Bio

Born February 24 in Elkins, West Virginia… Steve Moore has built his entire life around a childhood dream. After seeing Chuck Berry on TV at the age of 5, Steve begged his parents to take guitar lessons. One year later, he was playing all of his favorite songs on guitar for his family. For the next three years, Steve continued to study guitar and banjo, along with the piano. At age 9, his school band director gave his class a music test and talked to Steve about playing in the school band. Steve ignorantly said, “Horns are Dumb!!!” and walked away. Unsatisfied, the director called Steve’s parents and told them their son had a fantastic sense of pitch and asked him to reconsider. Steve finally gave in and joined the school band under the condition that he would be allowed to switch to the drums after six months of playing the trumpet. Six months later, he would reprioritize his life forever.

Steve performed in the usual school band programs and garage bands through his teens. By high school, he was playing every weekend with the area’s best bands. However, Steve soon became restless with merely playing on the weekends. To make a living playing music, he would have to relocate.

For the next six years, Steve moved around the North Eastern United States, working in styles from progressive speed metal to punk. Influenced by drummers like Mike Portnoy, Dave Lombardo, and Shannon Larkin, he sharpened his playing with drum loops, odd meters, and polyrhythms. Steve was recording albums and touring… but still not making a living from playing drums. To support himself, he washed dishes and worked in factories. A recording engineer, feeling sorry for Steve, let him sleep on the floor of his studio for six months in return for his drum tracks. This wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he had left West Virginia, but it would have to suffice until he could get a road gig.

Steve had learned at a very young age that most people hear with their eyes. He also noticed that people remember “characters” more than “musicians.” For example, Jerry Lee Lewis was a fine piano player, but he was also a WILDMAN on stage!!! Steve decided against the usual cookie-cutter approach and decided to be as OVER THE TOP as possible. One way or another, he was going to be noticed…

In 1997, the variety band Rick K and The Allnighters hired Steve on the spot. Not only were they eager to showcase Steve… but they were also established and in a position to offer him 150-200 shows a year. Steve was playing everything from ’50s and ’60s Music to Country and Pop. He would study drummers like Krupa and Rich and take notes on their showboating and mannerisms while traveling. Steve was finally touring the country and making a good living as a professional musician. His unorthodox approach and visual antics were attracting a great deal of attention. However, it was the actions of a random fan that really put Steve Moore on the map.

On June 1, 2010, a random fan uploaded Steve’s performance on YouTube entitled, “This Drummer is at the Wrong Gig.” The video immediately went viral, receiving over 5 million hits in less than a month. Steve’s viral video even prompted Mike Portnoy (drummer for Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold) to tweet about Steve saying, “Oh MY GOD…..This Guy RULES!! I have a new hero.” Within weeks, Steve was recognized by Drummerwold, Modern Drummer, Tosh.0, and Yahoo. He was also the topic of every drum forum on the web.

Steve has since appeared on NBC, The Bio Channel, and TV Total. He has performed in Russia, Austria, Germany, and Belgium and countless dates in The United States. He’s even been featured in several advertising campaigns, including Roland, Tillamook Dairy, and Advil. However, his personal favorite was headlining The Adams Drummers Festival, where he closed the show with Mike Portnoy by his side.