind of scared me!”
Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Rich heard all kinds of music growing up. “Being a guitar player, a musician, was really all I’ve ever wanted to do”, says Rich. From his father’s singing with Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and his mother’s frequent piano playing (on a working player piano, no less!), through exposure to much classical music on the radio, he also managed to later find other styles of music through pop radio (“WIBG Radio 99”), and later on the FM “underground” radio scene playing folk, bluegrass, and psychedelic rock. But the music really stuck with him when he began frequenting the area’s legendary Main Point. And it too long after attending a few shows there that the owner asked him if he’d consider working at the club, tearing tickets and helping out. And so began an immersion into the music that he continues to hold close to his heart. “Seeing Doc & Merle Watson, Joni Mitchell, Josh White, Sr., Laura Nyro, Odetta, David Bromberg, Chris Smither, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, James Cotton, Muddy Waters, on and on and on—that kind of exposure is bound to have a lasting impact on an age 16 and 17 year old kid. I was a very impressionable youngster, and I just soaked it all in.” From then on, he pursued playing that music—folk, blues, Americana, country, on acoustic and electric guitars and bass—and continues to this day.

Fast forward, and Rich has played with folks all over the the Denver area and beyond playing solo, duos, country & western bands, blues bands, studio work, etc. Most notable is his collaboration with his wife, Grammy-Award winner Mollie O’Brien. He’s toured throughout the US and into Europe, appearing at clubs and festivals (Telluride, Tønder, Strawberry, Live Oak, etc). He’s proud of the recordings he’s made with Mollie (“Love Runner”, “Saints And Sinners”, “900 Baseline”), as well as those with the rest of the family (“Daughters” with Mollie and their daughters Brigid & Lucy, and “Reincarnation—The Songs Of Roger Miller”, which featured Mollie and their daughters, along with Mollie’s brother Tim and his two sons, Jackson & Joel.) He’s also released a two albums of his own original guitar pieces, “Steady State” (2001) and “Voiceless (2020).