Nathan Moore Shares The Spot Highlight Video From Jam Cruise 17

On Jam Cruise 11 in 2011 troubadour Nathan Moore started a tradition by hosting an informal musical session that began at midnight each day of the trip and concluded when the sun came up. Those of us, and there weren’t many, who came across Nathan’s performance space on an outdoor deck of the cruise ship called it “The Spot.” Moore has returned for each Jam Cruise since with a different batch of musicians to perform at The Spot, which at some point went from Jam Cruise’s best-kept secret to a part of the trip most cruisers know about and seek out. Nathan shoots video throughout the trip and recently unveiled a montage detailing his Jam Cruise 17 experience.

Last year’s Jam Cruise 16 was a tough one for The Spot. The location was right next to doors leading to the theater and more often than not the space was filled with smokers and chatters who were more interested in hanging with their friends than listening to the music. Also, a few cruisers came by and added to the music in a way that you were more likely to hear an acoustic version of a cheesy ’90s hit than an original from the talented artists Nathan assembled. Thankfully, The Spot went back to being a showcase for Moore and his crew and other musicians on the Jam Cruise lineup this time around. While it was still noisy from time-to-time, I was always able to find a spot within The Spot where I could hear and see what was going down.

Nathan Moore enlisted one of his best crews yet for Jam Cruise 17. Bassist Lex Park is a staple and fellow resident of Staunton, Virginia who joins Nathan on each trip. Moore and Park also brought Portland, Oregon multi-instrumentalist Lewi Longmire, extremely talented songwriter Taylor Kingman, the inimitable Willy Tea Taylor and multiple winner of SF Bay Guardian’s Best Singer-Songwriter award The Sam Chase. The musicians took turns performing their own material while the rest of the crew joined along. Vince Herman, members of Fruition, Sweet Lillies, former Mofro percussionist Shaun Gilmour, Zach Gill, Daniel Rodriguez and Galactic drummer Stanton Moore were among those who stopped by and performed at The Spot.

As fun as covers and singalongs are, I was blown away by the songwriting skills of the musicians Moore assembled for JC17. So much of the music on Jam Cruise is loud and intense, in the best way possible, but it was so nice to stop by The Spot to take a load off and enjoy acoustic tunes. Kudos to Jam Cruise organizers Cloud 9 Adventures’ artist relations team for keeping The Spot stocked with beverages for the musicians and to Cloud 9 for letting Nathan do his thing each year. Watch the highlight video put together by Moore:

One of my favorite moments of any Jam Cruise took place at the end of Andy Frasco and The U.N.‘s theater set. Frasco announced his band would lead a second line from the stage to The Spot. As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I ran up to The Spot and captured the scene as a gathering of 20 cruisers turned into hundreds within minutes. Take a look at my video below:

As mentioned, Stanton Moore stopped by The Spot and performed. This meant the world to Nathan on a number of levels. Not only does the pair share the same last name, Nathan’s home town is pronounced “Stanton.” It took seven years for Stanton Moore to play The Spot and it was a nice moment when it happened.