Grandparents, Grit, and Going Big: Justin Moore’s Rise
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Who is Justin Moore and what is his journey to fame?
We're out here at Country Thunder, Arizona, and are so thrilled to be joined by multi-platinum artist Justin Moore. Some of his biggest chart-topping hits have been songs like Small Town USA, If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away, and Beta Hook. Ever since he broke out in Country Scene in 2009, he had one goal, to stay true to himself. After nearly two decades, Justin continues to make deep personal music that stays true to his roots and to his fans. His latest album, This Is My Dirt, is out now, and you can catch him on tour all summer long. Please join me in welcoming Justin Moore to the bus. Welcome.
Happy to be here, man. We appreciate the opportunity.
Well, we're looking forward to a great show tonight.
We are too.
How did Justin Moore's small town upbringing in Arkansas influence his music?
Let's go back to the beginnings, your childhood, where you came from. So you grew up in Arkansas. Tell me a little bit about how that was.
I grew up in a really, really small town of about 300 people in Arkansas. You know, blue collar folks, God-fearing, all the cliche small town stuff you can come up with. You know, it was kind of like the set of Varsity Blues during whatever sport was in season at the time. Everything shuts down, everybody goes to whatever game it is. But a great way to grow up, a great place to grow up. Family was super important to most everyone. Everybody in high school was going, we can't wait to get the heck out of Dodge. And then we didn't leave, or they didn't leave, or they're back, for the most part. It's one of those kind of towns. But it was great, man. And I was way into sports growing up. I played baseball and basketball.
When I graduated high school, I started thinking about maybe going to school and playing baseball. That was my favorite. Anybody out there watching that knows anything about me knows I'm a bit vertically challenged. So basketball, I could hold my own in my weight class. I wasn't gonna go to college and do that. And so I thought about attempting to go play baseball. And about that time I started playing music. My uncle had a Southern rock band and I would jump up and play with them anytime I could. And I always sang in church because my parents made me. But yeah, when I graduated high school, I went to college for literally two weeks and came home and told my parents, I don't think I'm going back to school. And they go, why are you sick? I go, no, like ever.
And they knew that I wanted to pursue music at some point. And so a few months after high school, moved to Nashville, I was 18. And just lucky that my parents were supportive. My wife and I have four kids. And if they came in and told me that at 18, I'd be like,
Why did Justin Moore drop out of college and move to Nashville?
hell no are you crazy so i i don't know why my parents were the way that they were but i'm thankful that that they were your guitar player did you write on guitar is that is that your instrument yeah so when i moved to town i moved there in 02 and it was still you know you're using a little recorder yeah and it's all work tapes and you're booking your I was lucky when I had been there maybe a year to get a publishing deal. I got paid $12,000 a year though, so it's one of those kind of deals. But it allowed me to meet a lot of people, and it allowed me to really learn how to write a song, because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. And I'm in the room with guys that I really didn't deserve to be in a room with, you know, but fortunately I could sing. So I think they thought there may be something here down the road. So it was still what I consider old school. You know, then it was it was there was no writing and building a track at the same time. And then you got the track done when you get finished writing the song.
And none of that existed. It was like today. No, it wasn't like that. I enjoy doing that, but I still write on guitar.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who is Justin Moore and what is his journey to fame?
0:23–1:04
2
How did Justin Moore's small town upbringing in Arkansas influence his music?
1:04–3:16
3
Why did Justin Moore drop out of college and move to Nashville?
3:16–5:09
4
How did Justin Moore get started with songwriting and what is his writing process?
5:09–8:13
5
What are some of Justin Moore's biggest hits and how did they come about?
8:13–11:07
6
What is the story behind the song 'If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away' and Justin's connection with Luke Bryan?
11:07–16:00
7
How does Justin Moore honor the legacy of his grandparents in his life and music?
16:00–27:43