Today's Country

When Scott Borchetta launched The Valory Music Co. as a sister label to Big Machine Records one of its flagship artists was Justin Moore, who at the time was an unknown player in the country music game. Since then Moore has hit the road with the likes of Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn, Hank Jr., and more, and all the while captured the curiosity of country music fans with his high energy show. With his debut single “Back That Thing Up” and his brand new single “Small Town USA” out now he has started to earn radio play. We had the chance to catch up with Justin and chat with him about the new single, the tours, his first time on the Grand Ole Opry, CRS 2009, and much much more.

Official Justin Moore Website
Justin Moore Myspace
Justin Moore - "Small Town USA" Single 

1. You recently released “Small Town USA” as your single, what can you tell people about it that have never heard the song yet?

I wrote that song 7 years ago when I was missing my mama’s home cookin’ when I first moved to Nashville. I grew up in the south and I think when you grow up in the south you have this perception that there are only rednecks in the south, but this past year we had the opportunity to go on the road with some big acts and we went to the north and west and I quickly realized that there are small towns everywhere. I think the song talks about that small town life, but it has evolved into more of a frame of mind of being proud of where you are at what you have.

2. Why do you feel that this was the perfect follow-up to “Back That Thing Up?”

The struggles with a new artist are to put an identity with your music. A lot of times a new artist will have a song out on the radio and people will say “hey I like that song, who is that?” With “Back That Thing Up” I think people got an idea that we were not serious and all we liked to do was have fun. With “Small Town USA,” when we were out on our radio tour I was telling people about how I came up and where I came from and we started thinking that was the exact same story that I wrote in “Small Town USA.” We did this thing on the website where fans got to vote on the songs that made the record and that one got the most votes out of all of them. It is also the perfect song for where the economy and our nation is at right now because it speaks to the working class.

3. Besides the singles, which song of yours is your personal favorite and why?

My favorite song that I have ever written, and I have been writing for seven years, is a song called “Grandpa.” I was always a real big fan of the Randy Travis song “He Walked On Water” that he wrote about his grandpa and I always wanted to write a song like that one. Where I grew up the important things were hunting, fishing, Friday night sports, church, and family, and with the family stuff I had always been really close to both of my grandpa’s. One of them taught me how to hunt, the other taught me how to fish, and I recently found out that one of them has been diagnosed with cancer so the song means that much more to me now. I got to play that song on the Grand Ole Opry recently with both of my grandpa’s there.

4. You also found a really unique way to create your album by doing a contest of sorts called “So You Want To Be A Record Executive,” back in October. Can you tell people about the contest and were you surprised by any of the outcomes?

Well I kept bringing songs into my record label and saying this one needs to be on the album, this one needs to be on the album. Scott Borchetta, the head of the label said to me, “Justin, we aren’t going to put out a box set for your first album.” So what we did was posted two songs on the website each week for fans to hear and vote on.

Yes, there were a few surprises. “White Nights and Long Necks,” was a song I wrote that I really liked that didn’t make the cut, but “Grandpa” was the most surprising for me as far as the votes went. I knew that the song was really personal to me and I had never wrote one that personal before so to see people like that so much was surprising.

5. Why did you decide to take part in this year’s CRS?

It was really cool for me this year. Last year I was at CRS, but it was my first time there and I was really overwhelmed with everything, but this year was fun. I had been on a radio tour for the past 7 or 8 months and it was a chance for me to see all of my buddies and catch up with them. CRS is a great event for us and for the radio people and we can let them know what we are up to. It is really laid back and is a good hang. We also were able to play a full band show at Fuel this year with Kate & Kacey and I saw some radio people there, which was cool. All of that plus you get to see artists that you friends with that you haven’t seen in a while.

6. Now that the event has come to an end, how do you think being there is going to benefit you the most going forward?

I think there are a lot of folks that are doing what I’m doing and a lot of great new artists. Country music is very cool because you can become friends with people in the industry and at the radio and I have. I call up radio people to talk with them about stuff and when you are friends with people I believe they want to help you out.

7. Not only did you participate by doing interviews, but also played a show during the event at the Big Machine Party at Fuel. Why do you think an event like this with so much other stuff going on at once was a perfect platform for you to play a show?

I’ve done a lot of acoustic shows throughout the year with radio stations, and for some people the acoustic shows are their thing, but a full band show is for me. A full band show especially at a rowdy club is exactly who our audience is. I always say that my fans are Nascar fans. I am a redneck from Arkansas and so are my fans. A smoky bar with free alcohol is the perfect place for us to play. And it was also my first time seeing Kate & Kacey play which I enjoyed a lot.

8. Speaking of playing live, you just recently made your Grand Ole Opry debut. What was that experience like for you?

I usually for the most part act like an idiot and don’t shut up, but with the Grand Ole Opry I was dumbfounded, overwhelmed, speechless. It was just amazing. Pete Fisher who runs the Grand Ole Opry was apparently at the show during CRS and the next day we were invited to play. I walked out on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry and played two songs I’ve written with “Grandpa” being one of them with them both backstage. It was just amazing and I can’t even really put the experience into words.

9. You have spent time touring with the likes of Trace Adkins, Brooks and Dunn, ZZ Top, Hank Jr, and more…. What have you learned from watching them that you have since been able to incorporate into your own live shows?

I took something different from each of them. A lot of artists don’t watch every show when they are out on the road, but we spent three months on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr and I watched every single show. To see guys like Hank Jr. and Skynyrd go out there and still have the drive and work ethic that they do after doing this for so long and just whoop ass for an hour and a half is inspiring. They are never satisfied where they are at and give it their all every night. As far as the technical things I learned. We have molded our own shows after Skynyrd’s as far as the transitions between songs and laying out our sets. It was pretty special for me to be able to watch them though. I grew up on the old school country stuff like Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, George Jones, and lyrically that side of me shows up in my own songs, but musically I was in a southern rock band with my uncle so that shows up in the music. But I really was able to learn a lot from everybody.

Trace, I learned from him how to set up a song and introduce it. He had the best stories. My favorite was when he was introducing “Badonkadonk,” and he’d say “This was the song that made my mama have to change churches.”

I really just appreciated the opportunities to go out and tour with them and everyone was always such class acts and so nice to us and they really didn’t have to be and I will always remember that about them.

10. What advice can you offer to someone that is looking to break into the music industry?

Stay away from it. No, I’m just kidding. I always tell people this in my shows. I grew up in a town of 300 people in Arkansas that no has ever heard of and no one really cares about it, but just stay in it. Not to be cliché or cheesy but if you have a dream you just have to go for it. I mean I am from a town of 300 people and I played on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. I didn’t want to wake up when I was 35 years old and wonder what if I had moved to Nashville and went for it. Everyone in this business is a regular person we just have cool jobs now and if you go for it and make it then great, and if you don’t then you won’t have to wonder what if you did.