Major General James G. Blunt

Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his self titled debut in 2009, Outlaws Like Me in 2011, Off the Beaten Path in 2013, Kinda Don't Care in 2016, Late Nights and Longnecks in 2019, and Straight Outta the Country in 2021. He has also charted eighteen times on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including with the number 1 singles "Small Town USA", "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away", "Til My Last Day", "Lettin' the Night Roll", "You Look Like I Need a Drink", "Somebody Else Will", "The Ones That Didn't Make It Back Home", "Why We Drink", "We Didn't Have Much", and "With a Woman You Love"; and the top 10 hits "Backwoods" and "Point at You".

Moore is also a radio personality, having replaced Tommy Smith after Tommy retired as Co-Host on the rebranded Morning Mayhem show on 103.7 The Buzz, a sports station in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Music career

Moore began performing during his junior year of high school.[3] After graduating, he joined his uncle's Southern rock band and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2002.[3] He met a young producer in Nashville, Jeremy Stover, who introduced him to Scott Borchetta, an industry executive who was planning to launch The Valory Music Co. Borchetta promised to give him a record deal if he would be patient.[3]

2008–2010

In mid-2008, Moore signed to the Valory Music Group, an imprint of the independent record label Big Machine Records. The label then released the digital single "I Could Kick Your Ass". His first radio single, "Back That Thing Up", was co-written by Randy Houser and Moore's producer, Jeremy Stover.[4] It reached number 38 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. He continued working on his debut album, which was part of a special promotion called "So You Want to Be a Record Label Executive". This promotion placed his music on social networking sites such as MySpace and iLike, where fans were allowed to create playlists comprising ten of his songs; the Top 10 songs picked were then included on the final album.[5] His next single, "Small Town USA", entered the charts in February 2009,[6] followed by a digital EP entitled The "You Asked for It" EP.

Justin Moore at the ACM Awards in 2010

On August 11, the label released his self-titled debut album, on which he co-wrote nine of the ten tracks.[7] This album debuted at No. 3 on the Top Country Albums chart.[8] He promoted the single and album on a "Small Town USA" tour which began in his hometown of Poyen, Arkansas and included several stops in small towns, as well as acoustic shows at Walmart stores.[7] On the Hot Country Songs charts dated October 3, 2009, "Small Town USA" became his first No. 1 single. "Backwoods" was released as the album's third single in October 2009. It became his second Top 10 hit with a peak of No. 6 in April 2010. The album's fourth single, "How I Got to Be This Way", reached Top 20.

2011–present

In February 2011, he released the song "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away", which was originally recorded by Rhett Akins on his 2007 album People Like Me but did not chart. Justin Moore's rendition debuted at 46 on the Hot Country songs chart. In June 2011, the song became his third Top 10 hit on that chart and three weeks later, it became his second Number One. The song serves as the lead-off single to his 2011 album Outlaws Like Me, which was released on June 21, 2011. Follow-up singles "Bait a Hook" and "Til My Last Day" both broke the Top 20; the latter reached Number One on the Country Airplay chart.

According to Taste of Country, a fatal accident involving Joseph Taylor and Justin Moore's tour bus occurred on May 12, 2012.[9] In December 2012, Moore announced plans to embark on a headlining tour in 2013, at the time tentatively planned to begin in March.[10] Later in the month, he entered the studio to begin recording his third studio album.[11] The album's first single, "Point at You", was released on March 18, 2013.[12] It peaked at No. 2 on the Country Airplay chart in October 2013. The album, entitled Off the Beaten Path, was released on September 17, 2013.[13] The album's second single, "Lettin' the Night Roll", was released on October 21, 2013, and became his fourth number one single on the Country Airplay chart in July 2014.

After that single's release, Moore sang guest vocals along with Thomas Rhett on Brantley Gilbert's 2014 single "Small Town Throwdown". Just like Moore himself, Rhett and Gilbert are also signed to Valory. Later, he recorded a cover of Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" as a duet with the band's lead singer Vince Neil. This song is featured on the multi-artist tribute album Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Mötley Crüe, which was released by Big Machine on August 19, 2014. A third single from Off the Beaten Path, "This Kind of Town", was released on October 20, 2014.

Moore's fourth album, Kinda Don't Care, was released in August 2016. Its lead single is "You Look Like I Need a Drink", which became another No. 1 single on the Country Airplay charts in late 2016.

Moore announced his fifth album, Late Nights and Longnecks, in February 2019.[14] Its lead single is "The Ones That Didn't Make It Back Home".

Moore announced his sixth album Straight Outta the Country on March 25, 2021. The lead single is "We Didn't Have Much". The album was released on April 23.[15]

On February 23, 2023, Moore announced his seventh album Stray Dogs which was released on May 5, 2023.[16]

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Result
2011 Inspirational Country Music Awards Mainstream Inspirational Country Song - "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"[17] Won
Inspirational Video - "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"[17] Won
2012 American Country Awards Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist Nominated
2014 Academy of Country Music Awards New Artist of the Year[18] Won

Musical styles

Steve Leggett of AllMusic describes him as having "a ready-made image. He was that good kid from a small town with a rowdy heart of gold who just happened to be able to sing about it."[6] He has said that he learned to write songs because, when he had first moved to Nashville, no songwriters wanted to offer him material.[7] His first album received mixed reviews from music critics: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to it as "anonymous country rock",[6] and Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time referred to Moore as a "poseur" for name-dropping.[19] Engine 145's Karlie Justus said that his influences were comparatively more authentic than most other acts on country radio,[20] and Matt Bjorke of Roughstock said that his music has "a heavy dose of southern, country charm and twang."[21]

Personal life

Justin Moore married his wife, Kate of Houma, Louisiana, in 2007. They have three daughters and a son together.[22] He is an avid supporter of the Arkansas Razorbacks.[23]

Moore is a supporter of the Republican Party. In 2016, he endorsed Donald Trump in the presidential election, praising him as an "out of the box" candidate.[24]

Justin has severe gout in one of his toes.[25]

Discography

Studio albums

References

  1. ^ Kiley, Kayla (March 18, 2010). "Inside country star Justin Moore". Cadillac News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  2. ^ "Big Machine starts new label, signs Jewel, Jimmy Wayne, Justin Moore". Country Standard Time. November 2, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c Emerson, LaTina. (2010, August 18). Road leads to Augusta for Moore. The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  4. ^ "Back That Thing Up Lyrics- Justin Moore". Lyricsfreak.com. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Petruziello, Francis (October 14, 2008). "Justin Moore wants you to produce his album". The Cleveland Leader. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Justin Moore review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  7. ^ a b c Darden, Beville (August 12, 2009). "Justin Moore Does Big Things With 'Small Town'". The Boot. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  8. ^ "Strait leads all music in sales". Country Standard Time. August 20, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  9. ^ "One Dead in Justin Moore Bus Accident". Tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  10. ^ "More of Moore?". Country Weekly. December 3, 2012. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  11. ^ "Justin Moore Begins Recording New Album". Taste of Country. December 19, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  12. ^ "Justin Moore New Album Shares New 'Point' of View". The Boot. February 25, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  13. ^ Paxman, Bob (June 6, 2013). "Justin Moore Previews New Album, "Off the Beaten Path"". Country Weekly. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  14. ^ "Justin Moore Reveals New Album Title - and a Bad Injury". Theboot.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  15. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (March 25, 2021). "Justin Moore Readies Straight Outta the Country Project". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  16. ^ O'Connell, Madeleine (February 24, 2023). "Justin Moore Announces Next Album, Drops Autobiographical New Song, 'Stray Dogs'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Carrie Underwood, Justin Moore + More Nominated for 2011 Inspirational Country Awards". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  18. ^ "Academy of Country Music Awards Vote - Winners". CBS.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  19. ^ Remz, Jeffrey B. "Justin Moore review". Country Standard Time. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  20. ^ Justus, Karlie (August 13, 2009). "Justin Moore review". Engine 145. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  21. ^ Bjorke, Matt (August 11, 2009). "Justin Moore review". Roughstock. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  22. ^ "Third Child on the Way for Justin Moore". People. November 22, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  23. ^ "Justin Moore and more good sports". ESON. November 4, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  24. ^ "Justin Moore Supports Donald Trump for President". Taste of Country. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  25. ^ 103.7 The Buzz Radio Broadcast 11/28/23

External links