Corn Mo Doo

I first came across Corn Mo in the Dooms UK some nine years or so ago now. The Dooms was the first band I sought out in Fort Worth after moving there. They got a good write-up in the Weekly, and that was enough to convince me, newly arrived, to give them a chance. They were worth it, and Corn Mo, behind the keyboards seemed to the quintessential cool elment of the band. What made Corn Mo cool? It was probably a combination of things, but certainly one of them was his hair.

Corn Mo had, at that time, a beard, mustache, and a long blond maine. The beard and mustache have since been replaced by long mutton chop sideburns, but the rest remains. He was, at the time, relatively thin and muscular, everything, it seemed, that I was not, at least in terms of coolness.

But here was the odd part. Corn Mo was a real person, kind, not the kind of person you think of as "cool." Granted, it was the Dooms UK, and nothing about that band was exactly normal. They were songs about elves living under the city and mechanical monkeys after all (both songs were never put to a album, so we slog along without that record).

I ran into Corn Mo one day on the streets of downtown Fort Worth. I saw his solo work once, which is where the name comes from. He was affable and friendly and we talked for awhile about why he was out there and about his performance work. More recently, he showed up in Athens, where I have since moved (he has since moved to New York). He was the same affable man, a bit heavier but with the same long stallionlike hair, and a whole lot funnier and exciting as a performer than he had even been back in Texas. I talked with him after his show, and although he didn't know me at all, he made it seem like he did, asking my name and acknowledging the whole Fort Worth connection. He seemed genuinely pleased that one of his old Texas fans had come to a show in Georgia.

I guess I've typically found long hair somewhat offputting in men. Such speaks to me of them either being hippis or so extremely cool that they would be too cool for me. Corn Mo is neither. His hair is part of the act, I think, the act of being cool, but deep down, he's also a really nice guy and a funny one as well. Go see him perform if you ever have the chance.