Niko Moon at the Capitol Theatre -- August 17.
Saturday, August 17, 7 p.m.
Capitol Theatre, 330 West Third Street, Davenport IA
With Holler Country praising his 2020 studio recording Good Time as a “delightful debut album” boasting “bouncing trap beats and crispy country funk basslines,” country-pop singer/songwriter Niko Moon headlines an August 17 concert at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, the artist's Alternating Currents engagement treating fans to the talents of the man who has written songs for the likes of Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts, and Morgan Wallen.
Born Nicholas Cowan in 1982, Moon is originally from Tyler, Texas, but relocated to Douglasville, Georgia, when he was 10. His father, a truck driver and his mother, a waitress, introduced Niko to the works of artists like John Prine and Patty Griffin. He started out as a drummer after seeing his father, a former touring musician, play the instrument, and initially found success as a co-writer on songs for the Zac Brown Band, among them “Heavy Is the Head,” “Homegrown,” “Beautiful Drug,” "Keep Me in Mind,” and "Loving You Easy. Moon also co-produced the Zac Brown Band albums Jekyll+Hyde and Welcome Home, and co-wrote the song “Back To Life” for Rascal Flatts along with Cary Barlowe, Shay Mooney, and Fred Wilhelm. Additionally, he appeared on Colt Ford’s album Every Chance I Get on the track "Waste Some Time" with Nappy Roots.
In 2010, under the name Nic Cowan, Moon self-released his debut EP Cheap Wine, which featured seven tracks, and the following year saw the release of his first full-length album Hard Headed, also under the Nic Cowan moniker. Distributed by Southern Ground Records, the album includes 13 tracks, among them notable songs such as "Reno," "New Sh*t," and "Cut it Loose (feat. Zac Brown)." In 2016, Moon formed the group Sir Rosevelt with Zac Brown and Ben Simonetti, another co-writer with the Zac Brown Band. The group's track “The Bravest” was used during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and Moon and Simonetti also co-wrote a song for Michael Franti’s album Stay Human Vol. II.
Released in 2020, Moon's studio-album debut Good Time featured a title track that reached the top of Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts in 2021, with the album itself peaking at number 12 on Billboard's U.S. Top Country Albums chart. Moon wrote all but one of the album's songs with his wife Anna, and with Joshua Murty, with whom he also produced the recording. Good Time's final track, and the only one which the Moons did not co-write, is a cover of Travis Tritt's 2001 single and a solid representation of the Nico Moon ethos: "It's a Great Day to Be Alive.”
Nico Moon plays his headlining engagement in Davenport on August 17, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $25-70, and more information and tickets are available by visiting FirstFleetConcerts.com/first-fleet-venues/capitol-theatre.
