Dirt Road

"Dirt Road" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Kip Moore. It was released to radio on April 15, 2014. Moore wrote the song with Dan Couch and Weston Davis. The song along with his previous single "Young Love" were projected to be on his sophomore studio album, but were scrapped when the two songs stalled at radio.

Critical reception

An uncredited Taste of Country review stated that "Kip Moore is right when he says his new single ‘Dirt Road’ will raise a few eyebrows, it may just take awhile. Lyrically the new song is country’s Mariana Trench hiding behind familiar references to beer, moonlight and backseat romance."

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in July 2014.

Chart performance

References

Dirt Road Anthem

"Dirt Road Anthem" is a country rap song written by American artists Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert (who also wrote Aldean's hit "My Kinda Party"), each of whom recorded his own version of the song. Jason Aldean covered the song for his 2010 album My Kinda Party, and released it as the third single from the album in April 2011. The song debuted as a single as Aldean's previous single, "Don't You Wanna Stay", was currently at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On November 30, the song received a Nomination in 54th Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance. It is the best-selling song in digital history by a male country solo artist in the United States with over 4 million sold.

Content

"Dirt Road Anthem" is a mid-tempo song, styled as country rap. The song expresses country pride, southern values, and remembering good times from the past.

Country rapper Colt Ford originally recorded the song for his 2008 album Ride Through the Country, with Brantley Gilbert singing vocals on the chorus. Gilbert later recorded a revisited version of the song for his 2010 album Halfway to Heaven.

Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Keith Gilbert (born January 20, 1985) is an American country rock artist from Jefferson, Georgia. He was originally signed to Colt Ford's label, Average Joe's Entertainment, where he released Modern Day Prodigal Son and Halfway to Heaven. He is now signed to the Valory division of Big Machine Records where he has released two studio albums — a deluxe edition of Halfway to Heaven and Just as I Am and eleven country chart entries, four of which have gone to number 1. He also wrote Jason Aldean's singles "My Kinda Party" and "Dirt Road Anthem".

Career

Singing career

Brantley Gilbert originally moved to Nashville as a songwriter, signed to Warner Chappell Publishing. He continued performing at local venues. In 2009, he released his debut album, Modern Day Prodigal Son, under independent label Average Joes Entertainment. He followed with Halfway to Heaven in 2010.

In 2011, he signed with Valory Music Co., a division of Big Machine Records, who re-released Halfway to Heaven with new recordings and bonus tracks. The album was produced by Dann Huff. Its first two singles, "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", both went to number 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. After them, "Kick It in the Sticks" peaked at number 34, and "More Than Miles" at number 7 on Country Airplay. He won the ACM New Male Artist award in 2013.

Jason Aldean

Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977), known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, Jason Aldean has been signed to Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released six albums and 24 singles. His 2010 album My Kinda Party is certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His 2012 album Night Train is certified double-platinum, while his 2005 self-titled debut, 2007 album Relentless, 2009 album Wide Open, wand 2014 album Old Boots, New Dirt are all certified single-platinum.

Of his singles, 14 have reached number one on either the Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay charts with "Why", "She's Country", "Big Green Tractor", "The Truth", "Don't You Wanna Stay" (a duet with Kelly Clarkson), "Dirt Road Anthem", "Fly Over States", "Take a Little Ride", "The Only Way I Know" (a collaboration with Luke Bryan and Eric Church), "Night Train", "When She Says Baby", "Burnin' It Down", "Just Gettin' Started", and "Tonight Looks Good on You". Eight more of his singles have reached the top 10.

Colt Ford

Jason Farris Brown (born August 27, 1970) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American rapper, musician and songwriter. He has released four albums via Average Joes Entertainment, which he co-founded. Ford has charted six times on the Hot Country Songs charts, and co-wrote (with Brantley Gilbert) "Dirt Road Anthem", a song on his 2008 album Ride Through the Country, which Jason Aldean later covered on his My Kinda Party.

Biography

Brown was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He was a professional golfer, playing on the Nationwide Tour. Later, he turned his interests to music, taking influence from country music and hip hop. Assuming the stage name Colt Ford, he released his debut album, Ride Through the Country, on December 2, 2008, through Average Joe's Entertainment, which he cofounded. This album included the singles "No Trash in My Trailer" (a cover of a Mike Dekle song) and "Ride Through the Country" (a duet with John Michael Montgomery), the latter of which did not chart until the week of October 10, 2009, when it debuted at No. 57 on the Hot Country Songs chart.