Posts tagged Justin Moore
Justin Moore Talks New Album, “Off the Beaten Path”
Country music singer Justin Moore recently released his highly-anticipated third studio album “Off the Beaten Path.” His other albums are “Justin Moore” that was released in 2009 and “Outlaws Like Me” that came out in 2011.
In addition to his new album, Moore has also teamed up with Crown Royal to honor heroes across the country through the brand’s Heroes Project. He recorded a song, titled “Heroes,” specifically for the project, which is available to fans 21 years or older for free download only at CrownHeroesSong.com. For every download redeemed through Veteran’s Day, Crown Royal will donate $1 to the Armed Forces Foundation.
Justin also loves college football. He is a huge fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Justin was able to talk to me about his latest album, working with Crown Royal, and football.
Art Eddy: First off I have to say congrats on the new album, “Off the Beaten Path.” This is your third studio album. How do you feel you have evolved through the three albums?
Justin Moore: I think as an artist you understand what you want to do and say and be, and, in the same breadth, you understand what your fans expect from you. So I feel like I’ve done a better job of writing with all of that in mind. I stepped out on this album and took a couple of chances that on another album I probably wouldn’t have. It’s probably my most diverse album. It allowed me to stay true to who I am and grow the music to a level where we can grow our fan base to the level we hope to see it at.
AE: How long did it take for you to complete this latest album?
JM: It seemed like an eternity! We started working on it about 10 months after we put the last album out. It’s a long process when you consider writing songs, finding songs and getting in there and recording them. We’ll give this one a 6 to 10 month break and then go back to work.
AE: When you are writing a songs for the album how do you pick which ones will be the singles to be put on the radio?
JM: I lean on the folks around me a lot. My wife’s been very influential in helping me pick songs, the record label, management, anyone’s opinion is a good opinion because everybody loves music and everyone has their own opinion. So I just listen to the people around me.
AE: I was fortunate to see you perform during the Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard race weekend. You put on an outstanding show. Where are some of your favorite places to play?
JM: First of all, thank you very much. That was a lot of fun. Indy is always a lot of fun. If I had to choose one, it’d have to be Arkansas, it is where I’m from. Anytime I get to play at home or near my home it’s always pretty special.
AE: Speaking of Crown Royal you teamed up with them for your song “Heroes.” Can you tell me a bit about your collaboration with them?
JM: I was fortunate a couple years ago to get involved with Crown Royal and the “Your Heroes Name Here” program which honors a very deserving individual around the Brickyard 400. Coming into this year and knowing we’re going to be involved again I wanted to do something more musically than what we did in the past and try and raise more awareness and make this program an even bigger deal than Crown Royal has made it alone.
We recorded “Heroes” and Crown Royal had a great idea to throw it up on CrownHeroesSong.com and every time somebody downloads it for free, Crown Royal will donate $1 to our Armed Forces Foundation. This is the kind of stuff that’s easy to make happen once we have the idea. It’s really cool and humbling for us to use our platform, both mine and Crown Royal’s, to help people who are very deserving.
AE: I know you are a big Arkansas Razorback fan. The team is 3-0 right now. You must be happy with the start of their season. Are you nervous about the injury to the Razorbacks QB, Brandon Allen at all?
JM: I am very nervous about the injury. Prior to the season I wouldn’t have really thought much about the quarterback position because I hadn’t seen him play since last year, but Brandon Allen’s played really good this year and already early on has evolved as a leader. I know we’re a little shaky in the backup position, but hopefully we will get him back sooner rather than later. As long as we keep handing the ball off to number 3 and number 32 I think we’ve got a good shot to win any ball game if they keep playing like they have been. I do hope Brandon gets back to healthy soon.
AE: Who is your all-time favorite Razorback?
JM: Wow! Oh man, I think I’d have to say my all-time favorite Razorback, as far as football goes, would have to be Taylor Wilson, our quarterback last year. What he endured and the way he led our team in the wake of the catastrophe that was Bobby Petrino, I thought he handled himself as a 21 year-old kid with a lot of class and I really commend him for that. Obviously he is a great football player, but that aside, I really respected the way he handled himself and the class that he displayed.
Sep 23rd
2013 Capture the Crown Recap
Okay, okay, so I wasn’t part of the team that won this year’s Capture the Crown event in Indy, but hey, you can’t win ‘em all, right? It was an epic scavenger hunt and a valiant effort from my squad, but we didn’t capture the ultimate prize – tickets to the Super Bowl (I know, I know – crazy huh?). So no repeat this year, but I did get to enjoy an amazing weekend of purple cup parties with friends, heroes, country music stars and bow season enthusiasts.
Say Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard…
This year’s NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was another mouthful of a title, but for very good reason. Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com was the full official title of this year’s Brickyard 400. Samuel Deeds was awarded the naming rights to the race after beating out four other finalists in Crown Royal’s “Your Hero’s Name Here” program.
We wrote a bit about Deeds before the race, but the dude was truly taking it all in this weekend. A diehard NASCAR fan, Deeds must’ve loved every minute of dominating the Indy scene. Hats off to him for his much deserved honor.
Art Makes #BowSeason Happen
Frequent MANjr contributor, everyday angel and all-around badass Art Eddy III was not only a member of the winning Capture the Crown team (hey, I make a super good plus-one, bro!), he was also responsible for making #BowSeason a trending topic on most major social media channels. After speaking to some local NASCAR fans during the Justin Moore concert that took place at the track on Saturday night, Art discovered that hunting with a bow and arrow is not only a thing, it’s a way of life, really. So Art proceeded to toss around the term Bow Season fairly hard for the rest of the evening. And man, #BowSeason took off. It came to encompass so much more than deer huntin’ the old fashioned way. It became a rally cry. It became a legit hashtag, a lyric placement, a photo pose and oh yes, a dance move (hat tip to Tracy Pendergast for that).
You’re Welcome, Ryan Newman
One of our scavenger hunt tasks was to secure an autograph from a NASCAR driver. So I saw a driver dressed in red walking with some serious swagger and I approached him with my hot pass in hand and requested a signature. What happened next was something to be remembered, as you can see from this photo, the meeting was, in a word, special.
I clearly had some sort of impact on his racing performance, because it just so happens that shortly after meeting me, Ryan Newman set a new track record at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And then he, you know, went on to win the race the next day. Coincidence or the result of positive Stout juju? You decide.
Justin Moore Wins Me Over
I love music, but I’m not really a country fan. It just happened that way. Some people are a little bit country, some are a little bit rock and roll, and some people lean soul, funk and disco. It’s just how things shake out.
Anyway, when Justin Moore was performing this weekend, something clicked. It wasn’t necessarily the lyrics (I can’t really relate to a song like, “Guns,” for example), but the dude’s a good performer. And his band mates were cool, too. I found myself transitioning from “I’m not sure if I’m going to be into this,” to “this isn’t so bad,” to “oh damn, I’m actually singing along now,” to “let me look this guy up on Spotify while I’m chilling at the airport.” So yea, it was a pretty big swing for me musical-taste-wise.
And it didn’t hurt that the guy was super cool and approachable as well. Saturday night he showed up at our hotel bar wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat on. That’s all it took for me to buy him another Michelob.
Later that night I found myself talking to an older dude named Curt, a farmer and Chiefs fan from Missouri. Curt mentioned that he was a big Justin Moore fan. I said that’s cool cause Justin was sitting right across from us at the bar. Curt objected. He said he had been to like six Justin Moore concerts and that wasn’t Justin Moore. I said it’s totally him and c’mon I’ll introduce you. So I did. And Curt was super stoked about it and he got an autograph, a handshake and a big smile out of it. I saw him at the track the next day and his buddies knew all about the guy who introduced Curt to Justin Moore. Fun times!
Good People
There were too many good people on this trip to list. I mean walking into a group like that after arriving late Friday night was just overwhelmingly awesome. My teammates were all cool. The competitors were cool. Just tons of good memories. I mean who the hell orders a salad at a Steak and Shake? Who knew about Deer Fest 2013? Or that country music could be tolerated to the point of enjoyment? Who knew I’d be the key to victory for Ryan Newman? And who knew that sipping Crown Royal responsibly for an entire weekend would make for such great times?
Okay, we probably all knew about that last bit. But seriously – sipping Crown and Coke for days is a really solid way to maintain a fun vibe. I highly/responsibly recommend it.
Thanks again to our friends at Crown for another memorable race weekend at the largest sports venue in the USA. Good company, flawless weather and a well-planned event made for another successful Capture the Crown experience. I look forward to redeeming myself next year and taking back that title!
If you want to support the Crown Royal Heroes program and get a free Justin Moore song in the process, visit CrownHeroesSong.com and score your free download of Moore’s son “Heroes.” Crown Royal donated $1 for every free download leading up to the race and presented a check for $10,000 to the Armed Forces Foundation. It’s a good song so go grab it!
Aug 1st
