Justin Moore Biography

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", and "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. After graduating, he joined his uncle's Southern rock band and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2002.

Through his music attorney Bernie Cahill, he met a young producer in Nashville, Jeremy Stover, who introduced him to Scott Borchetta, a industry executive who was planning to launch The Valory Music Co. Borchetta promised to give him a record deal if he would be patient.

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. 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). 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. Justin Moore debuted at No. 3 on the Top Country Albums chart. 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. 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. Later in the month, he entered the studio to begin recording his third studio album. The album's first single, "Point at You," was released to country radio on March 18, 2013. The album, Off the Beaten Path, was released on September 17, 2013.

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

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

Title	Details	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales threshold)
		US Country	US	CAN
Justin Moore	Release date: August 11, 2009 Label: Valory Music Group Formats: CD, music download	3	10	"?	US: Gold
Outlaws Like Me	Release date: June 21, 2011 Label: Valory Music Group Formats: CD, music download	1	5	"?	US: Gold
Off the Beaten Path	Release date: September 17, 2013 Label: Valory Music Group Formats: CD, music download	1	2	5
""?" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended plays

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US	US Heat
The "You Asked for It" EP	Release date: June 9, 2009 Label: Valory Music Group Formats: CD, music download	54	"?	49
Point at You and Four Moore Hits EP	Release date: April 2, 2013 Label: Valory Music Group Formats: CD, music download	28	172	"?
""?" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Certifications (sales threshold)	Album
		US Country	US Country Airplay	US	CAN
2008	"Back That Thing Up"	38	"?	"?	"?		Justin Moore
2009	"Small Town USA"	1	"?	44	"?	US: Gold
	"Backwoods"	6	"?	69	"?
2010	"How I Got to Be This Way"[A]	17	"?	101	"?
2011	"If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"	1	"?	49	76	US: Gold	Outlaws Like Me
	"Bait a Hook"	17	"?	63	"?	US: Gold
2012	"Til My Last Day"	7	1	51	76	US: Gold
2013	"Point at You"[B]	10	2	53	80		Off the Beaten Path
""?" denotes releases that did not chart

Other charted songs

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		US Country
2012	"Run Rudolph Run"	58	The Country Christmas Collection
2013	"Off the Beaten Path"	44	Off the Beaten Path
	"Lettin' the Night Roll"	48

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2008	"Back That Thing Up"	Wes Edwards
2009	"Small Town USA"	Chris Hicky
	"Backwoods"	Kristin Barlowe
2010	"How I Got to Be This Way"	Chris Hicky
2011	"If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"	Peter Zavadil
	"This Is NRA Country"	Adam Taylor
	"Bait a Hook"	Shane Drake
2012	"'Til My Last Day" (live)	Justin Nolan Key
	"'Til My Last Day"	Peter Zavadil
2013	"Point at You"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Result
2011	Inspirational Country Music Awards	Mainstream Inspirational Country Song - "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"
		Inspirational Video - "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"
2012	American Country Awards	Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist