Dallas Moore makes his West Coast debut tonight.

Photo credit: Dallas Moore Band page at Facebook.

It may not surprise readers to learn that as genres go, outlaw country is not my go-to music.

However, there's a very special place in my range of musical tastes for Dallas Moore, with whom my friend Bob Rutherford has played seemingly forever. What's it actually been, 16-odd years?

It's because Dallas is both well-rounded and utterly authentic, and what I've learned from knowing him is that these two qualities are not mutually exclusive. Dallas and the band are real. The older you get, the more you appreciate it.

Best of luck this evening.

Outlaw cult hero Dallas Moore sits content outside the mainstream, by Jonny Whiteside (Los Angeles Times)

The Outlaw country movement, codified in the early 1970s by a shaggy posse of Nashville rebels, is archetypal Americana. Dark, complex, self-possessed and self-destructive, always struggling to rectify sin and salvation, it's a rich genre that continues to thrive.

When Outlaw cult hero Dallas Moore makes his West Coast debut at Burbank's Viva Cantina on Friday, Oct. 23, expect a high-velocity, double-barreled blast of rousing, defiant music.

A long-haired redneck who studied classical and jazz guitar at Northern Kentucky University, Moore's 25-year career and relentless touring (he averages a staggering 300 shows a year) has gained him a formidable reputation in the hard country underworld.