Justin Moore

Justin Moore
Justin Moore at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards
Background information
Birth name	Justin Cole Moore
Born	(1984-03-30) March 30, 1984[1]
Origin	Poyen, Arkansas, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Valory Music Group[2]
Associated acts	Jeremy Stover

Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. He has released three albums for Valory: Justin Moore in 2009, Outlaws Like Me in 2011, and Off the Beaten Path in 2013. He has charted eight times on the Hot Country Songs charts, including the number one hits "Small Town USA", "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away", "Til My Last Day", and the top 10 hits "Backwoods" and "Point at You".

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 his producer Jeremy Stover and Universal South Records artist Randy Houser. It reached number 38 on the U.S. 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 ten songs picked were then included on the final album.^[4] His next single, "Small Town USA", entered the charts in February 2009, Tucker expresses, "which extols the virtues of down-home living, rises to No. 18 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart" (p.6). ^[5] followed by a digital EP entitled The "You Asked for It" EP.

On August 11, the label released his self-titled debut album, on which he co-wrote nine of ten tracks.^[6] Justin Moore debuted at No. 3 on the Top Country Albums chart.^[7] He promoted the single and album on a "Small Town USA" tour which began in his hometown of Poyen and included several stops in small towns, as well as acoustic shows at Walmart stores.^[6] On the Billboard charts dated for October 3, 2009, "Small Town USA" became his first Number One hit. "Backwoods" was released as the album's third single in October 2009; the song was 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", debuted at No. 54 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of June 12, 2010; it became his third Top 20 country hit.

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 ten hit on that chart, and a three weeks later, reached Number One. "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away" serves as the lead-off single to his 2011 album Outlaws Like Me, released June 21, 2011. Follow-up singles "Bait a Hook" and "Til My Last Day" both made top 20; "Til My Last Day" reached Number One on the Country Airplay chart.

In December 2012, Moore announced plans to embark on a headlining tour in 2013, at the time tentatively planned to begin in March.^[8] Later in the month, he entered the studio to begin recording his third studio album.^[9] The album's first single, "Point at You," was released to country radio on March 18, 2013.^[10] It peaked at number two on the Country Airplay chart in October 2013. The album, Off the Beaten Path, was released on September 17, 2013.^[11] The album's second single, "Lettin' the Night Roll", was released to country radio on October 21, 2013. Justin said in an interview that the song "This Kind Of Town" from Off the Beaten Path, is a response to his song "Small Town USA". These songs are about small towns and the people in them and really shows where Justin came from and can relate to everyone else who lives in small towns.

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."^[5] He has said that he learned to write songs because, when he had first moved to Nashville, no songwriters wanted to offer him material.^[6] His first album received mixed reviews from music critics: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to it as "anonymous country rock,"^[5] and Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time referred to Moore as a "poseur" for name-dropping.^[12] The 9513's Karlie Justus said that his influences were comparatively more authentic than most other acts on country radio,^[13] and Matt Bjorke of Roughstock said that his music has "a heavy dose of southern, country charm and twang."^[14]

Personal life

Justin Moore married his wife, Kate, of Houma, Louisiana, in 2007. They have two daughters, Ella Kole, born February 11, 2010, and Kennedy Faye, born November 21, 2011. He is an avid supporter of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Justin Moore at Big Machine Records