ROLLING STONE premieres JOHN THE CONQUEROR’s “Waking Up To You”

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“I’m a blues man; all I got are stories,” admits John The Conqueror‘s singer-songwriter Pierre Moore. And not unlike many blues greats before him, the stories that fill out the Philly-based trio’s second full-length studio effort, The Good Life, are based on Moore’s own personal experiences that span from his Mississippi youth to his current life – much of it spent on the road.
“When I started this album,” Moore said, “I completely devoted myself to becoming a better writer.” And after witnessing these 11 impassioned, often explosive tracks, Moore’s decision to focus on his art paid off with well-crafted songs of truth, clarity and power. All of the compositions were penned by Moore except for their swaggering take on Randy Newman’s “Let’s Burn Down The Cornfield.” Building on the soulful blues-rock foundation of their acclaimed 2012 self-titled debut, The Good Life moves forward with both Moore’s own life experiences turned to song, and the tight-but-loose rhythms of drummer Michael Gardner & bassist Ryan Lynn as well as Moore’s own snaky, sinewy guitar leads.
While John The Conqueror follows the path laid down for decades by like-minded bluesmen who ‘told it like it was,’ on The Good Life Moore and co. have also updated the blues idiom for a new generation – melding hard truths with hard-ass blues-rock. – ROLLING STONE