SINGLES / EPs

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

War in the West is a Southern California music collective led by singer/songwriter Erik Moe and drummer/producer Tom Johnson. Their sound has been described as “SoCal Americana” and hearkens back to the classic Laurel Canyon groups of the 60s and 70s, while also including influences like Wilco, The Shins, REM, and The Replacements. Other than Tom and Erik, the personnel situation is fluid, with collaborators like producer Mikal Blue (Toad the Wet Sprocket, Colbie Calait, Jason Mraz), Dean Dinning of Toad, Carl Verheyan of Supertramp, Valerie Pinkston of the Diana Ross band, and many others.

Erik was a founding member of ‘90s Chicago band The Rocket Scientists. In addition to his songwriting, he has written scripts for TV and Film with credits including HBO’s Life and Times of Tim, Applewood 911 and numerous other TV pilots, and the feature film No Sleep til’ Madison, starring Jim Gaffigan. He is the author of the graphic novel Tales of a Young Urban Failure, published by Chronicle Books and has worked as an advertising copywriter, winning numerous Clio and Cannes Lions along the way.

Tom hails from Colorado but spent time in Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied drums with session drummer Kenny Aronoff and co-founded the seminal Heartland Rock band The Brain Dead Hoosiers. While in Indiana, Tom released Heart of the Dream, a collection of songs he wrote and performed with the help of some of Indiana’s best known musicians. He drummed with Avocat in Fort Collins, Colorado, before moving to California in 2013. His San Luis Obispo-based band Domestic Tiger won the Best Song and Reader’s Choice awards in the 2019 New Times Music Awards.

Tom is also an award-winning cheesemaker and founder of Bingham Hill Cheese Company. The company won 10 medals at the 2005 World Cheese Awards, and was judged “Best Blue Cheese” twice at the World Cheese Awards.

WEBSITE: warinwest.com