Moors & McCumber, which plays Safety Harbor Art and Music Center in Safety Harbor on Feb. 15, 2025. Credit: Photo via moorsandmccumber.com

It’s not always easy for parents and their children to bond over the same bands. But if you have fallen head over heels for Jason Isbell or Lucinda Williams after being raised on Simon and Garfunkel or Seals & Croft, the harmonious duo Moors & McCumber might mend any familial musical tension.

After meeting at a music festival in 2005, Wisconsin’s James Moors and Colorado’s Kort McCumber—both having led illustrious solo careers—began “defying common logic and embracing spontaneity to bring their stories and songs to life,” according to a press kit. Their latest album, 2023’s Wired To the Moon, has the minimalism and grittiness of an early Wallflowers record, and proves that not all harmonies have to hit that nerve every single time.

James and Kort’s instrumental, double-volumed Companion albums are loaded with enough mandolin and traditional European influence that would impress the members of Steeleye Span (“All Around My Hat”). Maybe you’d be better off there.

Tickets to see Moors & McCumber play Safety Harbor Art and Music Center in Safety Harbor on Saturday, Feb. 15 are still available and start at $30.

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This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2025.