Shelly Moore Band
Self-Titled
Independent

At the core of this band is the duet of Shelly Moore and Mike Passaro. Together they have accomplished the majority of the writing on their self-titled independent release. Shelly heads up the team on lead vocals and Mike provides support on the acoustic guitar. The two met through the worship team at Campus Crusade for Christ on the NC State campus. They begin working on their music full-time in 2001.

Before I received the CD, I took some time to check out their web site and listen to some samples. Immediately I thought that Shelly Moore was actually Jennifer Knapp returning under a sudo name. Shelly’s vocals and the prevalent acoustic background were hauntingly similar to that of Knapp. Of course the best way to describe the music is to say that it compares equally to Knapp’s rock-gospel style.

There are some differences though that make The Shelly Moore Band authentic. The writing for example is much different; it’s more vertical praise and worship than personal journaling. There is a lot of personal conversation going on between the vocalist and the Lord; singing prayers though. The music also takes a pleasant move from the rock beat of “Verbalize” to a more serene tone on “Serenade”, and “Exodus”. There is a well established mixture of worship and guitar-rock.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to review such an incredible CD. The gospel oriented lyrics and the acoustic nature of the album make it very easy to listen to. My only addition to the CD would be to make it an enhanced CD with chord charts and lyrics so I could learn to play along with so many great songs.

- Ken W.

http://www.shellymoore.com/
http://www.myspace.com/shellymooreband