About John Moreland
John Robert Moreland is an American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Moreland was born in Longview, Texas, the son of Robert Lloyd Moreland, an engineer, and Connie May Moreland , a school librarian. Moreland's father worked for Sunoco as an electrical engineer, and because of this job the family moved a lot. His was a conservative Southern Baptist family. When he was a baby they moved to Northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. Moreland credits his love for the Cincinnati Reds to this time in Kentucky.
When Moreland was 10 years old Moreland's family moved from Boone County, Kentucky to Tulsa, Oklahoma and, with the help of his father, he started playing the guitar. When he was 12 or 13 he started playing with a child he went to church with who wrote songs and inspired him to start writing songs.
Moreland played in his first show when he was 13 or 14 years old. In the early 2000s during high school, Moreland played in local punk and hardcore bands, including local metalcore Oklahoma band, Thirty Called Arson.
Moreland put together the Black Gold Band in 2005, and released Endless Oklahoma Sky on Oklahoma City label Little Mafia Records in 2008. In 2009, he recorded the follow-up Things I Can't Control at Armstrong Recording in Tulsa with producer and musician Stephen Egerton .
Largely self-performed and self-produced, Moreland produces music that is influenced by his Oklahoma roots, music that is "gloriously and joyfully heartbreaking." Moreland has released a constant stream of records , saying "I write a lot of songs. And I guess I feel like your most recent release kind of represents you." Moreland has cited Steve Earle as his "gateway" to folk music. He switched genres from hardcore to folk when he heard Earle's song "Rich Man's War". His father was also a big Earle fan. Other influences were Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.
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