Kip Moore on Struggle for Success: ‘I Don’t Want to Play a Character’
“I don’t purposefully go against the grain,” says Kip Moore, seated in a Nashville conference room in a Dakine hat and a little more scruff than his usual five o’clock shadow, looking up after a long and heavy pause. It’s something he tends to do a lot over the course of a conversation when things turn more personal — it’s not that he’s hesitating; he’s just taking a moment to make sure he articulates himself just as he likes. “A lot of times, my team gets frustrated because they think I am trying to buck. I’m not trying to buck. I just see things in a different way.”
It’s not always easy, in today’s country climate, to follow an alternative point of view. The Georgia-born Moore would know, after the entire follow-up to his now gold debut LP Up All Night was shelved when its lead single didn’t make an impression on radio. It was an experience that spiraled the singer into a period of depression, but also birthed the excellent, emotionally charged Wild Ones. Since the album was released in August, it’s scored heaps of critical praise, reinforced his near cultish fanbase and allowed him to extend his headlining tour as far as Australia, where he’ll play a series of dates Down Under beginning this weekend.
But there are things it hasn’t yielded, too, like a Number One single, massive record sales (it’s moved around 75k so far) or nominations at the CMAs, ACMs or Grammys — and one could make a case that the often introspective, Nineties-glossed Wild Ones deserved to float in the same category as albums like Kacey Musgraves’ Pageant Material. Or that his powerful, raspy howl warranted a best vocalist nod. But Moore passed through awards season largely unrecognized, something he’ll only really talk about with more of those weighted pauses than words.
“On this one, I probably need to hold my tongue,” he says after several seconds of silence. “All I can control is my art. I didn’t get into this to win awards. I got into this because I love to write and play music. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that any artist, when they are putting their heart into something, they want people to appreciate their work. So, you know, it is what it is. That’s my answer.”
While it’s true that country radio and awards shows have both become somewhat friendlier to those who roam away from pop or bro-country (Chris Stapleton, case in point), it has also created a strange gray area for people like Moore. Stapleton and Musgraves have both benefited from the ability to balance indie-cred with mainstream appeal — they’re “cool country,” so to speak, and along with Sturgill Simpson, have been able to resurrect a modern spin on that pure, vintage twang lost in the Auto-Tune, party-song clouds. Moore doesn’t quite fit there, but he’s not your typical leading man of the genre, either — compared to Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, Moore is borderline emo, singing, perhaps, with far more visceral passion in his voice than many radio programmers might be comfortable. Moore’s no hipster poster boy, but he’s certainly evolved away from anything “bro,” and it’s made for a difficult ride.