Combining a bluesy hard rock approach with a bit of grungy swagger, the Black Moods rose from regional Arizona bar band status to major-label touring act with the release of their sophomore LP, Medicine, in 2016. A classic guitar-bass-drums power trio, the group took inspiration from a host of hard-hitting bands from Led Zeppelin to Foo Fighters, adding their own distinctive nuances to the rock & roll canon on subsequent releases like Sunshine (2020) and Into the Night (2022).

Singer/guitarist Joshua Kennedy initially migrated to the Southwest from Wheaton, Missouri, as a teenager to tech for another band. After a few years’ immersion in the Phoenix music scene, he met drummer Chico Diazand bassist Jordan Hoffman, and they began playing together as a trio. Nicking their name from an offhand comment made by Ray Manzarek describing one of Jim Morrison‘s stormy moods in a Doorsdocumentary, they self-released their eponymous debut in 2012 and began establishing themselves as a road band, touring the country and hitting classic clubs like L.A.’s The Viper Room and Whisky a Go Go.

A deal with Sony imprint Another Century put them back in the studio with producer Jim Kaufman, who had handled their first release. The result was 2016’s Medicine, a similarly rugged but more road-tested version of the classic hard rock approach they’d been honing since their formation. More touring and gigs with acts like Jane’s Addiction, Shinedown, Everclear, and Doors guitarist Robby Kriegerhelped boost their profile over the next couple of years. Third album Sunshine arrived in 2020 and yielded several charting singles including “Bella Donna” and the punchy title track. Working again with producer Johnny “K” Karkazis (3 Doors Down, Disturbed), the Black Moods returned in 2022 with the rousing Into the Night.