At the end of the day, the 30-year-old is just is happy to finally get the recognition from the Academy. He said, "It’s really exciting for us to finally get this monkey off our back. I feel like, forever, I was the coach who could win games, but not the big one."
The issue, for him, isn't about how long it's been since his debut. As he pointed out, he is not the first artist with more time in the industry than most "new" folks to score a nomination.
"It sounds kind of funny, but I’m kind of a country music history buff," he explained. "Throughout the history of this award, people have won it well into their careers. Chesney won it five, six, seven years after his first album. Church won it, what, two years ago … so it sounds a little funnier than what it historically has, who’s won it over the years, so hopefully we’re the next one in line. We’ll see."
While he's correct, the issue for many isn't how long he's been in country music, it's the rules and how many albums he's sold. The rules state that new artists can't have sold over 500,000 copies of any of their albums. His self-titled Justin Moore album released in 2009 and it's been certified RIAA gold with 550,000 copies sold. 2011's Outlaws Like Me has been certified gold with 577,000 copies sold.
Poor guy ... he didn't make the ACM rules and he's not the one breaking them, but he's catching the same amount of flack that the ACM is. Aside from history, humor seems to be his defense. He shared, "Somebody asked me the other day what I felt about being up for New Artist and my response was 'I would take Female Vocalist' if they’d give it to me."
