NASHVILLE, Tenn. Sept 17 (Reuters) - Kip Moore arrived in
Nashville on New Year's Day in 2004, with a guitar and a
suitcase. Appropriately enough, he was driving a truck. Eight
years later, his first No. 1 hit was called "Somethin' 'Bout a
Truck."
The single has sold more than 1 million copies. Moore's
first album, "Up All Night," debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard
country album charts in April. It has since sold almost 200,000
copies.
It's all pretty heady stuff for someone who has quickly
become one of the biggest up-and-coming country music acts.
"Every time I step on that stage, I'm loving it. Now that
I've had some success, I'm even more fearful of losing it,"
Moore told Reuters.
The newly minted Nashville star has just joined country
music sensation Eric Church on Church's "The Blood, Sweat and
Beers Tour."
"I'm depressed when I don't get to do music," Moore said in
an interview. "Having to go back to doing something I don't like
and am not passionate about would be a tough thing."
Though he appears to have hit it big quickly, the
32-year-old Moore built his career steadily. He started in small
clubs near his hometown of Tifton, Georgia, and then moved on to
Hawaii, where he started to hone his craft before he realized he
had to go to the heart of country music to learn the business.
Once settled in Nashville, Moore immersed himself in the
songwriting community, but it took two years to work up enough
nerve to share his songs with other songwriters.
Once he did, observers began to see a range of influences
in his music. Moore, however, can remember the song that made
him want to be a songwriter.
"I could name so many, but I have to say it was 'All Good
Things' by Jackson Browne. So many of those songs I was
listening to when I was five, six, seven years old was because
my dad was listening to them, and I listened because I thought
he was cool," he said.
"I loved Bob Dylan, who today would be a country songwriter
and singer. Songs like 'Against the Wind' by Bob Seger. I can
specifically remember riding on a fishing trip with my dad and
listening to that song."
The youngster listening to his father's music wasn't old
enough to understand what the lyrics were about, yet he was
drawn to the stories in the songs, whether they were country,
rock or pop.
Church, 35, who received five Country Music Association
award nominations this month, gave Moore high marks for his
authenticity as well as his vocal style.
"I like the grit in his music," Church told Reuters.
"There's a lot of integrity in the kind of songs that he writes
and the way he sings them and the way they're recorded, so I'm
looking forward to get on the road with him."
MAKE WAY FOR THE CAP ACTS
Moore is being hailed by critics as a country act who could
broaden the genre's fan base. Some critics are even dubbing this
new baseball-cap-wearing group of young country musicians, which
includes Church, the "Cap Acts" vs. the "Hat Acts."
Moore shakes his head at such labels.
"People will try to give this new generation a hard time,
but music is always evolving," Moore said. "When Webb Pierce was
out, that was what was going on then, but then Waylon Jennings
and Johnny Cash came, and they were doing music that was so
different from Webb. Then Garth (Brooks) came around after Cash
and those guys, and it was like 'Wait a minute. This isn't
country.' You are always fighting that battle in music, no
matter what genre you are in."
The songs on Moore's album have garnered comparisons to
artists as wide ranging as Bruce Springsteen and Kris
Kristofferson.
Moore's voice lends itself to the sexiness of "Somethin'
'Bout A Truck" or "Up All Night," but has no trouble going
straight into "Reckless," a rocking tune that begs the listener
to be patient with the singer and the mistakes he makes through
the process of growing up.
"I've been playing the many styles of music I do for a long
time," Moore said. "I try not to focus on what people say too
much because there's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is
focus on staying true to the style of music I write and sing
because that is the only way it's going to come off as honest."
(Editing by Nichola Groom, Jill Serjeant and Jan Paschal)