Kip Moore had his sophomore follow-up to 2012's Up All Night finished, but little radio interest in the first two singles — "Young Love" and "Dirt Road" — forced his label to shelve the LP until he could come up with something better. The 34-year-old songwriter has apparently done just that, and expects a "stronger record" to be released in 2015.
"Sometimes life hands you a card that you might not have wanted, and you've got to learn how to play that card," Moore told the Macomb Daily (via The Boot). "I have a lot of fans who are mad about it taking this long. But we still need that big single to get up the charts in order for (the record company) to release the album.
"So when 'Dirt Road' stalled out, we had to regroup. We had to regroup and come up with something else. There was a lot of disagreeing in certain things, and I can be very bullheaded, too. But in the end we all agreed on what's the best way to move forward."
There will obviously be changes from the original version, but Moore said the final product doesn't deviate much from what he had earlier this year.
"To be honest, it's not that much different than what I was doing already with this (second) record," he said. "I might have gone a little too aggressive or too intense with what I was doing. What I had to do was quiet thinking and just enjoy writing again and let it go from there.
"I mean, I love the other stuff I was doing, and I love this new stuff. The other stuff is going to find its way out at some point, but it just might not have fit with what this new record has become. I want to get something out, 'cause it's been a while, but I want it to be the best thing I can do, too, and that's worth waiting a little bit for."
Decide for yourself. Was "Dirt Road" a dud? If you think Moore is worth checking out live, he just released a whole bunch of tour dates.
