Abra Moore

female vocalists

Abra Moore (born June 8, 1969 in San Diego, California) is a folk-styled rock singer-songwriter. Her 1997 album Strangest Places included the hit Four Leaf Clover, which received airplay in Midwest U.S. radio markets and VH1 and MTV2 rotation, and charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Moore's parents named Abra after the heroine of John Steinbeck's East of Eden. She was raised in Puna, Hawaii, in a bohemian household that had very strong jazz influences, including jam sessions by guest musicians. When she was 19 she joined Poi Dog Pondering with a group of friends, moving to Los Angeles in 1988 and to Austin in 1992. Moore left the band shortly afterward to pursue a solo career. Her first album was Sing (1995), followed by Strangest Places (1997), which had a companion CD Live from the Strangest Places, featuring acoustic versions of several tracks from the album. A single from this album, Four Leaf Clover, peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100; this was Moore's only charting single. Four Leaf Clover was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. During this time, another of her songs, Trip On Love, was featured in the soundtrack for the 1999 film Cruel Intentions. Abra continued to work on her next studio album No Fear, while contributing songs to several soundtracks. Amidst rumors of creative differences and contractual conflicts, she changed management and recording companies and the album was eventually shelved, although her record label, J Records, did release promo copies. Most of the songs later appeared in slightly altered versions on Everything Changed (Koch Records, 2004). Abra's latest offering, On The Way, was released on June 12, 2007, by Sarathan Records. She appeared in the 1991 movie Slacker and has done other occasional film work in addition to her music career.