Tate Moore: The Kudzu Kings and Late Night Slices
By Amy C. Balfour
After the bars close in downtown Oxford, Mississippi, everyone knows where to go for a late-night slice: Square Pizza.
Owned by Kudzu Kings guitarist and songwriter Tate Moore, this tiny pizza joint keeps the ordering process simple—which is imperative for managing rowdy weekend crowds in The Square, the historic and cultural heart of the city.
“You can have a slice of cheese, you can have a slice of pepperoni, or you can have a large pepperoni,” said Moore, who has learned that you can’t give over-served students too many choices. This simple policy has been a winner, and Square Pizza has been satisfying hungry hordes since it opened in 2007. Its most profitable hours, by far, are 10pm to 1am on weekends.
And the name Square Pizza? It gives a nod to The Square and to the restaurant’s square pizzas and slices. Moore grew up in southeastern Ohio, not far from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where square pizzas were a regional norm.
“Ohio has a very unique style of pizza. It is thin, crispy, and double-baked,” said Moore. “You cook the crust in this rolled steel pan, put on sauce, and it gets crispy like a cracker.” After letting it cool, customers can request their toppings. “Then you put provolone cheese on there, which is very unique. Provolone gives it a unique taste.” Then it’s popped back in the oven. The result? Late-night deliciousness.
Moore fell in love with Oxford and the University of Mississippi while touring colleges in the early 1990s. As a theater major at Ole Miss, he spent evenings during his freshman
year playing his own songs at solo gigs off The Square. He met the band’s bass player, David Woolworth, his sophomore year during a theater production.
“I was Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show,” said Moore, “and he was in the band.” They’ve been playing together – going on 30 years – ever since.
He describes the five-member Kudzu Kings as an Americana band. “We play country songs with a bit of a jam in them. We’re very much like the Grateful Dead,” said Moore. “One thing that sets us apart from most groups is that we have been playing original music from the get-go.” And their longevity? Moore gives a nod to their unique name and their original music.
The Kudzu Kings toured nationally for ten years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, playing about 180 shows per year. Highlights include a show with Widespread Panic on Mud Island in Memphis and another at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. As band members got married and started families, the group shortened its schedule to 12 to 20 shows annually, playing across Mississippi and joining the music festival circuit.
As for his connection to the Lowcountry, Moore has fond memories of Sullivan’s Island, where the band regularly performed. “We would play at Bert’s Bar on Friday and Saturday night,” Moore recalled. “We would do a set early and then everybody at the bar would go to the beach. And then we’d come back from the beach and do our second set.” Bert’s Bar may have closed, but memories of escapades from those performances, from broken arms to golf cart mishaps, remain fresh.
What’s coming up for the Kudzu Kings? A return to Memphis in 2023 for the Mempho Festival at the end of September. The band is also releasing a double-vinyl record at the end of May called The Bike Race, named for a show they headlined at the McGee Lungbuster Fat Tire Festival, a mountain bike race in Ridgeland, Mississippi. “As ridiculous as it is, we’ve been together almost 30 years, and this is the first vinyl that we’ve ever released.”
Moore’s secret dream? As a fan of Dr. John, James Booker, and Professor Longhair, he’d love to wrap up his musical career as a lounge piano player. “I’m looking for a good piano gig in Charleston, if somebody’s got a piano and a bar.”
For more details about upcoming Kudzu Kings shows and the album release, visit the Kudzu Kings Facebook page or the band’s website at www.kudzukings.com.