CASINOS

PLAY » SPIN » LAUGH » GROOVE » UNWIND » WIN

THE ‘UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE’

Mogollon brings rock, old-school country to the stage

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Bryan Kuban of Scottsdale, and “pretty powerful.” single gigs. Not everybody was out Duane Moore feels like he hasn’t worked a day in his life. Moore loves everything about the drummer Jon Kinsey of Mesa. If Moore feels depressed, the pall lifts when he picks up his guitar, strums a few chords and writes a song. “It comes full circle,” he says. “It’s the universal language.” “It’s not performer-audience,” he says. “The audience is part of us. It’s cool when you reach a pinnacle. It’s just crazy cool getting out into the audience with my fiddle and running around. We just like to have fun with them. They love it.” of work. Our industry was beat up. Restaurants, musicians and bands were beat up bad. “Anytime I get on stage, I thank my audience profusely. Over the years, I’ve been playing a lot of great places all over music business — and has since he co- That language is shared at venues like Music has helped Moore through the world. I’ve taken my music to exotic founded Mogollon in 1979. We-Ko-Pa Casino on June 18 and July tough times. His brother and sister places.

“I love it so much,” Moore says. “I 16. passed away at 31 and 43, respectively, “All those years prior to COVID, I enjoy the people and the music. I love “Sharing is an amazing thing,” of complications of neurofibromatosis, took music for granted. You don’t know music. I really haven’t done anything Moore says. “I don’t use an iPad for a rare, inherited disorder that results in what you have until it’s taken away from else. There’s work involved just like the lyrics. If I need to look at the lyrics benign tumors of the nerves and other you. Now I drink every moment like anything else.” when I’m on stage, I don’t want to sing parts of the body. water. I absorb it. I tell the audience that

Named after Moore’s residence at the it. I don’t believe I’m getting the points “I hope to retire from music one day story, and I thank each and every one of Mogollon Rim, the band is a high- across. and move back to my roots,” he says. them.” energy four piece that plays rock and, “The mechanics should be secondary “My best friends — my brother and specifically, old country. so I can feel what I’m singing. I think sister — are interred there.

“I don’t like the stuff that’s out,” people feel that more than they “They died pretty young, but Moore says. “We play from Waylon to understand that. We’re in the business of everybody has a sad story. I’m a Willie to Hank Williams to Johnny selling emotions. It’s a very emotionally mountain boy. I moved down here Cash to Lynyrd Skynyrd to Pink Floyd. driven industry, and that’s what we do. because it was a good, central location.” We play all the good classic rock. It’s cool when people come up and say, ‘I The COVID-19 pandemic has been

“I play fiddle on stage, too. That works just had the time of my life’ or ‘My wife productive for Moore. He took the out well for a lot of cool Alabama songs.” and I have been married x number of time to reinvent himself and retool his

Music is “huge” for Moore, who is years. We meet at your concert.’” approach to the music side of music. joined in the band by guitarist Guy When the audience is involved, Moore “I’m doing extremely well by myself,” Koplitz of Chandler, bassist/producer says, it creates an energy, a synergy that’s he says. “I’ve never played so many

Mogollon

WHEN: 9 p.m. Friday, June 18, and Friday, July 16 WHERE: We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort’s WKP Sports and Entertainment, 10438 WeKoPa Way, Fort McDowell COST: Free admission INFO: wekopacasinoresort.com or mogollonband.com