When it comes to music, Bart Moore possesses a lively, adventurous spirit.

The Grand Ledge, Michigan singer-songwriter and guitarist infectiously captures that essence and beckons listeners to come along for a rollicking-filled quest on Wild Flora.

“In the vast majority of the songs, there is something happening, a story of sorts,” said Moore about his latest alt-folk album. “My previous album, Graveyards Wind & War, was unconsciously dark. I wanted Wild Flora to be different— funnier with more movement and more adventures.”

On Wild Flora, Moore features storied lyrics and charged folk instrumentation across nine insightful tracks. Each song explores compelling characters at various points in time and captures the excitement, fear, and disappointment they encounter along the way.

“I like that the more I think about it,” Moore said. “There’s certainly more color than Graveyards—hence the title, Wild Flora, with the cover shot of the woman in my wildflower meadow.”

To learn more, I spoke with Moore ahead of a June 2 album release show at EagleMonk Pub and Brewery in Lansing, Michigan.

Q: How has your spring been so far? What’s been inspiring you from a creative standpoint lately?

A: It’s been decidedly mixed. The wife of my cousin Jeff, who has always been more like a brother than a cousin, passed away in early May after a two-year battle with ALS. I’m still coming to grips with that.

On a far more minor note, The University of Chicago, for whom I do grant and contact management, is working me to the point where I have almost no time to devote to music. These crazy astrophysicists and astronomers at UC always need a new $1 million part for their telescopes in Chile or at the South Pole.

On the plus side, Wild Flora got picked up by a European promoter and has been getting pre-release airplay in Ireland, the U.K., Scotland, the Netherlands, Wales, Germany, and Belgium. I still haven’t cracked Albania though.

Q: “Molly Bloom” reflects on the characters that are featured in James Joyce’s Ulysses, including Molly Bloom, Leopold Bloom, Hugh “Blazes” Boylan, Stephen Dedalus, and others. What captivated you about Ulysses and the character of Molly Bloom initially? How did that interest lead to writing this song?  

A: About four years ago, I sat, read, re-read, re-read, and spent hours—and hell—I couldn’t make heads nor tails out of most of Ulysses. If you’re not well-versed in Irish history, Gaelic idioms, Irish culture, and characters of classic literature, you’re not going to get a lot out of the book other than Joyce’s command of words and his ability to invent his own language. But I read much from people on the web who do understand much of Ulysses—and from that and my own reading—pieced together a sense of the book.

My favorite chapter is the last chapter, which is a stream-of-consciousness core dump from the mind of Molly Bloom, who is by far the most intriguing character. She is grappling with the idea that she is going to commit adultery and cheat on her husband Leopold—no small thing for a Catholic woman in early 20^th-century Ireland. The way Joyce puts the frenetic chaos of the book in the works of [Jack] Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan’s Tarantula, and Kurt Vonnegut to an extent, half a century later, that’s the stuff that moves me to write songs. I’m a hopeless weirdo.

Q: “Heavenly Daze” explores being in a magical relationship and feeling spellbound by that person. The track also includes references to witchcraft/wizardry and the afterlife. How did you arrive at this mystical theme and the mortal and immortal characters that are featured in this song? By chance, did The Three Stooges short subject of the same name help inspire this track as well?

A: That’s hilarious. A DJ in Scotland picked up on The Three Stooges thing when he played that song in his podcast. I hadn’t thought of it till then, though my reverence for The Three Stooges borders on irrational. I’ve been married a long time, but she has this magical aspect that doesn’t dissipate. I’m easily bored and she’s incapable of being boring, so it’s a good match. As to the mysticism, the video gets into psychedelia and imagery that I hadn’t considered when writing this song, but it works.

Q: “Tuesday Afternoon at Wrigley Field” celebrates a person’s appreciation for seeing a baseball game in the summer at the iconic Chicago field. What’s special to you about that ballpark and seeing games there? How does it provide you with a sense of escape? What was it like to chronicle that escape and highlight key past and present baseball plays from the Cubs, Giants, Yankees, and other teams throughout the song? 

A: My first memories of even being cognizant of baseball are watching the Chicago Cubs and WGN-TV in Chicago with my dad and growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, which is right across the lake from Chicago. My first game at Wrigley—I might have been seven—we sat along the third-base line, and I saw those ballplayers who I knew previously only as television images come to life.

Seeing the ivy on the outfield wall and the smell of Chicago, indelible and unforgettable, Wrigley Field is a place of dreams. You walk in there and you step into history. That’s where Al Capone chatted up Charlie Grimm. That’s where the Babe pointed to the bleachers when he called his shot in ’32. There’s the press box where Jack Brickhouse, completely sloshed by the seventh inning, was literally the voice of baseball for generations of fans.

Baseball is the greatest game ever conceived. It’s indelibly, almost painfully, American. Wrigley Field is baseball’s temple, and you used the perfect word—escape. You step into that shrine; it doesn’t matter who the president is or whether your lover just left you. What’s troubling you, consuming you in the outside world, can’t get you in there. What matters is that [Kyle] Hendricks gives us six strong innings, [Cody] Bellinger hits one onto Waveland, and we fly the W. My mission in writing this song was to convey the sensation of unbridled joy felt over two-and-a-half hours of a ballgame at Wrigley.

Q: “October” serves as a nostalgic tale that longs for the past and reflects on the natural and astronomical wonders visible in the fall. How did youthful adventures in the fall and different creatures, stars, planets, and constellations inspire this track for you? How is the month of October still special to you today, despite the changes in nature that you’ve noticed over time?

A: October—the month—has always moved me. It’s the month of the year after spring and summer when darkness finally overtakes light and when nighttime is no longer than daytime. There’s something foreboding about it, culminating of course in Halloween, which for me is the second greatest day of the year after Christmas. I tried to convey that child’s sense of foreboding, the death of summer, and the night taking over.

The star and constellation references in the second verse are inspired by John Carlstrom, a brilliant astrophysicist I work with at The University of Chicago, who studies the night sky to the edges of the universe.

Q: “Mattie’s Song (Walking on Time)” chronicles a child’s wonder and appreciation for the simple pleasures in life. Who is Mattie? How did Mattie’s vibrant personality and youthful curiosity inspire this track for you? How do you hope Mattie inspires listeners through this song as well?

A: Mattie is the seven-year-old daughter of our friend Sarah Pioggia. As bright a light as there is, [Mattie’s] precocious and hilarious. One night, I dreamed she was in this field of giant clocks, like multi-colored pocket-watches—kind of a Salvador Dalí scene—and she was leaping from one clock to another. I beseeched her to stop, as there was nothing but an abyss below, should she miscalculate her jump. She, of course, paid no heed and kept jumping. Hence, “walking on time,” I mean, good grief, she’s seven. What kind of world is it when she’s 42? Just keep jumping on clocks, kid, and don’t look down.

Q: You recently released videos for three tracks featured on Wild Flora—“Molly Bloom,” “Heavenly Daze,” and “Tuesday Afternoon at Wrigley Field.” Where were the videos filmed? What was it like to work on these videos, especially “Heavenly Daze” with Paul Meredith Productions? Who else did you work with on these videos? Do you plan to record and release videos for any of the other songs off the album?

A: Most of the video stuff I do is just live performance and mostly livestream. “Heavenly Daze” with Meredith was the first kind of “studio” thing I’ve ever done. I wanted to do something with Paul after seeing his amazing music videos on his YouTube page, and it turned out he lives right down the road from me! He’s very good with cameras and lighting, and with a DaVinci editor, so it came off well. I’d love to do more video stuff—just need the days to extend to 30 hours.

Q: How long did you spend writing the nine tracks for Wild Flora? What was it like to record those tracks with Corey DeRushia at Troubadour Recording in Lansing, Michigan late last year and early this year? How did he help you shape the overall sound for Wild Flora from a production standpoint? How did Corey’s contributions on bass, percussion, and keys add to the tracks as well?

A: Wild Flora was written over the spring and summer of 2023—I finally got the muse back after the last album! I did some pre-recording and then went to Corey DeRushia’s Troubadour studio in Lansing for tracking. The guy is ridiculously good. On Wild Flora, he is nominally the engineer, but as you point out, he played some keyboards, bass, and percussion. He did a lot of producing, and I can’t imagine recording anywhere else.

Q: You also collaborate with Craig Cole (bass), Grant Flick (violin), Ian Levine (percussion), David Mosher (violin, mandolin), Tamiko Rothhorn (vocals), Skip VonKuske (cello), and Cody Wilson (guitar). How did they help you take the album’s tracks to the next level?

A: You want a really good album; you work with really good players. David Mosher was a top-line player in Ann Arbor, Michigan before he moved to Austin, Texas. He’s been on every album I’ve done. He has a playful, mischievous style that I love.

Tamiko, of course, is one of the fronts in The Dangling Participles, a jazz-folk band from Lansing, Michigan. She’s the best singer I know personally, and she provides a lovely counterpoint. I’ve never met Skip VonKuske; I send him the songs, and he sends me cello tracks from Seattle—it works well. Ian is a jazz player primarily, who’s adapted to my decidedly non-jazz perspective.

Cody Wilson is a guitarist who cut his teeth in the cauldron/grinder of Nashville, Tennessee. We’ve done a few live events together, and I hope to do more. The same with Craig Cole, who has an uncanny knack for finding the perfect part and nailing the “spirit” of the song. I love playing with people who can provide that.

Grant Flick is a total madman, and the guy has Mark O’Connor-like chops. After he tracked “The Railyard Ghosts,” we threw him out of the studio. I mean, nobody should be able to play like that.

Q: Do you have plans for an album release show? If so, then when and where? What will your set be like? Who will be joining you on stage for it?

A: There will be a CD release show at EagleMonk Pub and Brewery in Lansing, Michigan on June 2, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the beer garden. It’s apropos as sobriety diminishes the quality and impact of what I do. I’ll be joined by guitarist Cody Wilson, bassist Craig Cole, and drummer/cajonist/percussionist Ryan Eggebrecht. My friends Tom and Mary Heideman will open with a short set around 3 p.m.

Q: You’re back performing at EagleMonk Pub and Brewery on June 24. What do you enjoy most about performing there?

A: The EagleMonk is an off-the-wall brewpub off the beaten path in Lansing on Mt. Hope Highway and Lansing Road. Dan is the master brewer and Sonia is the ramrod who keeps order in the kingdom. The beer is delicious, and the clientele is a mix of eccentric regulars, urban slummers who took the wrong exit off I-496, and rural crazies mistaking it for a roadhouse. If I was a brew pub, I would be the EagleMonk.

Q: What’s up next for you later this year? Any plans to write and record additional new material?

A: No, I may write some stuff for songwriting groups I’d like to get more involved with, but I’m creatively burned out for the most part.

Show details:

Bart Moore Wild Flora Album Release Show

Sunday, June 2 | 3 p.m.

EagleMonk Pub and Brewery, 4906 W. Mt. Hope Highway in Lansing, Michigan