Kip Moore keeping it real about the country music industry.
Whiskey Riff Raff was excited to have Kip Moore join the podcast recently to help promote his new album Solitary Tracks. While he was on, we talked to him about his journey thus far, how he’s carved out his own lane for himself in terms of his unique sound in the country genre, the challenges that come along with a career in the music business, his impressive success touring internationally, what’s on the horizon for 2025 and beyond and much more.
Needless to say, Kip Moore just might be the most interesting man in the country music world. He loves to ride a wave surfing out on the ocean just as much as he likes to ride a hit onto the country charts, and he appreciates keeping life exciting… like when he ran into the cartel during a motorcycle trip through Mexico. The “Damn Love” singer loves to live life on the wilder side.
That’s why being put in a box by record labels and music executives in Nashville frustrated him for so long. Kip Moore busted onto the scene with his 2012 debut album Up All Night. The country artist spoke on how he remembers having a great bit of freedom putting that record together, and that “nobody was on top” of him. And it was only when the album started to blow up that the label gave him a green light to do whatever he wished (because that’s how labels often work).
Moore then detailed working on his second album, Wild Ones, and how the songs that he brought to the table went over with all of the music executives in the room:
“When I was going to do ‘Wild Ones,’ all of the sudden everybody was like, ‘Well what are the songs? What can we hear?’ This and that, and I still kept everything tight. And I’ll never forget playing that record for the whole room of Universal and man, you could hear a pin drop in there.
It was just fear. They were just like, ‘What is this? We don’t dislike it, but this is not like ‘Up All Night.’ Where’s the formula that worked?’ You could cut the tension with a knife in that room.”
Understandably, the country artist was displeased with the response… especially since Moore felt so confident in the tracks that he had crafted (like “Wild Ones” and “Lipstick”). We piggybacked off that story and asked how frustrating it can be for an artist to pour their heart out in songs for their fans, and first have to pass it by the “suits” of the music industry.
Here’s how Kip Moore responded:
“I don’t think there’s anything more… as far as just playing music for the music industry, (it) f**king sucks. There’s nothing more just taking your soul out and breaking it. In their defense, sitting in a sterile room is not the way to listen to music. Any record that I discovered that I loved, I remember hearing Tom Petty’s ‘Full Moon Fever’ in my buddy’s 1992 Honda Prelude.
I remember he had these two 10’s in the back, and ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’ came on and we’re on a back road and we had hit a little bit of a joint and we’re listening to this record and we’re like, ‘What is this?’ And it’s blaring and the windows are down and you’re in it. We don’t do that enough anymore… it’s all so sterile.”
Some incredible imagery offered up there by Kip Moore (he also said “Sorry mom” right before the joint part, but I didn’t transcribe that).
As you can likely gather from those thoughts from the “Beer Money” singer, he hates the idea of having to play a song in an empty room built to judge music rather than enjoy it. Though he understands why the “suits” have to go through their checklists, Moore wishes the process was a bit different.
And that it wasn’t all about radio play:
“Their brains are wired to where they’re listening from (their head) and not from (their heart). And I get that… they’re all trying to make their jobs work and they’re trying to make hit records.
I remember playing ‘Fire and Flame,’ and everybody being like, ‘Oh my gosh, what an incredible song. This might be our favorite one of all of them… but it’s not a radio tune.’
I just remember being like, ‘What does that mean?’ Y’all all just reacted in a visceral way, but it’s not a radio tune? That kind of stuff is the really difficult part.”
It’s especially intriguing to hear all of that from an artist who has generally mixed things up record to record. That’s gotta be what you call a “Music Executive’s Worst Nightmare,” but when you look at it from a fan perspective, most country music lovers like that Kip Moore keeps them on their toes.
You can hear more from Kip Moore on the matter in the latest episode of the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast:
