Converting the Skeptics: A Curated Guide to Kip Moore

Country music's hidden heartland rock star

Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox! This is the third iteration of one of our new schemes: Instead of having new (and some old) country round-ups for paying subscribers every Friday, we’re moving those round-ups to every other Friday so we can offer themed, curated guides coupled with a playlist. Subscribe to get access, and listen along! And catch up on our last two issues, on Reba and Eric Church.

By Marissa

If you know me, you know one of my favorite things to do is to help people who are wrong about country music see the light: be it about the genre in general or a particular artist, be it helping someone realize they’ve been avoiding a type of music they love because they couldn’t see themselves in it or be it coaching folks through their “I listen to anything but country music” biases. A big part of this is also helping enlighten folks about artists who they have incorrectly dismissed, assuming they are just as bad as some of the dismal shit they hear on the radio (look, I get it. There is some dismal shit on the radio).

And if you know me, you’ve probably had me talk to you about Kip Moore (if you give me long enough, it’s gonna be a Kip/Charlie Worsham/Eric Church sermon, by me, and you will leave changed I promise). If you’ve read my work, you’ve seen the pieces I’ve done for Rolling Stone on Kip and his music here and here. Maybe you have the wrong impression because he’s a man and makes country, so you assume it’s bro country (perhaps based on “Somethin’ Bout A Truck,” which is actually a very solid tune, see below). If you don’t know, he has one of the more dedicated fanbases in country music, which I learned very quickly after I started covering him and found all sorts of “Slowhearts” in my DM’s, asking for more information or gossip or unpublished info (sorry sweeties, love your enthusiasm but I can’t engage in that!!). He’s currently selling out stadiums abroad. Stadiums, people.

Moore isn’t throwback, but in another era he’d just have been a good ol’ fashioned heartland rock star. If you’re in Nashville and like what you hear, you can catch him tomorrow (Saturday) at Ascend, and for the rest of ya, he’s on tour through the summer. And now, on to the tunes…with the full playlist at the bottom for paying subscribers.

Let’s start with “Just Another Girl,” which is off maybe my favorite Kip album, Slowheart. Opening with this one because it’s just signature Kip…the way the guitar talks around the lyrics, the growly holler on the chorus, the crisp melodies, the loose and groovy production.