As the curtain closed on a sold-out show at New York City’s Town Hall last night (December 14th), multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Kip Moore took a bow to 2017, for what can only be described as a benchmark career year. Moore is wrapping up an overwhelming year on multiple “Best Of 2017” lists by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, UpRoxx, Bobby Bones Show, Taste Of Country, Sounds Like Nashville, The Boot, PopMatters and Whiskey Riff for his revered third studio album SLOWHEART, while reflecting on his 4th career No. One for his “rousing” (UpRoxx) single “More Girls Like You,” sold-out headlining shows, national TV appearances and more.
Moore kicked off the year with the release of his now No. One smash hit “More Girls Like You” in February. Moore released the wanderlust-inducing music video for the single exclusively with Travel & Leisure as he offered an unfiltered look into his trip to Costa Rica, one of many stops during an extended break to Iceland, Australia and more, that he also gave further insight to during a feature with Conde Nast Traveler.
The momentum continued into the summer as Moore announced his highly-anticipated third studio album SLOWHEART, which was released on Sept. 9. Leading up to the release, Moore teased fans offering advance listens to the album via NPR’s First Listen, song premieres with Noisey and American Songwriter, as well as live sessions with Billboard and Paste & Daytrotter Music. Upon release, critics were quick to praise the collection.
“SLOWHEART is his most complete, cohesive declaration of his artistic sensibilities yet.” – American Songwriter
“Kip Moore has been up all night, he’s been a wild one, but in 2017, he’s a slowheart. The titles of his albums have always been at least somewhat indicative of where he’s at in his life, and his third LP, SLOWHEART, shines a light on his more sensitive side” – Billboard
“The most thrilling set of his career.” – Entertainment Weekly
“[Moore’s] strongest, most artistic album” – Forbes
“A thoroughly vital, 13-song collection…It’s not that Moore avoids contemporary country conventions. He enlivens them by injecting self-awareness or playing up the tensions between country and rock’s various masculine ideals.” – NPR
“As much influenced by a longtime love of Southern rock as traditional country music, SLOWHEART is the sound of an uncompromising, genre-defying artist firing on all cylinders.” – Noisey
“Between the rough edges of Americana, rock and the evocative storytelling of country, produced to let every guitar lick ring true and every edge and wail of Moore’s voice reverberate raw but strong” – Rolling Stone
“With his grizzled voice, and the hint of humor lurking behind every roiling guitar solo, Moore was a shoo-in to dominate the sweet spot between radio hits and diehard old school fans.” – UpRoxx
“Moore blends the passion and connection for which he’s known with a new self-awareness that will speak to both commercial and underground audiences.” – USA Today
While undertaking his headlining PLEAD THE FIFTH fall tour in November, Moore celebrated his 4th No. One by performing “More Girls Like You” live on national TV on TODAY. In a milestone-heavy year, Moore also celebrated his breakout debut album UP ALL NIGHT, which spawned three No. One hit singles, being certified PLATINUM by the RIAA.
Following the release of SLOWHEART, and in a year filled with reflection and honesty, Moore also delved into the process of making the album with his vulnerable documentary THE JOURNEY TO SLOWHEART, available to watch via VEVO now. The refreshingly raw piece follows Moore as he returns to his hometown of Tifton, GA, as he looks back on his childhood and the importance of his family in shaping the artist he is today. Moore’s upbringing also sparked and influenced his charitable initiative “Kip’s Kids Fund,” which this year saw him team up with international skateboarding champion Tony Hawk to host “MUSIC CITY SKATE JAM” in an effort to raise funds for hurricane-affected communities.
Last night (12/14) in New York City, marked the final show on a limited acoustic-storyteller run, alongside fellow singer/ songwriters Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen, the stop marked the last of many capacity-crowd houses Moore has played to this year including his recently wrapped PLEAD THE FIFTH TOUR and a headlining sold-out stint across the pond earlier this fall, with CMT praising “it’s the way he expresses what’s on his mind that draws sold-out audiences around the world.” As Moore looks toward a stacked 2018, with the recent release of his “smoldering” (Rolling Stone) new single ”Last Shot,” he will hit the road again in February with Luke Bryan in Springfield, MO on 2/16 and will then head back across the pond for a highly-anticipated return to Europe’s Country To Country Festival taking place March 9-11 in London, UK, Glasgow, UK, and Dublin, I.E. For more information and a full list of tour dates visit kipmoore.net.
