Allie Moss

  Playing in front of Sillouhettes on Broad Street during Red Bank's Street Life, Allie Moss played loud and played well, with the air of a strong spirited woman that also retained eloquence and elegance..
   Allie Moss started performing at  age 16 as part of the acoustic duet, Hope Road. At 17 she joined the funkier, heavier rock band, Secret Agent Abe, which gained some acclaim, especially in the local Christian music scene. Secret Agent Abe dissolved much to the dismay of local fans, but many members of the band soon reconvened to put together a more pop song-oriented, lighter sound that gave way to the possibility of acoustic songs. And so three of the four members of Secret Agent Abe formed Chance of Rain a year and a half ago. 

Allie Moss at Coffee Blue

Although Allie plays solo sometimes, she does not consider herself a solo act right now, and devotes most of her time to Chance of Rain. The more melancholy pop that the band produces has already been made into the EP “We Could Be a Monster”.
  Since the recording of the first EP more songs have been written which Moss describes as, "Better, more jelled together and thematic instead of each song sounding like the individual that wrote it." Their sound is not to be considered bubble gum pop, and Moss's influences include the dark and ephemeral Over the Rhine and Bjork as well as the divas Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, whose influence are certainly reflected in her powerful vocals.
  Chance of Rain will be playing October 2 2003 at Jimi’s in Asbury Park. For more info go to www.chanceofrain.com.
  

-Eve Amendola

In the Band
(cont. from p. 5 )

  Unfortunately, the exper- ience wasn’t what Sulton expected at all.
  “I became disillusioned with the process,” he said.  “I had to please everybody.”
  After producing the album, Kasim, Sulton’s solo career has been sporadic. In 1986, he and friend Thommy Price released Lights Out and in 1993 he put out The Basement Tapes (sic). He didn’t release another album until 2002’s Quid Pro Quo.
 Sulton has done so little of his own work partly because of his hectic schedule playing for everyone else and partly because of his bad experiences with record labels. He is also a perfectionist when it comes to his sound.
  “I really labor over material that I write,” he said. “I’m bad to a fault when it comes to getting things right.”
  It seems like Sulton has had the best of both worlds: he plays to stadiums full of screaming fans, is respected by his peers and yet doesn’t have the pressure to constantly please that a major label performer has. Since he can find work with other performers, he can work on his music at his own pace and still be able to support his family. His latest CD was released on an independent label, Sphere Sound Records, which also gives him more freedom than a major label would.
  “[My CD] is everything I wanted it to be,” he said.
  “My only regret is not having the promotion budget. I can’t get the message out the way I’d like to.”
  Sulton is confident that his message will catch on, though.
  “I’m a late bloomer. Even though I’m in my forties I feel like there’s an audience out there for my music.”

-Kim Predham