Justin Moore Recalls the First Song He Ever Sang, Dwight Yoakam’s ‘Honky Tonk Man’

Country singer Justin Moore is ascending the ranks with his new single 'If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away,' but Moore told Y108 that his first memory of performing is from the age of 3, when he sang Dwight Yoakam's version of 'Honky Tonk Man.'

"My first memory was of Dwight Yoakam," Moore said. "We had this TV stand and I used to sing into the corner of it with toy guitar, and my first song was Dwight Yoakam's 'Honky Tonk Man.' It was my first memory of singing when I was 3-years-old."

Moore also said that he makes it a "point to play old school country music before we go on stage" while on tour, even though some of the dudes in his band are rockers. It's apparently working out for Moore and Co., since their shows are lauded as quite good!

Moore also talked about 'If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away,' joking with Y108 that it's "another mediocre song for us." Moore didn't write the song, but that doesn't lessen his affinity for it. He said, "If it's personal to me, it's personal to a lot of other folks out there and in this business it is all about timing. I remember hearing this song four or five years ago."

"The producer sent me a YouTube clip and then said to me, 'Remember the song you told me you liked?'" he recalls. "I thought, 'We need to go cut this' and told the label, 'This has to be the first single' and they said, 'You are done cutting your album.' And I said, 'We have to cut this.' Luckily they let me do this!" Sounds like Moore's instincts were right on.