In 2010, in Santa Cruz, there was an old church that had been converted into a house. The stage remained. It was still there, standing where it always had, and that's where songwriter Brennan Smith recorded Moon Bottle's first album, "The A.M." The sound that came out of that place was raw and honest, and it never changed.
Moon Bottle records in bedrooms and in studios like Goodland Sound in Goleta. The location doesn't matter. What matters is the song, and the song will find its way out regardless of where you happen to be when it arrives.
Folk music has always been about the words. The words are what drive everything forward. They're meant to teach, to heal, to keep the acoustic storytelling tradition alive in a world that wants to turn everything into something you can't touch. There are over 100 songs published now, each one adding its voice to the chorus, each one building on the foundation of what came before.
The name Moon Bottle came from wanting to capture something that can't be held. That feeling you get when you look up at the moon and know there's magic in the world, wonder that doesn't fit in your hands but fits in your heart. Like trying to catch moonlight in a jar, knowing you can't, but trying anyway because the trying is what matters.
Moon Bottle keeps writing, keeps recording, keeps moving forward. Today Moon Bottle resides in Southern California, but the mission remains the same: honor the folk tradition, speak to the present moment, use acoustic storytelling to heal and to teach.