Tad Wilkes’ (better known as Moon Pie Curtis) Enter The Fool may be a new release, but it has been over a decade in the making. And on August 22nd, the Oxford local will be having an album release show at Proud Larry’s with his band, The Fixins’, in honor of his first official collection of songs.
Wilkes has been in the music scene for many years, founding the Oxford-based rock band Cardinal Fluff in the 90s, before venturing out into the word of solo acoustic music after being inspired by artists like Bob Schneider and John Prine.
“Though the band (Cardinal Fluff) was kind of hard-rock, the songs I would write on my own were more in the vein of singer/songwriters and 70s country,” said Wilkes. “I started wanting to do more of that.”
And that is exactly what he did. Although he was focused on the music he was writing as a solo artist, Wilkes always thought his music would sound better with a band. So he continued creating countless home recordings of the acoustic songs he had written and saving them until he was able to record with a full band. Wilkes also specified another concern about his music, saying “I’ve played for years but I put off making official recordings because I would always change songs and have different ideas about what I wanted it to sound like.” 
Over time, though, Wilkes began to realize that not having physical CDs to distribute at gigs was becoming a hindrance to his career, preventing him from getting his music into the hands of more fans and promoters. So he put together a band, transitioning from simply Moon Pie Curtis to Moon Pie Curtis & The Fixins’, and they began putting together full arrangements of Wilkes’ songs.
“Most of the songs on the album are ones that, for the most part, I had the arrangements in mind for and played them with my band. Then we took recordings of ourselves playing those songs at a bar,” said Wilkes.
It was those recordings that Wilkes took to Mystery Funhouse Studios in Nashville, Tennessee to work with musician, producer, and ex-Cardinal Fluff Member, Joshua Cooker, also known as Captain Midnight of the Captain Midnight Band.
“We sat down with the songs, tweaked them, and came up with ideas for the arrangements, “Wilkes explained. “And out of 50 songs, we decided which ten would be the strongest ones to focus on.”
In the end, it was the songs that would be more interesting and dynamic with a full band that made the cut and helped to shape the sound of the record, which Wilkes describes as being “lyrically more in the vein of music by artists like John Prine or Jimmy Buffet, with elements of 60s rock and hard rock.”
With the release of his first album, Wilkes has gotten a lot of great feedback, citing those who supported his Kickstarter campaign that raised funds to record the album, as major contributors to his growth.
Now that Enter The Fool is released, Wilkes has his sights set on not only putting out more music, but getting to share that music live with fans.
So for those who plan on catching Moon Pie Curtis & The Fixins’ performance on August 22nd, Wilkes predicts that it will be fun and original saying, “I don’t think a lot of bands around here sound like us. So people should really enjoy it.” Special guests Patrick McClary and Will Griffith will open up the show. 
