When beloved Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James died in a plane crash last Sept. 18, the Nashville music community mourned the loss of a great songwriter — James penned such tunes as “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Blessed” — but for singer-songwriter Kip Moore, the loss was especially acute.
“I don’t know if there’s been anyone in my adult life that made a more profound impact on me,” Moore says of James. “Brett and I were thick as thieves for probably the first four years that I was with [James’ publishing company] Cornman. There was a period of two years where I don’t think we went a day without hanging out, just writing songs and riding motorcycles. What I carry with me the most when I think about Brett is Brett got me to believe in myself when I didn’t.”
James died as Moore was recording Reason To Believe, his new album released Friday (May 29) through his global partnership with Virgin Music Group. Following his death, the album took on a new purpose and urgency for Moore as the 13 songs, all of them co-penned by Moore, look at faith, love, grief and the passage of time.
Moore came out of the gate 15 years ago with his debut country album, Up All Night, which included the Billboard Country Airplay No. 1, “Somethin’ Bout a Truck,” and Top 3 hits “Beer Money” and “Hey Pretty Girl.”
A few more radio hits followed with MCA Nashville, but Moore’s gritty rock style and raspy vocals didn’t necessarily fit in with country’s pop-leaning sound. In 2025, he released his first project, Solitary Tracks, on his own imprint, Slowheart, through Virgin. With Reason to Believe, the songs remain rock based but bring in intriguing sonics and tempos.
As he’s struck out on his own, Moore has felt freed of any of the mainly self-imposed constraints he previously felt in the major label system. “There’s a complete unbridled nature to what I’m doing now,” he says. “I’m writing whatever I feel.”
While Moore’s popularity has never waned in the States, it’s exploded internationally, especially in South Africa, where he’ll headline an Oct. 17 concert at Pretoria’s SuperSport Park Stadium before two shows at Cape Town’s GrandWest Arena Oct. 23-24.
South Africa has become a second home for Moore, where he’s invested in giving back. He says that recently, that means building safe houses in South Africa. “We just finished a huge house over there that’ll hold 100 kids.”
Moore largely eschews social media and has little appetite for participating in the current political discourse, instead letting such actions speak for him. “I know how much I care about humanity and I get involved,” he says. “I refuse to join the shouting match, so I’ll let people do the shouting and I’m just navigating behind the curtain, and that’s just how I choose to go about my life.”
Below, Moore breaks down five essential tracks from Reason to Believe.
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“Levee”
I’ve always loved Creedence. Probably 90% of the music I write I start the guitar riffs, but that [opening] riff was from Hank Born, my guitar player. I literally spit the first two verses out in about 60 seconds.
[The song] certainly was never meant to be political, although with the current climate, I’m sure it will be hijacked as so. Now, it was a frustration with the political climate and the citizens following the lead of our politicians and the way modern civil discourse is handled. Luke Preston, who I wrote a lot of the record with, was on the road with me the day that I spit out the lyrics to the first couple verses during a soundcheck. Luke approached me after and said, “Man I know exactly what you’re feeling with those lines.” Luke and I don’t always see eye to eye and that should be ok. He’s one of my favorite people. I think we were both bubbling with frustration over all the constant noise and self-righteousness you see daily. There’s such a condescending, antagonistic nature to everyone’s speech these days, which leads me to believe people no longer want to come together. They no longer even want to hear what you have to say if you aren’t on the same team, looking through the same lens. There’s an arrogance to everyone’s belief that there’s no other way to see it but the way they do. I personally want no part of that kind of bubble. I try to stay clear of painting everything with one specific paint brush. People may see that as being unable to pick a side and flighty, but I see it as being an individual refusing to allow myself to be controlled by any one group or side. I’m just simply frustrated with the noise, and I refuse to join in.
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“The Darkness”
I came up with that song on my back porch in Nashville. One of my favorites I’ve ever written. I have the initial voice memo singing that melody and fragmented lyrics, just playing around with that riff in a standard tuning, and then [co-producer] Andrew DeRoberts dropped it down into this crazy tuning, and then that’s when the song really came to life. I had kind of been stuck on what I wanted to say, and the minute he dropped it into this droney tuning that I had never played in, all of a sudden, the brain waves opened up on where it needed to go. [That line, “The darkness just likes me too much,”] was exactly what I was wrestling with in my head and my heart that particular night. It was just feeling like I’m often doing everything I can to outrun it. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have beautiful moments in life, but for quite a while now, my adult life, I felt that bear on my back. I’ll shake him off for a few days, and I’ll feel him jump back on, but I refuse to kind of give in to it. That particular night was one of those, where I think it was the realization of this is going to be a lifelong battle. My favorite line, “I think I lose my voice before I call for help,” is the backbone of that whole song.
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“Faith in the Wind”
I’ve always had a wanderlust spirit. I feel that even more in my bones than I ever have now and I don’t even know what I’m searching for half the time. I think that it’s the awareness that time is always running out. There’s so many ways to live a life and I’m always in question with myself, “Am I where I need to be right now?” That sounds crazy to some people because I got that thing I was chasing after, and I love it more than I ever have. I just never stop. I love it so much to my own detriment and I think that’s what causes me a lot of darkness. I’m so hard on myself too with it that I never feel good enough when I get done. I’ve been a believer in my adult life. And I am where I think God wants me right now. I’m a constant searcher. And I think that that particular day, that was just what was supposed to come out of me.
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“Headlights”
I had the melody when I walked in the room and was playing the verse and the chorus melody for [co-producer] Andrew [DeRoberts], who gravitated to it immediately. He’s the one that said, “I’m holding on to you holding on to me,” and I loved it so much. And that was when we got off to the races. At that particular stage, I was drawing on what I felt in my life when there’s a finality of two people going separate ways, and you know that you might not ever see that person again. But then with Brett’s passing, it just took on a whole other shape. But I wanted to keep the foundation of what that song was because it’s all the same as far as when you really care about somebody — whether it be a relationship or friendship — and all of a sudden, they slip right through your fingers, and there’s a finality in it. That song is about knowing that it’s finally over — whatever it is. And that’s heavy. When I hear that [solo outro] there’s such a rawness to that section right there that I want to do a whole record that feels that dry.
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“Reason to Believe”
It was the song that Brett thought should have been on “Up All Night.” He said, “That is a massive hit record. You are out of your mind not to put this on a record…The melody is so strong that even if you miss on the recording, you’re good to go.” And I was like, “No, man, it’s just gotta all line up.” I’ve played it live maybe five times. Everyone comes to shows with signs for “Reason to Believe.” It’s the only old song on the record, but it just felt appropriate. Everything about that song, and what it meant from the get-go, was the world will beat you down and you got to have a reason to believe. And once Brett died, it just felt it was time. He was the one person that believed in me more than anybody on this planet. Everything about that felt appropriate to not only finally wrangle the song in, but to title the record after it summed up what the record was for me.
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